![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_299145428-cb8c.jpg\")
\n\t\tA major emergency services operation is underway in Kent after a well-known local boxer was reported missing after entering the water near Northfleet. (Picture: UKNIP)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tA major emergency services operation is underway in Kent after a well-known local boxer was reported missing after entering the water near Northfleet. (Picture: UKNIP)<\/p>\n
There is a desperate search for a missing young person who vanished in a lake, after nine young people lost their lives in water during the May heatwave<\/a>.<\/p>\n Emergency services were scrambled to the water following concerns for a person in the Galley Hill Road area of Swanscombe in Kent at around 2.15pm on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Officers, divers and forensics remain at the scene as an extensive search operation continues.<\/p>\n A man at the scene, who asked not to be named, said the missing person was believed to be a member of the local boxing gym.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/p>\n Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n \t\t He added: \u2018I just wish young people would listen to the warnings about the dangers of going into the water.\u2019<\/p>\n Junior Slater, 12, vanished while\u00a0swimming\u00a0with friends in the River Ribble, in\u00a0Lancashire, at 2pm yesterday afternoon.<\/p>\n \t\t Junior\u2019s body was sadly pulled from the water several hours later, Ribble Valley Police said.<\/p>\n The young boy\u2019s family issued a heartbreaking statement describing him as the \u2018soul of our lives\u2019.<\/p>\n It read: \u2018Our little blue-eyed boy. He will be truly missed.<\/p>\n \u2018He was the life and soul of our lives. Words can\u2019t describe how we are feeling right now. We will forever love you Junior.\u2019<\/p>\n His former school The Blessed Sacrament Primary in Preston added: \u2018It is with deep sadness that we remember one of our former pupils, Junior Slater, who tragically passed away yesterday.<\/p>\n \u2018Although he left our school last year, his cheeky smile, warmth, kindness, and bright spirit left a lasting impression on both staff and students. Junior will be remembered for his smile, friendships, and the joy he brought to those around him.\u2019<\/p>\n Chief Inspector Jamie Lewis said today the body was found after an underwater team scoured Pickmere Lake in Marston, Nantwich.<\/p>\n He added: \u2018This was a young boy who had his entire life ahead of him. <\/p>\n \u2018At what is an incredibly difficult time, our thoughts remain with the boy\u2019s family, friends and everyone who knew him.\u2019<\/p>\n At least nine young people have died struggling in open water <\/a>since a record-breaking heatwave<\/a> started over the May bank holiday<\/a> weekend.<\/p>\n Declan Sawyer, 15, died after getting into trouble at Swanholme Lakes<\/a>, Lincoln, on Sunday. <\/p>\n His father called him a \u2018funny and outgoing young man who loved his fishing and his football\u2019.<\/p>\n Reco Puttock, 13, died after getting into difficulty at Leadbeater Dam, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, on Monday.<\/p>\n Lightcliffe Academy, in Halifax, said <\/a>Puttock was \u2018a popular and much-loved student\u2019.<\/p>\n \t\t The body of a teenage girl was also recovered from the water at Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire.<\/p>\n A man in his 60s died of cardiac arrest while entering the sea at Tregirls Beach, Padstow, to help two family members struggling in the waters.<\/p>\n The body of a fourth teen was recovered from the water at Rother Valley Country Park, Rotherham, yesterday morning. <\/p>\n That evening, a body had been recovered from the River Ribble<\/a> after a boy, 12, got into difficulty while swimming with friends at Ribchester. He has now been named as Junior Slater.<\/p>\n Irish police said that Abbie Carmody-Pepper, 15, died in the sea at Burrow Beach, a popular swimming spot near Howth, on Sunday. <\/p>\n She was swimming with friends at the time, according to a GoFundMe <\/a>raising money for her funeral. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\tRNLI issues warning over swimming in open water\t\t\t<\/p>\n The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) says that, as hot as it is, open water bodies remain cold.<\/p>\n So, when people take a dip in a lake or the sea, this can induce \u2018cold water shock\u2019 as the body struggles to make sense of the temperature change.<\/p>\n Cold water shock can trigger hyperventilation, a rapid increase in heart rate and a spike in blood pressure.<\/p>\n The RNLI said: \u2018While the air temperature is warm, the seas are still cold and cold water shock remains a very real risk.<\/p>\n \u2018With many school children<\/a> enjoying half term, the lifesaving charity is urging everyone to stay safe.\u2019<\/p>\n Despite it still being spring, large parts of the UK and Ireland have already experienced their first heatwave<\/a> of the year.<\/p>\n The temperature swelled to 30.5\u00b0C in southeast England on Saturday.<\/p>\n Tuesday was the hottest day in May on record<\/a> for England, with Kew Gardens, west London<\/a>, reaching a scorching 35.1\u00b0C, breaking the record set just the day before by two degrees.<\/p>\n The Met Office described<\/a>\u00a0the heat as \u2018unprecedented for the time of year,\u2019 stressing that records are typically broken by only fractions of a degree.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_299145398-936c.jpg\")
\n\t\tDivers are seen scouring the body of water (Picture: UKNIP)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_299145403-e36f.jpg\")
\n\t\tA major emergency services operation is underway in Kent (Picture UKNIP)<\/p>\n![\"Junior](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/706357367_1452253140280507_7351054308311933741_n-0990-e1779908966509.jpg\")
\n\t\tJunior Slater, 12, vanished while\u00a0swimming\u00a0with friends in the River Ribble, in\u00a0Lancashire<\/p>\n![\"FALMOUTH,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_299007148-1862.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe heat has been \u2018unprecedented\u2019, forecasters say (Picture: Getty Images Europe)<\/p>\n
\nMORE: Is the UK heatwave \u2018too hot\u2019? Readers weigh in<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Police \u2018assaulted\u2019 in heatwave mass brawl on Bournemouth Beach<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Too hot to sleep? These Shark fan deals will cool you down fast<\/a><\/p>\n