A 13-year-old girl has died after getting into difficulty in the River Wharfe in Burnsall, near Skipton, North Yorkshire, on Sunday evening. She was airlifted to hospital where she was pronounced dead, North Yorkshire police said. The incident brings the number of water-related deaths during the recent UK heatwave to at least 15.
Emergency services continue to search for an 11-year-old boy who entered the River Don in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, on Saturday and has not been seen since. Police were called at around 8pm and crews from the National Police Air Service, paramedics and the fire brigade attended.
Julian Smith, the MP for Skipton and Ripon, expressed his condolences, saying: 'This morning all my thoughts, prayers and wishes are with the family of the young girl who died in Burnsall yesterday.' The heatwave saw record temperatures, including the highest ever May temperature of 35.1C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens.
Other fatalities include a 15-year-old girl from Cheshire who died in hospital after getting into difficulty in the sea off Merseyside on bank holiday Monday, and a woman in her 60s who died while trying to rescue her dog from the sea off Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire. Her male companion, also in his 60s, remains in critical condition.
The heatwave is now over, with meteorologists forecasting cooler temperatures, rain, and possible thunderstorms. The Met Office's Rebecca Mitchell said the first day of June would feel 'more like spring or autumn' compared to last week's heat.
