{"id":653175,"date":"2026-06-23T01:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/653175\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T01:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:32:14","slug":"heatwave-in-the-south-schools-closing-and-wildfire-warning-as-temperatures-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/653175\/","title":{"rendered":"Heatwave in the South: Schools closing and wildfire warning as temperatures soar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Schools announce heat-related closurespublished at 15:58 BST 22 June<\/p>\n<p>15:58 BST 22 June<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Henry Box School in Witney\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0a36aa08-10f2-401f-bdaf-1d8cd21b0381.jpg.webp\"  width=\"787\" height=\"443\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, The Henry Box SchoolImage caption, <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Henry Box School in Witney will close on Wednesday<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Schools across Oxfordshire and Hampshire have closures and early finishes this week due to extreme heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Headteachers have cited concerns over the safety and the comfort of pupils and staff, with some schools relaxing uniform rules and adding extra water stations as well as cutting the day short.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Education reporter Vanessa Clarke said the government does not normally advise schools to close, and that most of the time the heat can be managed safely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But she said schools are expected to adapt to keep pupils safe and comfortable, with many already relaxing uniform rules and asking children to bring sunscreen and sun hats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Older school buildings, which can be harder to keep cool, will often have had staff in early opening doors and windows to keep air moving,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Guidance from the UK Health Security Agency says schools may need to close their windows later in the day if it becomes hotter outside than in, and that fans should not be used once temperatures pass 35\u00b0C.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Lessons may be moved to cooler parts of a school, and hot meals could be swapped for cooler options. Some schools may also change their start and finish times to avoid the worst of the heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Oxfordshire<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Henry Box School, a secondary school in Witney, will close at 11:30 BST on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In a letter to parents, headteacher Wendy Hemmingsley highlighted the warnings issued by the Met Office and said the safety of students and staff is the school&#8217;s &#8220;highest priority&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">She said rising temperatures can make learning environments &#8220;increasingly uncomfortable&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Outside of the closure, Hemmingsley said students could wear PE kits to help keep cool and said the school was installing additional water stations around the building.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Ducklington Primary School has announced a closure from 13:15 on Tuesday and said it would consider its position regarding the rest of the week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Hampshire<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Eggar&#8217;s School in Alton is closing from 13:00 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Grateley Primary School in Test Valley is bringing forward collection to 13:15 on Wednesday and Thursday, citing the red weather warning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Cranbourne School in Basingstoke will close at 12:50 on Wednesday and Thursday, while Crestwood Community School, near Eastleigh, will close at 13:00 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Schools announce heat-related closurespublished at 15:58 BST 22 June 15:58 BST 22 June Image source, The Henry Box&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-653175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}