Why is alcohol dangerous in a heatwave, and should I cut it out completely?

As Europe endures a record-breaking heatwave, countries are taking steps to keep people safe and prevent health services from becoming overstretched. Parisians face a temporary ban on drinking alcohol in public to reduce the pressure on the hospitals after a four-fold rise in cardiac arrests in a 24-hour period.

We look at why drinking alcohol can be dangerous in a heatwave.

Do alcohol bans help?

Seitz said there was a lot of sense behind the Paris ban. Beyond the risky physiological effects of consuming alcohol in a heatwave, alcohol impairs people’s judgment, makes them more aggressive and leading to more risk-taking. “You risk more than you should do. You jump into the water and break your neck, or jump in and have an infarction [heart attack] because of the shock,” he said.

Is it best to have no alcohol?

Not necessarily. “There’s a danger the advice can be counterproductive,” said Maughan. Having the odd pint of weak beer can help with hydration, but if people are warned off all alcohol, they may not replace it with water, juice or other drinks.

He suggests that people who want to drink stick to a couple of pints of weak beer or shandy. “You reduce the alcohol content, but maintain the volume,” he said.