***CW// description of child death***
On one of India’s hottest recorded mornings of April 2026, a tragic incident unfolded in a village in Latur district. As the temperature soared to around 41°C, a young mother placed her nine-month-old baby in the courtyard outside their one-room home to keep watch while attending to household chores. After an hour, she returned to find her infant unresponsive and no longer breathing. The baby had died silently, with the mother recalling, “He made no sound. Did not cry. I thought he was asleep.”
In May 2026, in Whitechapel, one of the UK’s most deprived neighbourhoods, 26-year-old Asiyha sought relief from oppressive indoor heat by sheltering beneath a tree in Weavers Fields with her infant, who was less than a year old. “It’s far too hot in my flat, that is why we are sitting outside,” she said. “I live right nearby. My baby is struggling. We are in a very hot flat and we cannot sleep at night.”
These two cases, both recorded during the summer of 2026, illustrate a broader pattern: climate shocks, such as heatwaves, consistently expose and intensify vulnerabilities among the working class regardless of their location. For those in rural India, the lack of reliable electricity, inadequate housing, and the need to work outdoors on farms or at construction sites leave families with few defences against rising temperatures, often resulting in health emergencies and tragic outcomes.
In the urban neighbourhoods of London, similar patterns emerge: lower-income households, often confined to poorly ventilated and overcrowded flats, struggle to find relief from extreme heat. Few can afford air conditioning or the luxury of leaving overheated homes during the day. In both settings, the economic imperative to continue working, whether in agriculture, construction, or service jobs, forces individuals to endure unsafe conditions, increasing their exposure to heat-related illnesses. Children and the elderly are particularly at risk, as they are more susceptible to dehydration and heatstroke.
These experiences reveal that across borders, it is the working class who bear the brunt of climate shocks, highlighting deep-seated social and economic inequities that are only becoming more pronounced as extreme weather events become more frequent and severe.
Deepening inequalities in the UK
Intensifying heatwaves in the UK are revealing new dimensions of vulnerability, particularly among lower-income communities. During the hottest May on record in 2026, London reached 35°C, with several nights above 20°C, resulting in what experts term ‘tropical nights.’ Many buildings lack adequate insulation or cooling, leaving residents exposed to persistent indoor heat. Without air conditioning or access to cooler environments, low-income families struggle to sleep and recover from daytime heat exposure. The situation is compounded for the working class, who often have limited flexibility to take time off work or avoid outdoor labour during peak temperatures.
As a result, the risk of heat-related illnesses including dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke increases significantly especially for children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions. Public health officials have warned that prolonged extreme heat may lead to increased hospital admissions and excess deaths, further straining the already burdened National Health Service (NHS). This convergence of inadequate housing, limited resources, and occupational exposure demonstrates how climate change is deepening existing social and health inequalities across the UK.
Climate shocks in India
By late May 2026, the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra, India, experienced an unprecedented seven-day period during which ambient temperatures consistently exceeded 45°C. This prolonged exposure to extreme heat resulted in significant mortality, with five deaths recorded among passengers in unreserved and sleeper railway coaches, including three individuals who died in transit and an additional five bodies discovered at various locations within the city.
Sustained environmental temperatures of this magnitude can induce hyperpyrexia, defined as a core body temperature exceeding 41.5°C (106.7°F), which constitutes a medical emergency due to the imminent risk of irreversible damage to critical organs. Effective clinical management of hyperpyrexia requires immediate interventions, such as applying ice packs, cold water immersion, or other active cooling methods to reduce body temperature. The increasing number of hyperpyrexia cases admitted to municipal ‘cold wards’ highlights the escalating public health burden imposed by severe heatwaves, particularly among populations with limited access to adaptive infrastructure and healthcare resources.
Reframing heatwaves as critical public health emergencies
The global escalation of extreme heat events necessitates an urgent reframing of heatwaves as critical public health emergencies that require comprehensive, equity-oriented responses. Are our systems rendering the working class invisible during such climate shocks? Structural inequities, including precarious employment and inadequate access to rest, hydration, and cooling infrastructure render protective measures largely inaccessible to them. These vulnerabilities are compounded by the marginalisation of working-class experiences within mainstream policy and public health narratives, further increasing exposure and risk.
The impacts of extreme heat are not evenly distributed; gender and other social-identity intersections significantly shape the lived experiences of climate shocks. Women workers, for example, may face heightened risk due to occupational segregation, lack of access to sanitation, and caregiving responsibilities that increase exposure to heat, while intersecting factors such as caste, migration, or disability further intensify these challenges.
As heatwaves become more regular every year, it is essential that responses to extreme heatwaves reflect a nuanced and intersectional understanding of vulnerability, prioritising adequate protective equipment, accessible healthcare, and anticipatory social protections for all workers. Building resilience and promoting climate justice in a warming world requires centring the needs and voices of those most affected and acknowledging the intersecting dimensions of disadvantage.
