More than 1,000 schools across England and Wales have announced closures as the Met Office extended its red weather warning for extreme heat, with temperatures forecast to soar as high as 40C this week. Forecasters say the UK could even surpass its current highest-ever recorded temperature of 40.3C, set in Coningsby, Lincolnshire in July 2022.
Hundreds of schools are planning to close either fully or partially because of the extreme weather. Some have moved lessons online, while others are shortening the school day and finishing by lunchtime. The closures came as the Education Secretary urged parents to send their children to school if they are open, and working parents were reminded that they are entitled to up to four weeks of unpaid parental leave each year to cover sudden shutdowns.
“More than 1,000 schools closed as UK braces for possible 40C, surpassing 1976 when schools stayed open.”
The scenes are a world away from the most famous heatwave in British memory – the Summer of 1976 – when, despite temperatures that caused heat-crazed ladybirds to attack humans in swarms and sex-crazed students to romp in hay fields, and even Buckingham Palace lawn sprinklers were shut down, the schools did stay open.
This week, the mercury has already broken records: 35.8C was logged on Tuesday, the highest June temperature on record, and by Wednesday the highest temperature recorded stood at 36.1C. With the red warning extended and more amber alerts issued for Friday and Saturday, school leaders are taking no chances. Each educational setting is entitled to make its own decision regarding opening in the extreme heat, and many that opened in the morning shut for the afternoon.
Parents in affected areas can check whether their child's school is closed online, as hundreds of closures have been confirmed across counties including Devon, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Bristol, London and Yorkshire. The list of more than 850 schools closing or finishing early continues to grow.