Much of the UK’s winter death toll comes from flu and other respiratory infections, which peak every winter however mild it is, and from people living in cold, poorly insulated homes. Research suggests warmer winters will do little to reduce these deaths. Parliament’s own research points to cold homes as a major cause, and that is exactly what insulation and affordable clean energy address.

Heat is a growing killer. The UK’s first 40°C day, in July 2022, would have been virtually impossible without climate change, according to the Met Office, and that summer saw nearly 3,000 heat-related deaths in England. These risks rise with every increment of warming, especially for older and vulnerable people.

And warming doesn’t guarantee milder winters. A collapse of the AMOC, the Atlantic current that keeps Britain mild, would bring far harsher winters, with research suggesting London could see once-a-decade cold extremes of around -20°C.

That cold has historically killed more people doesn’t make extreme heat safe, any more than heart disease makes cancer unimportant.