A new early-warning weather forecasting system is being introduced across the district to prevent 5,000 patients being admitted to hospital this winter.

Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust is one of the first in the country to work with the Met Office to pilot a system to alert people suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) about cold weather.

Bradford has 9,000 people living with COPD and some of the highest rates of people admitted to hospital with the condition in the country.

Cold weather can trigger an increase in the number of people with COPD who are taken into hospital, contributing to the £600 million the NHS spends annually on looking after people with the condition.

Now in an effort to keep these vulnerable people out of hospital they will receive an automated phone call warning of cold weather.

The warning will allow them to prepare by taking some simple steps to stop their illness becoming worse.

About 5,000 patients with COPD who are registered with family doctors are taking part in the pilot scheme in Bradford.

As well as a phone call they will also be given packs with thermometers to keep in their homes and advice on how to keep warm. The service will also be provided in Urdu.

The system was first piloted in Cornwall where practices who took part reported hospital admissions 54 per cent lower than those who did not take part.

About half of the GPs in the Bradford district are taking part in the pilot project this winter.

Shirley Brierley, public health consultant, said: "We will be working closely with the Met Office to monitor the impact of this new system which should substantially reduce the number of hospital visits these vulnerable people have to make."

Dr Dinesh Saralaya, a consultant respiratory physician at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, said: "This may help us establish if there is a relation between COPD exacerbation and the weather."

Tish Laing-Morton, of the Met Office, said: "The Met Office is very pleased that Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT has taken up the Healthy Outlook service."