UK Issues Water-Safety Warning After Nine Die in Seas, Rivers, and Lakes During Heatwave

A deadly heat wave gripped Western Europe, and in the UK it triggered a water-safety warning after nine people died in seas, rivers, and lakes during days of record-breaking hot weather.

“- Published People have been warned of the dangers of swimming in open water after multiple deaths during the recent heatwave”

BBC

The Washington Post said France called seven deaths there possibly heat-related, while the UK issued a water-safety warning after nine deaths there during high temperatures.

BBC

In the UK, the Royal Life Saving Society UK issued urgent warnings after nine people died, and WION said Tuesday (May 26) marked the hottest May day ever recorded in England and Wales with temperatures reaching 35.1 °C at Kew Gardens near London.

The Straits Times reported that seven of the nine water-related deaths reported by police in England and Wales since May 24 involved teenagers or young children, and it quoted the RLSS warning that when air temperatures reach 25 deg C there is a fivefold accidental drowning risk.

The Royal Life Saving Society UK told the public to "stop and think" before entering the water, and the London Evening Standard said the charity stressed that despite warmer air, "water temperatures remain very cold".

WION reported that the RLSS warned that in the UK, when air temperatures reach 25 °C, there is a fivefold accidental drowning risk, and it added that teenagers and young adults are proportionately more likely to lose their lives.

CTV News

The Guardian quoted Dr Heather Massey, an associate professor in extreme environments and physiology at the University of Portsmouth, urging parents to ensure children visited supervised swimming locations where lifeguards were on hand.

Massey told the Guardian that "Unfortunately, this is something we see every year," describing it as a known problem when the air temperature increases rapidly but the water is still very cold.

BBC reported that at Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln, Declan Sawyer, 15, was found dead after emergency crews were called to reports of him getting into difficulty at about 14:30 on Sunday, and it also said a 72-year-old woman was pulled from the water at West Angle Bay beach, Pembrokeshire in Wales.

“A stark warning has been issued to Brits following the deaths of nine people, many of them children, who got into difficulty in open water during a period of record-breaking temperatures”

London Evening Standard

The BBC added that on Bank Holiday Monday, a 13-year-old boy named locally as Reco Puttock was pronounced dead after being pulled from Leadbeater Dam in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and it said the body of a teenage girl, Lillianna Tomlinson thought to be aged 16, was recovered from Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire.

CTV News said the safety warnings came as the UK heatwave produced record-breaking conditions, and it framed the deaths as water-related incidents during high temperatures.

Looking ahead, the BBC reported that heat health alerts would be extended for 24 hours, and it said the UK Health Security Agency confirmed amber alerts for the South West, South East, London, East and West Midlands, and the East of England would remain until 17:00 on Thursday.