UK classrooms have recorded temperatures above 40C during recent heatwaves, leaving teachers struggling to cope with pupils suffering from heatstroke, nausea, and headaches, according to reports from educators across the country.
Teachers Describe Desperate Measures
Teachers report 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 cool their feet. Staff say learning becomes nearly impossible on the hottest days, with pupil behaviour and attention deteriorating rapidly.
One primary school teacher stated: “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.”
School Buildings Unfit for Heat
Many school buildings are unable to cope with the heat due to little or no shade, large glass windows, poor insulation, and playgrounds covered in artificial grass or concrete that exacerbate temperatures. Most schools lack air conditioning. The government’s climate advisers have recommended installing air conditioning in all schools within 25 years, noting that the country is “built for a climate that no longer exists.”
One teacher remarked: “No one seems to know how to cool the buildings. Changes to the fabric of the building and the planting of trees instead of the hot expanse of the playground are needed.” Another added: “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.”
Widespread School Closures and Absences
During the peak of the June heatwave, more than 1,000 schools in England and Wales either closed or partially closed, according to figures from PA Media. Department for Education statistics show one in five sessions of school in England were missed, the highest daily absence rate of the 2025-26 academic year. Experts say such closures put pressure on communities and the economy.
The Round Our Way group estimates the economic cost of the June heatwave at between £100m and £200m, affecting parents who had to take time off work and the wider community. Roger Harding, the group’s co-director, stated: “We need to see a plan from government to protect people, including children in school, when extreme weather hits. 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.”
Parent and Teacher Surveys Highlight Concerns
A survey of 1,000 UK parents by Round Our Way found that during the June heatwave, more than half had at least one child miss a day of school; 40% reported children coming home overheated and exhausted; 46% said children could not play outside due to heat; and nearly two-thirds felt UK summers were “starting to feel genuinely unsafe for children.”
Jenny Cooper, a teacher and National Education Union safety rep for London, said: “I heard of colleagues fainting, others shared photos of thermometers in their classrooms showing way over 10 degrees above safe working levels. 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.”
Medical and Climate Perspectives
Lorna Powell, an NHS urgent care doctor in east London and co-director of Mothers Rise Up, described the recent heat as frightening. She noted that school closures were changing 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 added that people are linking fossil fuel funding of political parties to extreme weather: “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.”
Government Response
A Department for Education spokesperson said schools are responsible for deciding whether to remain open but should do so “wherever possible.” They 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.”
