Oxfordshire Homeless Movement
Hot Weather SWEP explained
SWEP stands for Severe Weather Emergency Protocol. As with extreme cold, there is also a SWEP for extremely hot weather. Oxford City Council’s Hot Weather SWEP activation is aligned with the graded approach of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Heat-Health Alert Service. This alert service is provided in partnership with the Met Office from June-September.
The OxSPOT team will deliver an enhanced and targeted outreach service.
- When there is an AMBER or RED alert, Homeless Oxfordshire open O’Hanlon House for up to 10 individuals experiencing rough sleeping that want to get out of the sun between the hours of 12pm and 7pm. Other day services are available.
SWEP Alert System
- A Yellow response is …unlikely to impact most people, but [may impact those] particularly vulnerable…
- An Amber enhanced response has …potential for the whole population to be at risk and …a coordinated response is required…
- A Red emergency response is …a significant risk to life health event for the population.
Oxford City Council’s Rough Sleeping and Single Homelessness team will monitor for heat-health alerts through the summer months and activate the appropriate response when alerted. The responses are set out in this table:
| Yellow | Amber | Red |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced Outreach provided by OxSPOT: signposting and distributing resources—water, sun cream, hats—health assessments and welfare checks | As per Yellow Alert, plus: Cool spaces made available with active health monitoring | As per Yellow and Amber Alert, plus: Discretionary hotel placements made available for rough sleepers assessed to be most at risk |
See also
- Oxford City Council guidance for anyone experiencing homelessness who needs help in hot weather
- Homeless Link's updated SWEP webpage (2023)
- Earlier guidance from Homeless Link (June, 2022)
- The UK government's guidance for hot weather
- UKHSA guidance
We are grateful to Oxford City Council and Homeless Link for some of the content on this page.