Hundreds of UK Schools Close as Record-Breaking Heatwave Hits Britain

Key Points

• The Met Office issued a rare red “extreme heat” warning, only the second such alert ever issued, covering Wednesday and Thursday.
• Temperatures are forecast to reach 40C (104F) in parts of central and southern England, including London and Birmingham.
• The June temperature record of 35.6C (96.1F), set in 1976, was expected to be broken on Tuesday, with highs of up to 37C (98.6F) forecast for southern England.
• At least 300 schools planned partial or full closures this week, according to a count reported by the BBC.
• Network Rail urged passengers to travel only if “absolutely necessary,” while a major operator linking the northeast to London issued a “do not travel” advisory.
• Eurostar cancelled six London–Paris services this week, citing adverse weather.
• A dead oak tree at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, killed by the 2022 drought, was painted red to highlight the climate crisis.
• Kew Gardens recorded its hottest May on record last month.
• “Tropical nights,” where temperatures fail to fall below 20C, are forecast across parts of England and Wales.
• Met Office officials warned of significant and severe health impacts, extending beyond those typically considered vulnerable to heat.

London (Britain Today News) June 23, 2026 – The United Kingdom braced for a record-breaking heat wave this week, as hundreds of schools shut their doors early and train operators slashed services across the network, ahead of temperatures forecast to reach as high as 40C (104F).

The scale of the disruption, spanning education, transport and public health, reflects the severity of a heat wave that meteorologists have described as unprecedented for this point in the calendar year. With a rare red warning now in place, attention has turned to how prepared the UK’s infrastructure, schools and public services are for an event of this magnitude.

What Heat Warning Has the Met Office Issued?

The UK’s national weather service issued an extremely rare red heat warning, only the second of its kind ever issued by the Met Office, covering Wednesday and Thursday. The warning indicates that temperatures could rise to 40C (104F) in places, a level described as unprecedented for the time of year in the UK. The red warning, the most serious classification used by the Met Office, signals a risk to life and a likelihood of widespread disruption.

The red “extreme heat” warning extends across parts of central and southern England, including the country’s two largest cities, London and Birmingham. Forecasters have also said the June temperature record of 35.6C (96.1F), set back in 1976, could be broken on Tuesday, with the mercury expected to climb to 37C (98.6F) in southern England before the most intense heat arrives later in the week.

How Many Schools Have Closed Because of the Heat?

At least 300 schools were preparing to close either partially or fully on Tuesday and into the rest of the week, according to a count cited by the BBC. The closures span primary and secondary schools across multiple regions, with headteachers weighing pupil welfare against the practical difficulty of running lessons in buildings without adequate cooling.

James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the National Association of Head Teachers, said that schools across the country were having to adapt their operations in response to the conditions.

“Pretty much every school up and down the UK will be having to make some form of adaptation this week in light of the extreme heat,”

Bowen said.

Why Are Headteachers Calling for Air Conditioning in Schools?

Bowen said the scale of this week’s heat wave had reopened a long-running debate about school infrastructure, arguing there needed to be

“a sensible conversation about air conditioning.”

He pointed to the age and condition of much of the UK’s school estate as a central part of the problem.

“We have an awful lot of very old buildings,”

Bowen said, adding that they were

“not really fit for purpose and are certainly not ready to withstand this kind of heat.”

His comments reflect a wider concern among education leaders that the UK’s school buildings, many constructed decades ago for a cooler climate, are increasingly mismatched with the kind of extreme summer temperatures becoming more frequent.

What Is Happening at Schools That Have Stayed Open?

Not every school has closed entirely, with some opting instead to adjust hours or send pupils home early rather than cancel lessons outright. In one primary school in northwest London, which was closing early, temperatures on Tuesday rose above 30C (86F) inside the building itself.

In a message to parents, the school said it remained

“concerned about the welfare of both pupils and staff, particularly during the afternoon when temperatures are forecast to be at their highest.”

The statement illustrates the kind of decision-making playing out in school offices across the country this week, as leaders balance educational continuity against the physical risks of extreme indoor heat.

What Has Caused the UK’s June Heat Wave?

According to Met Office Chief Scientist Stephen Belcher, the severity of this week’s conditions is striking even by the standards of recent UK summers.

“To see temperatures like this in the UK in June is sobering,”

Belcher said.

Belcher linked the intensity of the heat wave directly to the broader pattern of global warming.

“Human-induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense,”

he added, a statement that echoes warnings issued repeatedly by climate scientists internationally in recent years. His comments place this week’s red warning within a longer-term pattern that researchers say is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Is the UK Prepared for Hotter Summers?

