A school with its gates locked on a Wednesday morning has a subtly unnerving quality. There was no commotion, no children spilling out of buses, and no anxious teachers gripping coffee cups. There was only a handwritten sign attached to the door stating that children should stay at home today due to the heat. More than 850 schools in England and Wales experienced it this week, and it has caused many parents to have concerns that go far beyond the practicalities of childcare.
A red weather warning for extreme heat was issued by the Met Office for a large area of central and southern England, extending from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham. The warning is in effect from 9 a.m. on Wednesday through 9 p.m. on Thursday. Temperatures are expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius, with some areas of London and the South East potentially seeing temperatures close to 40 degrees. For comparison, the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK was 40.3C in July 2022 in Lincolnshire. Even though it’s June, not July, this week is already very close to that number.
In a recurring national debate, schools during Met Office heatwaves have become somewhat of a flashpoint. In the UK, there is no set maximum temperature for classrooms. The government argues that most schools can be managed safely through practical adjustments rather than formally advising schools to close when it gets hot. Teaching unions have a different perspective. They have long advised maintaining indoor temperatures below 26C, which is practically impossible to achieve in many older school buildings without air conditioning during periods of extreme heat.
In reality, headteachers make a patchwork of individual decisions based on their own risk assessments, governors, and trust leaders. About 100 closures were announced by Somerset. Buckinghamshire came next with a comparable figure. 86 schools in Gloucestershire were at least partially closed. When totaled nationally, the number in Lincolnshire exceeded 850. These figures are not insignificant. This is a sizable section of the educational system that is essentially suspended due to inclement weather.
Before closing schools, it is worthwhile to consider what they have actually done to control the heat. Early on, uniform regulations were loosened, with kids switching from long pants and blazers to PE kits. To avoid the hottest part of the day, start and finish times were changed. Cooler rooms were used for lessons. Ventilation was monitored using CO2 monitors. In accordance with Department of Health recommendations that kids shouldn’t engage in strenuous exercise during extremely hot weather, physical education has become more sedentary. These are reasonable, appropriate actions. However, there is a limit to improvisation, and many head teachers felt they had reached it this week.
A level of urgency that is difficult to ignore is added by the public health component. The East of England, the East and West Midlands, London, the South East, and the South West all received red heat health alerts from the UK Health Security Agency. These are not nudges to take precautions. They suggest that the temperatures are likely to seriously impair people’s health and well-being, especially those who are more susceptible. Children fall into that category, particularly younger ones or those with pre-existing conditions. It is not neutral to keep them in overheated buildings for six hours.
Beneath all of this, there is a larger question that will undoubtedly be sharpened but not answered this week. School buildings in Britain were not built for a climate that increasingly frequently results in weeks with temperatures above what would have been unthinkable a generation ago. This week, the June record of 35.6C, which was set in Hampshire in 1976, is in danger of falling. The reality has outpaced the infrastructure. What is actually driving those school gates shut is that space between the existing buildings and the approaching summers.
