A study researching the link between ambulance response times and the weather has revealed that the length of time it took for the vehicle to arrive dropped by 1.3 per cent for each degree drop in temperature.

Experts looked at how the weather affected ambulance responses in Birmingham between 2007 and 2011, and found that colder weather meant slower response times as the weather conditions were worsened and the roads more treacherous.  The ambulance service has a target of reaching 75 per cent of immediately life threatening calls within eight minutes.  It wasn’t just cold weather which hampered call times; hot weather also saw an effect on response.  The research was published in Emergency Medical Journal.