School closure due to heat

Of course we do. It's part of being British. Our weather is changeable and erratic.
And it gives us something to talk about.

I agree Bellasnana that the UK makes an unnecessary fuss about the weather and not just about what's happening here but in other countries. Do France and Italy for example, talk about the UK's weather on their news programs?

I don't agree that Tuliptree's response was nasty, curt or impolite but robust and we see plenty of robust responses on GN.

Comparing the heatwave in 1976 with the one we are having now is actually a bit of a nonsense. It's not just the temperature which affects us, the level of humidity is also very relevant. In 1976 we had high temperatures with low humidity, this week we are experiencing high temperatures with very high humidity and that makes a massive difference to how our bodies cope. I have a daughter currently living on the Sinai coast of Egypt. The temp there is currently a bit higher than here but the humidity is low and there is always a breeze to move the air. She also has air con in all her rooms and is quite comfortable in this heat. I, however, find this high temp and humidity totally draining and am aware that my heart is having to work harder as my base HR is significantly higher than normal.

GrannyGravy13

Bellasnana’s DD is a teacher in Malta.

I have never seen a post from her which is not polite, even on this thread.

I share her frustration with regards to the U.K.’s response to curve balls whether it be a hot day, centimetre of snow, leaves in autumn (rail tracks)

Two schools in the same road, one allowing children to go home at lunchtime, one carrying on as normal. There is no across the board working.

As she’s a teacher there, she must know about the complaints over the years about the heat and schools and know about the hundreds of air conditioning units installed. It’s a matter of opinion as to her post being polite but imo it wasn’t and my robust responses was deserved as was my comment about her being factually wrong about other countries.

Bellasnana’s DD is a teacher in Malta.

I have never seen a post from her which is not polite, even on this thread.

I share her frustration with regards to the U.K.’s response to curve balls whether it be a hot day, centimetre of snow, leaves in autumn (rail tracks)

Two schools in the same road, one allowing children to go home at lunchtime, one carrying on as normal. There is no across the board working.

BlueBelle

You can rest whatever you want Tuliptree it costs nothing to be polite even when you are right

Perhaps you could point out all the politeness in Bellanana’s post? Clearly two sets of standards in operation here,

You can rest whatever you want Tuliptree it costs nothing to be polite even when you are right

Oh dear Bluebelle I rest my case.

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How did we ever manage as kids !!! I don’t think my school ever closed come heat, snow, ice or illnesses

Totally agree Bellasnana we are a country of moaners nothings ever right we can’t seem to handle anything without moaning
Tuliptree you are very curt Bellasnana was giving her opinion which she’s entitled to

Tuliptree

Bellasnana

Why is it always the UK that makes such a huge fuss about extremes of temperature? The weather never seems to be right for some people, they moan about the cold, the rain, the snow, the sun whereas in other countries we just get on with it.

It is 37°C here today with 80% humidity but the schools are open and it will be the same in countless other hot countries the world over, and, no, they won’t all have a/c or shorter hours.

Common sense seems to have gone out the window. I usually sit on my hands and say nothing but I’m fed up of hearing about it.

It’s not just the UK
www.euronews.com/2026/06/22/school-closures-alcohol-bans-and-slow-trains-how-europes-heatwave-is-shutting-down-daily-l
Also how well equipped are your schools for dealing with the heat and what hours do children attend? But basically you are completely wrong in what you post about us - check your facts before you rubbish us.

You can tell Bellasnana, or anyone on GN, off in a polite way, Tuliptree, without adding that nasty final line.

Well well well interesting stories in the Times of Malta over the years about the problems faced by schools in Malta with the heat. Parent groups, teaching unions campaigning for better measures, the government installing hundreds of air conditioning units, concerns about the strict enforcement of unsuitable uniforms I could go on but basically living in a country is no guarantee that you are a reliable source of information as to what is happening there - as we well know from countless posts from UK based posters.

Our grammar school in the 60’s had a summer and winter uniform.

The summer one for the girls was a striped white and green cotton dress, you had to buy the material and someone had to make it. Plus white ankle socks and Clark’s sandals.

I think only the first, second and third formers wore them, the older girls just wore winter uniform, as did all the boys.

No question of wearing PE kit, navy knickers and aertex tee shirt. .

I'm in the hottest part of France, 43° today.

My friend's grandchildren's schools are closed, yet strangely enough, she is taking her DGS to his special Wednesday dyslexic school lessons in the neighbouring town. I assume that's because there will be fewer children in the building, so logistics will be easier, and it's only for half a day.

