Health and open-water warnings in UK heat
Days of sun-drenched weather brought health warnings across the UK and Ireland, highlighting dangers from both the heat and open-water swimming.
In England, amber heat-health alerts for the east, south-west, south east, London, and the east and west midlands a will remain in place until 5pm on Thursday, with yellow heat-health alerts for the north-west and north-east of the country.
The RNLI has also warned of the “very real risk” of swimming in open water during the heatwave, as people plunged into rivers and seas around the UK in a bid to cool off.
Police forces in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire and Devon and Cornwall were all called out to separate fatal incidents, involving four teenagers and one man in his 60s.
This afternoon, Lancashire Police said searches were under way after a boy got into difficulty while swimming in a river in the Ribble Valley.
The RNLI said that although temperatures have hit record highs for May, water temperatures remain low which could lead to cold water shock for anyone plunging in.
The National Fire Chiefs Council also issued a water safety warning, urging families to speak to children about the risks of unsupervised swimming in rivers, lakes, quarries, canals and reservoirs.
The Republic saw counties Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois and Offaly put under a yellow warning lasting from noon on Tuesday to 6pm on Wednesday.
Officials from Met Eireann also warned of water safety issues from increased use of lakes and beaches, as well as the possibility of forest fires.