Homeless shelters under pressure as temperatures plunge to sub-zero
As homeless shelters and emergency accommodation across the UK brace for an influx of rough sleepers as temperatures dip below freezing, charities are warning that a lack of affordable housing is pushing more and more people onto the streets.
Councils across the country, including North Somerset Council and the City of Bristol, have introduced Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) measures to ensure people can access shelter at night; temperatures were set to drop as low as -3C in some areas.
Additional support was provided in London, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan saying the cold “can be dangerous and often fatal” to those on the streets.
Figures published by the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) from April 2024 to March 2025 revealed that 13,231 people in London were barely sleeping; This represents a 10 percent increase over the previous year.
This is 63 per cent higher than the figure seen in 2015/16; 50 percent of people outreach workers speak to need mental health support.
New research published in December found 382,618 people were homeless in England, including 175,025 children, according to the charity Shelter. Of this number, at least 4,667 were barely sleeping on any given night; this is up 20 percent from last year; the other 16,294 lived in hostels and other homeless accommodation.
Francesca Albanese, director of policy and social change at Crisis, said: “We are seeing a huge increase in temporary accommodation and record numbers of people accessing it. “There is not enough social housing and it is not affordable in the private sector and has been for decades.
“It’s very disruptive for individuals, it’s very isolating and dangerous to be homeless. With shelters and emergency shelter, people come here for a few days when it’s cold, but then it’s very difficult to provide the support that someone might need and connect them to the right services long term.”
While a number of emergency shelters across the UK are open for referrals, charities are aware that cold weather means these shelters fill up quickly and women-only beds are often left.
Ms Albanese added: “Such shelters face their own pressures in terms of supply as we see sleep deprivation rising but we haven’t seen huge increases in emergency shelter funding. Emergency services like these are vital and life-saving and we know people can’t survive when temperatures drop and we know that doesn’t cover everyone and there needs to be more.”
The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) has issued yellow cold health alerts for England, which will continue until Friday, as an early warning that adverse temperatures could affect health and wellbeing.
A number of severe weather warnings expired on Monday morning, but snow and ice warnings remain in force for much of Scotland north of Glasgow, parts of Wales and eastern England extending to the South West and the Scottish Borders.
“It’s a really dangerous time for people to be rough sleeping outside,” said Ffion Nicholas, helpline manager at youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. “One of the perceptions that the public has is that if you become homeless you will be supported by council support. A lot of people fall through the cracks. In the past young people were couch surfing but we are increasingly hearing of them sleeping on the streets.”
Charities have also warned that, alongside young people, they are also seeing increasing numbers of pensioners becoming homeless due to housing benefit freezes, lack of sufficient pensions, rising energy bills and reduced family support.
“We continue to see people over the age of 65 coming to our services,” Ms Albanese said. “Older generations now have no pensions and no security; we have people facing really high housing costs, unable to pay their mortgages and being forced into the private rented sector. As you get older you’re more likely to be affected by health conditions, and that’s also because of stress and wider anxiety around people’s housing situations.”
While Crisis, Shelter and Centrepoint agreed that Labour’s £39bn investment in affordable housing over the next decade was “very welcome”, they warned that those on the verge of homelessness or sleeping on the streets urgently needed homes.
Overnight into Tuesday, the Met Office warned that temperatures across much of the country would once again fall below freezing, with lows on snow likely to drop to minus 12C.
According to the forecaster, showers will continue on Tuesday, initially in parts of Wales and south-west England.
A mix of rain, sleet and snow will move south-eastwards into Scotland and Northern Ireland, then into Wales and parts of England, with the possibility of further devastating snowfall affecting central and northern Scotland from Tuesday morning into the early evening.
