Hundreds of Schools Close Across England And Wales As Met Office Issues Red Heat Warning

Hundreds of schools across England and Wales are planning full or partial closures as the Met Office issued a red weather warning for extreme heat from 9am on Wednesday to 9pm on Thursday.

“- Published Hundreds of schools have planned for at least partial closures and multiple train operators, including the UK's largest, have warned people not to travel unless necessary as temperatures climb”

BBC

The BBC said the top temperature recorded on Tuesday was 34.6C in Wisley, Surrey, and it reported that a red extreme heat warning is expected from 09:00 BST on Wednesday to 21:00 Thursday, meaning there will be an exceptional spell of hot and humid weather in parts of south and central England and south Wales.

BBC

The Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said, "The Met Office is flagging 39C as a headline maximum temperature on Thursday, most likely for somewhere in London or the South East," while the Dudleynews.co.uk report said the temperature could come close to the UK’s all-time high of 40.3C measured in July 2022.

In Wales, WalesOnline said the Met Office forecast highs of 35°C in southeast Wales on Tuesday and expected temperatures to climb to at least 39°C on Wednesday and Thursday, with the decision to close some schools coming after the Welsh Government wrote to every council in Wales.

The BBC also reported that more than 300 schools across England and Wales are planning to be either partially or fully closed on Tuesday and later this week because of the weather, with some pupils told they can wear PE kit rather than full school uniforms.

The BBC reported that the UK Health Security Agency issued a red heat health alert from 01:00 on Wednesday until 23:00 on Thursday, and it quoted Prof Robin May saying the warning "signals a very widespread threat" from the heat.

In the same BBC report, Prof Robin May said the warning includes threats "to people who generally think of themselves as not being particularly threatened by heat," and it added that the Department for Education does not normally advise schools to close and instead issues guidance on how best to manage high temperatures.

Dudleynews.co.uk

Dudleynews.co.uk said the London Fire Brigade received 400 calls overnight, including two house fires believed to be caused by lightning strikes and flooding of homes.

The Dudleynews.co.uk report also described severe disruption on the Elizabeth line, where heavy rain caused flooding and disrupted services between Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 and Heathrow Terminal 4.

For rail, the BBC said GTR would suspend the Gatwick Express from early afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday, while Avanti West Coast said it would run fewer train services between Tuesday and Thursday and Chiltern Railways reduced its services by more than half over those three days.

WalesOnline said the Welsh Government’s guidance highlights four groups where the risk of extreme heat is most acute: those who are overweight, those who are taking medication, some children with disabilities or complex health needs, and children aged under four.

“The heat wave affecting much of Europe left three people dead in France, forced the closure or alteration of schedules in thousands of schools, and prompted authorities to issue alerts for unusually high temperatures for June”

El Zonda

It also quoted the guidance warning schools to "prevent any additional heat being generated by keeping the use of electric lighting and all electrical equipment" to a minimum and switching them off when not in use rather than leaving them in standby mode.

The WalesOnline report said the guidance advises schools to avoid vigorous physical activity, maximise shade, ventilation and hydration, and it told parents to send children in loose, light coloured clothing and ensure hats and sun cream are worn.

In England, the Guardian reported that Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, warned, "Our Victorian school buildings have become greenhouses," and he argued the government must step up with "urgent, massive capital investment" to retrofit school estates.

The Guardian also quoted the Department for Education’s position that "School attendance is the best way for pupils to learn and reach their potential," while it reported that schools were deploying fans and portable air conditioning where possible and that supplies of fans had already sold out.