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Why is it always the UK that makes such a huge fuss about extremes of temperature? The weather never seems to be right for some people, they moan about the cold, the rain, the snow, the sun whereas in other countries we just get on with it.

It is 37°C here today with 80% humidity but the schools are open and it will be the same in countless other hot countries the world over, and, no, they won’t all have a/c or shorter hours.

Common sense seems to have gone out the window. I usually sit on my hands and say nothing but I’m fed up of hearing about it.

I was a student midwife in 1976, cycling miles on a bone shaker bicycle à la ‘Call the Midwife’ doing ante and post natal visits. I would start at 6am to try and get them done before it got too hot.

In my area children are still at school with temperatures of 33+ imagine small class rooms, packed with 30+ kids, no working fans as there was no funding to replace old and broken ones. The teachers were having to buy their own fans to help in classrooms. The blinds on the windows are so rubbish they do not reflect the heat. Large windows and sunshine streaming in. On top of this the indoor humidity is 63% which is not acceptable as at this level it will be providing a breeding ground for all kinds of air borne spores to multiply and affecting breathing and the ability to perspire effectively.
I would have thought, having notice been given with the heat wave alert that head teachers would have made executive decisions after risk assessing and applied common sense. Namely to open early morning and finish by lunch time.
Our councils have arranged for refuse collection operatives to start 05:00 and finish early to protect their staff.
Why as a country do we have to always have to make reactive provision whilst in the midst of a situation, rather than implement advanced planning. Have we not learnt anything from Covid. We have warning systems, organisations, advisors etc and still those in charge procrastinate. Not too dissimilar to the countries flooding events.
Equally parents of school children should plan ahead for different scenarios for childcare if schools should close, is that not common sense.

I am sure that any schools that do decide to close will be providing a skeleton 'service' for those children who can't be looked after at home, just as happened during covid. However, having lots of experience of long stays in Turkey and Greece I know that school begins at 7.30 and ends at lunchtime before the real heat of the day, and at secondary level, there are two school shifts - one in the morning and one in the evening, and these arrangements are made precisely because it's accepted that neither children nor teachers can work safely in the afternoon temperatures of 30+, even with air con in the classrooms because air con units generate their own heat anyway. I wonder how teachers themselves feel - I think when we talk about 'schools' we tend to forget that teachers are human beings and are entitled to their opinion as to whether they want to be carers for 25+ children in unusually hot weather.

Primrose53

It’s crazy closing schools due to the heat. I was at grammar school in the mid 60’s to early 70’s and I remember some boiling hot summers but school was always open. 75% of our school was an old building with small windows and thick walls so it was not too bad inside. At either end were modern extensions with huge glass windows and no blinds and it was really hot. I got sunstroke one summer as I sat next to the window. I think people were tougher back then.

... and if a child becomes seriously ill through heat-exhaustion or heat-stroke - Lord help the staff who will be accused of lack of care. Children's bodies do not regulate temperature as efficiently as adults. The effects of overheating can be serious.

I think schools will be damned if they do and equally damned if they don't, so they might as well ignore the noise and do whatever is best for their pupils / students.

We might well have been tougher 'back then' but I don't believe we had to cope with such high temperatures.

The "oh-we-just-got-on-with-it" brigade are relying on nostalgia rather than climate data.

""It's not a matter of kids being 'less tough'; it's a matter of basic physics. Met Office data shows that the five hottest UK summers on record have all happened since 2000. When we were kids, the average hottest day of the year was 4 to 7°C cooler than it is now, and heatwaves lasted half as long. We simply did not experience 38°C or 40°C days as children, and pretending we did ignores actual history."
from AI - which has no skin in the game...

It’s crazy closing schools due to the heat. I was at grammar school in the mid 60’s to early 70’s and I remember some boiling hot summers but school was always open. 75% of our school was an old building with small windows and thick walls so it was not too bad inside. At either end were modern extensions with huge glass windows and no blinds and it was really hot. I got sunstroke one summer as I sat next to the window. I think people were tougher back then.

My granddaughter’s London school (secondary) is closing at lunchtime. No afternoon school. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Stupid comment

Padstow13 oh dear, someone’s tired and grumpy.

Dammed if they do, damned if they don’t.
Talking to a head at one of our local primaries today, he said the number of parental complaints. “Why aren’t you closing?” would probably be equalled by the complaints about closing if they decided to do that.
So far they’ve only moved sports day to start of school time, and offered parents the option to take their children home afterwards. The school will remain open to all other children.