Homeless shelters and emergency accommodation across the UK are preparing for influx of rough sleepers as temperatures drop to sub-zero, with charities 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 Bristol City, have launched their Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) measures to ensure people have access to shelter at night, with temperatures set to reach as low as -3C in some regions.
In London, additional support has also been granted, with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan saying the cold could be âdangerous and it can often be fatalâ for those on the streets.
Figures released from April 2024 to March 2025 from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) found that 13,231 people were sleeping rough in London, marking a 10 per cent increase from the previous year.
This is 63 per cent higher than the figure seen in 2015/16, with 50 per cent of those spoken to by outreach workers having a support need relating to mental health.
According to the charity Shelter, new research published in December found that 382,618 people in England were homeless, including 175,025 children. Of this figure, at least 4,667 were sleeping rough on any given night, a 20 per cent increase in the last year, while another 16,294 were living in hostels and other homeless accommodation.
Francesca Albanese, director of policy and social change at Crisis, said: âWe are seeing a massive increase in temporary accommodation and seeing record levels of people accessing them. There isnât enough social housing and the private sector isnât affordable and that is decades in the making.
âItâs very unsettling for individuals, becoming homeless is very isolating and dangerous. With shelters and emergency accommodation, people come in for a few days when the weather is cold but itâs very difficult to then engage in that support someone might need and link them to the right services in the long term.â
While a number of emergency shelters across the UK are open for referrals, charities are aware that the cold weather results in them filling up quickly, with often female-only beds left available.
Ms Albanese added: âThese kinds of shelters are facing pressures of their own in terms of provision as weâve seen rough sleeping going up but weâve not seen huge increases in funding for emergency accommodation. Emergency provision such as these is vital and lifesaving and we know people canât survive when temperatures plummet, and we know it doesnât cover everybody and there needs to be more of it.â
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued amber cold health alerts for England as an early warning that adverse temperatures are likely to affect health and wellbeing, running until Friday.
A number of severe weather warnings expired on Monday morning, but snow and ice warnings are still in force for much of Scotland north of Glasgow, parts of Wales and the South West, and east England stretching up to the Scottish Borders.
âItâs a really dangerous time for people to be out rough sleeping,â Ffion Nicholas, the helpline manager of youth homelessness charity Centrepoint said. âOne of the conceptions the public has is that if you become homeless, youâll be supported with help from the council. A lot of people fall through the cracks. Young people in the past had been sofa surfing but we are hearing from more and more that they are sleeping on the streets.â
Charities have also warned that as well as young people, they are seeing increasing numbers of pensioners becoming homeless due their housing benefits being frozen, lack of a sufficient pension, rising energy bills and less family support.
âWe keep seeing people coming into our services who are over the age of 65,â Ms Albanese said. âItâs not the case anymore that older generations have a pension and security, we have people facing really high housing costs, unable to pay off their mortgages and people forced into the private rented sector. The older you get, youâre more likely to be impacted by health conditions, and thatâs also happening due to the stress and wider worry of peopleâs housing situation.â
Both Crisis, Shelter and Centrepoint acknowledged that while Labourâs ÂŁ39bn investment into affordable housing over the next decade isâvery welcomeâ, they have warned that those on the brink of homelessness or sleeping on the streets are in need of homes immediately.
Overnight into Tuesday, the Met Office have warned that temperatures will once again fall below freezing for much of the country, with the lowest temperatures over lying snow possibly dipping to minus 12C.
Tuesday will see a continuation of wintry showers at first across parts of Wales and south-west England, according to the forecaster.
A mix of rain, sleet and snow will move south-eastwards across Scotland and Northern Ireland, then later into parts of Wales and England, with a chance that a further spell of disruptive snow could affect central and northern Scotland later on Tuesday morning until early evening.