Climate experts have repeatedly told the government that the UK is not adequately prepared for warmer summers, a warning that has taken on fresh urgency with this week’s red alert. The concerns raised by experts extend beyond schools to housing, healthcare facilities, transport infrastructure and workplaces, many of which were not designed with extreme heat in mind.

The comments from both Bowen and Belcher this week reflect a recurring theme in discussions about UK climate resilience: that the country’s buildings, services and emergency planning have historically been built around the assumption of a temperate, rarely extreme climate, an assumption increasingly out of step with the conditions now being recorded.

How Has Rail Travel Been Affected by the Heat Wave?

Network Rail, which manages the majority of the UK’s rail infrastructure, advised passengers to “only travel if absolutely necessary” during the days covered by the red warning. The advisory reflects concerns about the impact of extreme heat on rail infrastructure, including the risk of rails buckling or overhead power lines being affected by the temperatures.

Separately, the railway company connecting the northeast of England to London issued a “do not travel” advisory, a stronger warning than the general guidance issued elsewhere on the network. Together, the two advisories point to widespread caution being exercised by train operators across multiple regions, rather than disruption confined to a single route or operator.

Have International Rail Services Been Cancelled Too?

The disruption has not been limited to domestic rail services. Eurostar cancelled six trains running between London and Paris this week, citing the “adverse weather” conditions as the reason for the cancellations. The cancellations highlight how the heat wave’s impact has extended beyond UK domestic infrastructure into cross-Channel rail services, affecting travellers moving between the UK and mainland Europe during one of the busiest periods of the summer travel calendar.

Why Was a Dead Oak Tree Painted Red at Kew Gardens?

In one of the more visually striking responses to this week’s conditions, an oak tree at London’s Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, which died as a result of drought and heat in 2022, has been painted red. According to Kew Gardens staff, the move was intended to “draw attention to the climate crisis.”

Sinead Marron from Kew Gardens explained the symbolism behind the gesture, drawing a direct line between the tree’s death and the conditions now unfolding.

“This tree died in 2022 in a very hot and dry summer, a bit like the one that we’re starting to experience this year,”

Marron said, referring to the July 2022 heat wave during which around 400 trees at the gardens died.
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How Is Kew Gardens Protecting Its Trees This Week?

With the red warning now in effect, Kew Gardens staff said they were taking active steps to protect the gardens’ remaining tree population from a repeat of the losses experienced in 2022. Marron said the team was

“monitoring the health of the trees through this period, irrigating where we can. But obviously there’s only so much that we can do.”

Looking beyond the immediate response to this week’s heat wave, Marron said Kew was also reassessing its long-term planting strategy. She added that the team was looking into

“the different kinds of trees that we could plant in the future that will be more resilient to the kinds of summers that we might experience,”

a comment suggesting institutional planning is already shifting in anticipation of further extreme summers ahead.

Kew Gardens, founded in 1759, recorded its hottest May temperatures on record last month, a milestone that places this week’s red warning within a broader pattern of record-breaking heat at the historic gardens this year alone.

What Are “Tropical Nights” and Why Do They Matter?

Alongside daytime temperature records, the Met Office has also warned of high overnight temperatures, a phenomenon known as “tropical nights,” across parts of England and Wales. A tropical night occurs when the temperature fails to fall below 20C (68F) overnight, denying both people and buildings the usual overnight cooling period that helps offset daytime heat.

The prospect of tropical nights compounds the health risks associated with the heat wave, since the absence of overnight relief can prevent vulnerable individuals, including the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions, from recovering from daytime heat exposure before the next day’s temperatures begin to climb again.

What Health Risks Has the Met Office Warned About?

Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster Mark Sidaway said the scale of the expected impact extends well beyond the groups typically considered most at risk during periods of extreme heat.

“We’re expecting severe and significant impacts from this heat wave, with health impacts likely for many, even beyond those who are normally more vulnerable to the heat,”

Sidaway said.

His comments suggest that this week’s red warning is being treated by forecasters not simply as a record-breaking weather event, but as a genuine public health concern, with the potential to affect segments of the population not usually flagged in routine heat advisories. Combined with the warnings from Belcher on the role of climate change and from Bowen on the state of school infrastructure, the overall picture presented by officials this week is one of an event that tests the resilience of multiple parts of the UK’s public infrastructure simultaneously, from classrooms and railways to historic gardens and, ultimately, public health itself.

As the red warning remains in force through Wednesday and Thursday, schools, transport operators and institutions including Kew Gardens are continuing to adapt their operations in real time, with officials cautioning that the impacts of this week’s heat wave are likely to be felt well beyond the two days currently covered by the warning.