Maddie Molloy

Extreme heat creates distinctive and sometimes life-threatening barriers for disabled people, including unsafe travel for guide dogs, reduced wheelchair battery life, broken lifts, inaccessible cooling advice and heightened risks for people with visual impairments. Personal accounts from Emily Davison, Jimmy Macfarlane and Claire Sisk show how heat can restrict mobility, employment and independence, while researcher Hollye Kirkcaldy says inadequate housing, infrastructure, care networks and official guidance compound the problem. Campaigner Doug Paulley argues that disabled people are routinely excluded from crisis planning, and the article calls for climate adaptation and public policy to be designed with disabled people rather than merely for them.

Extreme heat creates serious and often overlooked risks for disabled people in the UK, affecting guide dogs, powered-wheelchair batteries, lifts, travel, home cooling and employment. People with visual impairments may face added security and trip hazards when following standard cooling advice, while higher energy costs and lost work can intensify financial pressure. Campaigners and researchers argue that heatwave guidance, infrastructure and emergency planning must be designed with disabled people and account for worsening climate change.