Cool Neighbourhoods Strategy

While sunny days are welcome, Westminster faces a growing risk from extreme heat events, putting people, places and local businesses at risk.

In July 2022, Westminster recorded London’s highest ever temperature: 40.2°C in St. James’s Park. That summer’s heatwaves led to nearly 3,000 excess deaths across England and cost the UK economy up to £300 million. Emergency services were stretched, with a significant increase in heat-related health incidents and the London Fire Brigade declared a major incident as wildfires broke out across the city. Without action, events like these are expected to become far more frequent and disruptive.

Some neighbourhoods are hit harder than others, particularly areas with dense housing and limited green space. Vulnerable groups, including low-income households, older people, and renters, face greater risks and fewer options to stay cool.

As summers become more extreme, we are taking action to protect our communities and adapt our city to a warming climate.

A Cool Neighbourhoods Strategy for Westminster

To help Westminster stay safe and prepared for extreme heat, we’ve developed the Cool Neighbourhoods Strategy. This is our approach to help prepare, protect, and future-proof the city as temperatures rise. The strategy sets out 18 actions across three key pillars:

1. Cool buildings – Helping people stay cool indoors, in their homes and public buildings.
2. Cool spaces – Helping people stay cool outdoors in public spaces.
3. Cool communities – Helping people know how to stay cool by building their adaptive capacity with knowledge, skills and resources to stay safe during extreme heat events. 

By acting now, we can ensure Westminster remains a world-class, climate-ready city. 

Read our Cool Neighbourhoods Strategy to learn how we are taking action to build a more just, equitable and heat-resilient city, while protecting the health and safety of everyone who lives, works, and visits Westminster:

Document

Cool Neighbourhoods Strategy PDF, 6.32 MB, 37 pages

Document

Cool Neighbourhoods Strategy: Executive Summary PDF, 1.82 MB, 6 pages

More information

How to stay safe during extreme heat 

For practical tips on how to stay cool and safe during a heatwave, visit our advice and support page. It includes guidance on keeping yourself, your home, and others safe, plus information about local services that can help during periods of extreme heat.

Sign up for weather warnings from the Met Office 

Download the Met Office app and register to receive notifications when extreme weather events, such as extreme heat, are forecasted for your area. You can also register for email notifications via the Met Office website. 

Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment 

Read our Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment report, developed with technical partner, Arup. The report assesses the current and future climate risks facing Westminster and identifies the people and places most vulnerable to these impacts. 

Environmental Justice Measure 

Explore the ‘environmental risks’ tab in our award-winning, interactive Environmental Justice Measure map to see if your area is at-risk to extreme heat.  

For more information email climateemergency@westminster.gov.uk.