Staying warm in winter: cold weather safety for an older parent, and the payments that help pay for it

Every winter, GPs and A&E departments see a rise in older patients that has nothing to do with flu or falls on ice. It's the cold itself, working quietly on a body that can no longer regulate its own temperature the way it used to. It doesn't take a broken boiler or a freezing house. A perfectly ordinary living room, kept a few degrees cooler than it should be to save on the bill, is enough over time.

Here's what to watch for, what to do about it, and the financial help that exists specifically for this.

Why older people feel the cold differently

As we age, the body's ability to sense temperature and respond to it, shivering, constricting blood vessels to keep the core warm, weakens. Add a common condition like an underactive thyroid, poor circulation, or being underweight, and the effect is stronger still. The result is that your parent can be genuinely cold, even heading towards hypothermia, without feeling it or complaining about it the way you would. Don't rely on them telling you they're cold. Rely on the thermometer and on watching for the signs below.

The warning signs

Hypothermia in older people doesn't look like the dramatic, shivering version from films. It's often quiet and easy to mistake for something else.

• Confusion, drowsiness, or slurred speech. This is the most commonly missed sign, because it looks like a UTI, a stroke, or "just getting older" rather than cold. (We've written separately about sudden confusion and UTIs, another cause that's often mistaken for the same thing.)
• Pale, cold skin, especially hands, feet and face.
• Puffy or swollen face.
• Shivering, though this can stop as hypothermia gets more severe, which is more dangerous, not less.
• Slow, shallow breathing, or a slower than usual heart rate.

If you see these signs, especially confusion combined with cold skin, warm your parent gradually with blankets and warm (not hot) drinks, and call 999 or NHS 111 if they don't quickly come round.

Practical steps for the home

• Heat the main room to at least 18°C (about 64°F), and the bedroom too if they can manage it, especially the hour before bed and the hour after waking.
• Get the boiler serviced before the first cold snap, not after it breaks. A service is far cheaper than an emergency call-out in December, and some energy suppliers offer free or discounted services to pensioners.
• Check for draughts around doors, windows and letterboxes. A draught excluder and thick curtains cost very little and make a noticeable difference.
• Layer clothing rather than relying on one thick jumper, several thin layers trap warmth better, and keep a blanket within reach of their usual chair.
• Hot water bottles over electric blankets left on overnight, unless the blanket is a newer type explicitly rated for all-night use. Old electric blankets are a genuine fire risk and worth checking or replacing.
• Keep moving a little, even indoors. Short walks around the house help circulation. Encourage a warm meal or drink every few hours rather than skipping meals to save money.
• Have one room that's reliably warm if heating the whole house isn't affordable, and encourage your parent to spend most of their time there during the coldest weeks.

The payments that exist to help

These are worth checking every fresh winter, because the rules have shifted more than once in recent years and it's easy to be working from an out-of-date assumption.

• Winter Fuel Payment. Paid automatically, worth £200 per household, or £300 where someone in it is 80 or over. Since winter 2025/26 it has gone back to being universal for anyone who has reached State Pension age, your parent does not need to be on Pension Credit or any other benefit to get it. The one thing to be aware of is that HMRC will claw the full amount back through the tax system if your parent's total personal income for the year is over £35,000, so it isn't worth anything extra to a higher-income pensioner in practice.
• Cold Weather Payment. £25 for each 7-day period between 1 November and 31 March where the average temperature in your parent's area is recorded at, or forecast to be, zero degrees or below. Unlike the Winter Fuel Payment, this one is still means-tested, it only goes to people already receiving a qualifying benefit such as Pension Credit, income-related ESA, Universal Credit, or Support for Mortgage Interest, and it's paid automatically with no separate application. It only runs in England and Wales; Scotland has a separate, fixed annual Pension Age Winter Heating Payment instead.
• Warm Home Discount. A one-off £150 taken directly off an electricity bill, usually applied automatically between October and March for anyone (or their partner) named on the bill who's receiving a qualifying means-tested benefit, including Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, and income-related ESA or JSA. Most households don't need to apply, the supplier is told automatically, though it's worth checking with your parent's supplier if it hasn't appeared by the new year.
• Household Support Fund. Distributed by local councils to help with essential costs including heating, worth asking about directly since the criteria and amounts vary by council and by funding round.

Search "[council name] household support fund" and check gov.uk for the current criteria on each of these, since thresholds and amounts are reviewed regularly.

The daily habit that catches problems early

Winter is exactly when families worry most and visit least, icy roads, dark evenings, and everyone's own colds and flu make dropping in harder just when it matters most. A daily check-in closes that gap without anyone needing to brave the roads every day. With Getwello, your parent taps one button each morning to say they're well, and if that tap doesn't come, the family gets a gentle alert rather than finding out at the next visit that Wednesday was a bad day. It won't fix a boiler or warm a room, but it means a quiet, cold morning gets noticed within hours.