‘Children were calling for their mummies’: UK pupils struggle in ۴۰C-plus classrooms

The extreme heat that has hit the UK twice in the past few weeks has left teachers struggling to cope as temperatures in some classrooms climb above ۴۰C, with pupils and staff suffering from heatstroke, nausea and headaches.

Teachers say they have been desperately trying to keep children safe, with some covering younger pupils in wet paper towels as they lie on the floor, while older students have been given trays of water under their desks to put their feet in.

Staff say learning on the hottest days is almost impossible, with pupil behaviour and attention deteriorating rapidly.

Some teachers and pupils have fainted, while others say they have had to buy fans and window shades out of their own pockets to try to keep themselves and their pupils safe.

One primary school teacher said: “Everyone was lying or sitting on the floor with their water bottles, sweating, moaning and feeling tired, [complaining of] headaches and nausea.

“The adults barely coped and most of the children were calling for their mummies and daddies. There was no learning, just surviving the best we could.”

Many school buildings are simply unable to cope with the heat as they have little or no shade and lots of glass.

Buildings are often old and poorly insulated, with artificial grass or concrete in playgrounds that exacerbates the impact of the heat, while many schools do not have air conditioning.

Some staff have reported pupils and teachers sitting on the floor of any classrooms they could find with shade, with the lights turned off. In May, the government’s climate advisers said air conditioning should be installed in all schools within ۲۵ years and that the country was “built for a climate that no longer exists”.

“No one seems to know how to cool the buildings,” said one teacher. “Changes to the fabric of the building and the planting of trees instead of the hot expanse of the playground are needed.

“I’ve worked three years in much hotter countries, but they had four ceiling fans in each room and rules about windows/blinds/doors that created a livable environment.”

This year western Europe has been hit by its hottest June on record as the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis accelerates.

The UK entered its third heatwave of the year this week with temperatures peaking at ۳۵C. The current high temperatures are expected to drag out over a sweltering ۱۰ days and the oppressive heat on land has been accompanied by high global ocean temperatures that experts warn could cause “mass-mortality events” for some species.

The extreme weather led to more than ۱,۰۰۰ schools in England and Wales either closing or partly closing at the peak of the June heatwave, according to figures compiled at the time by PA Media.

Department for Education (DfE) statistics show one in five sessions of school in England were missed – the highest daily absence rate so far during the ۲۰۲۵-۲۶ academic year.

Experts say closing so many schools puts pressure on the entire community and the economy.

The Round Our Way group estimated that the economic cost of the June heatwave was between £۱۰۰m and £۲۰۰m. It said its impact rippled out beyond schools and teachers to parents, who might have had to take time off work, and the wider community.

Roger Harding, the group’s co-director, said it could not be left to individual schools and teachers to try to cope with the realities of the climate crisis.

“We need to see a plan from government to protect people, including children in school, when extreme weather hits,” he said.

“This needs to go hand-in-hand with measures to cut the pollution causing this climate change in the first place to ensure this extreme weather doesn’t get worse and worse.”

A survey of ۱,۰۰۰ UK parents carried out on behalf of Round Our Way found that during June’s heatwave more than half had one or more child miss at least a day of school; ۴۰% reported children coming home overheated and exhausted; ۴۶% said their children were unable to play outside because it was too hot; and almost two-thirds said summers in the UK were “starting to feel genuinely unsafe for children”.

Teachers were asked about the impact of the June heatwave in a survey carried out by Round Our Way in partnership with the UK’s biggest education union, the National Education Union (NEU).

Jenny Cooper, a teacher and NEU safety rep for London, said recent heatwaves had taken a severe toll on the capital’s schools.

“I heard of colleagues fainting, others shared photos of thermometers in their classrooms showing way over ۱۰ degrees above safe working levels,” she said.

“Our schools should be places where we can learn and teach safely. A place for children whose homes are not safe. Extreme heat and other climate impacts are jeopardising this.”

Lorna Powell, an NHS urgent care doctor in east London and co-director of the Mothers Rise Up climate group, said as a parent and medic the recent “onslaughts of heat” had been frightening as she struggled to keep her two children and her patients safe.

She said the closure of so many schools was changing people’s mindsets. “Most people I know don’t really think or talk about climate change. But when our primary school closed in June, it became a regular topic of conversation. One mother said to me: ‘We just didn’t have summers like this when we were young, did we?’”

Powell said people were also starting to make the link between the fossil fuel industry, its funding of political parties and extreme weather events.

“Once people start to understand that vast coal, oil and gas interests prop up the political parties calling for more drilling, it’s a lightbulb moment.

“It all makes sense and they can see through the bogus information suggesting that more expensive oil and gas will lower our bills and provide energy security when in reality it is making the world much more dangerous and expensive for us all.”

A spokesperson for the DfE said schools were responsible for making their own decisions on whether it was safe to remain open, but that they should do “wherever possible”.

The spokesperson added: “Schools have well-established measures to manage hot weather, including ensuring children stay hydrated, adapting uniforms where appropriate and avoiding strenuous activity during the hottest parts of the day.”