New figures reveal startling rise in Excess Winter Deaths in Somerset

In Sedgemoor there was a less marked increase, with 90 deaths in 2014 compared with 100 in 2015, however Taunton Deane went up from 20 to 120 and in North Somerset the number rose dramatically from 60 up to 250.

In West Somerset there were no recorded excess winter deaths in 2014 but 40 in 2015, while in South Somerset the number rose from 60 to 210 over the two years.

The total number of excess winter deaths across the UK as a whole during 2014/15 was 43,850, the highest level seen in over 15 years. 

The sharp increase has been largely attributed to the failure of the flu vaccine which experts say was only effective in one in three cases.

Provisional figures for last winter (2015/16) show a drop in the number of winter deaths but there were still 2,700 recorded in the South West. 

Excess winter deaths are defined as the difference between the number of deaths in the winter months (December to March) compared with the previous (August to November) and following (April to July) three months.

OFTEC, the trade body for the oil heating industry, argue that a key contributing factor to these deaths is the number of people still living in cold homes, and say rural parts of the country like Somerset are disproportionately affected because houses are typically older with poorer insulation.

A key contributing factor in these deaths is the high number of people in the UK still living in cold homes with rural parts of the country, such as Somerset, disproportionally affected because houses are typically older with poorer insulation.

Malcolm Farrow from OFTEC said: “Every year a significant number of people die unnecessarily as a result of living in a cold home over the winter. 

"The shocking increase in the number of excess winter deaths seen over the past two years shows there is still much more that needs to be done to help keep vulnerable people warm."