NEARLY 2,544 people died in England last winter as a result of freezing temperatures, according to the “truly tragic” conclusions of an official report on cold mortality published today.

Anti-fuel poverty and campaigners responded to the UK Health Security Agency figures, saying that hey had warned the government against cutting winter fuel payments for many pensioners.

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said restricting eligibility for the payments “would leave vulnerable older people exposed, and these figures show the deadly consequences of failing to protect those most at risk.”

National Pensioners Convention general secretary Jan Shortt told the Morning Star that these “figures should be to the shame of the government who consistently say that they are working to make things better.”

She said: “Older people and those on low incomes have a decision to make when the weather turns cold. They ration their heating, turn it off altogether, cut down on cooking hot meals.

“When will we see a change in attitude that enables us all to have access to reasonably priced energy, fully and properly insulated homes free of dampness? It is too late for those who have lost their lives to winter conditions.”

In its first ever report on the matter, the agency said three cold episodes between November 2024 and January 2025 had driven the high death count.

The most intense episode in early January saw 1,630 deaths over a six-day period, with researchers saying older people were most affected.

Mr Francis called the report “truly tragic,” saying that it “lays bare the awful reality that far too many pensioners are still trapped in cold, damp homes that put their health and lives at risk.”

He added that “volatile gas prices, poor-quality housing and a lack of adequate support have all contributed to this crisis” and that “the situation was made worse by decisions to remove winter fuel payments from many pensioners.”

Mr Francis called for further action to prevent cold-related deaths, saying: “Ultimately, the only lasting way to stop people dying in cold homes is to tackle the root causes.”

Speaking to the Star, MP Neil Duncan-Jordan said the findings show that “our housing stock is in desperate need of insulating measures, that fuel bills are too high and that people’s incomes are stretched.”

He called for a “nationwide home insulation programme, a windfall tax on energy companies’ mega-profits to cut costs and urgently an essentials guarantee, so everyone can afford the basics: food, a roof over their head and a warm home.”