An On the wire story
Teachers across the UK are struggling to maintain safe learning environments amid record-breaking temperatures, highlighting the urgent need for retrofitting and improved climate resilience in school buildings.
Teachers across the UK are describing classrooms that have become barely usable during the latest run of extreme heat, with some reporting indoor temperatures above 40°C and children suffering headaches, nausea and heat exhaustion. According to The Guardian, staff have been improvising to keep pupils safe, from laying wet paper towels over younger children to giving older pupils trays of water to rest their feet in.
The problem is being sharpened by the condition of much of the school estate. Many buildings were designed for a cooler climate, with large areas of glass, limited shade and poor insulation, while playgrounds made from concrete or artificial turf can intensify the heat. In The Guardian’s reporting, teachers said they had spent their own money on fans and blinds, as schools without air conditioning struggled to create even the most basic conditions for learning.
The latest disruption follows a June heatwave that forced more than 1,000 schools in England and Wales to close or partly close, according to figures compiled by PA Media. Department for Education data also showed that one in five school sessions in England were missed during the peak of that hot spell, the highest daily absence rate of the 2025-26 academic year.
ITV reported that some schools moved early to protect pupils, announcing closures or shortened days as forecasters warned that temperatures could climb to 38C or even 40C in parts of England and Wales.
The wider cost has not been confined to education. The group Round Our Way estimated that the June heatwave may have carried an economic hit of between £100m and £200m, taking into account lost work, childcare pressures and wider disruption. In a survey carried out for the campaign group, more than half of the 1,000 UK parents questioned said at least one child had missed a day of school, while nearly two-thirds said summers in Britain were beginning to feel unsafe for children.
Teachers and campaigners say the episode should be treated as a warning, not an anomaly. The National Education Union has argued for urgent investment in retrofitting school buildings so they can cope with higher temperatures, while government climate advisers said in May that air conditioning should be installed in all schools within 25 years and warned that the country was built for a climate that no longer exists.
The Department for Education says schools must judge for themselves whether it is safe to stay open, though it says they should do so wherever possible and use measures such as hydration, uniform adjustments and avoiding strenuous activity in the hottest parts of the day.
Inspired by headline at The Guardian [1]
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• This On the wire article was created using Noahwire AI and reviewed by CIBSE Journal’s editorial team
