UK heatwave triggers water safety alert after nine drowning deaths as temperature hits record highs

The UK's Royal Life Saving Society UK on Wednesday (May 27) issued urgent water safety warnings after nine people died in seas, rivers, and lakes during days of record-breaking heat. Tuesday (May 26) marked the hottest May day ever recorded in England and Wales, with temperatures reaching 35.1 °C at Kew Gardens near London. Seven of the nine reported water-related deaths in England and Wales since Sunday involved teenagers or young children.

The RLSS warned that in the UK, when air temperatures reach 25 °C, there is a fivefold accidental drowning risk, and teenagers and young adults are proportionately more likely to lose their lives. The National Water Safety Forum said on Wednesday that periods of hot weather often correlate with a rise in accidental drownings. The charity added that inland waterways in the UK have accounted for more than half of accidental drowning deaths since 2019 because the water often stays dangerously cold all year round.

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Police in northwestern England said a 17-year-old boy drowned in a lake in Cheshire on Tuesday, while a 12-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in a river in Lancashire. Local media also reported that a teenager’s body was discovered on Wednesday in a lake in Hampshire, southern England. The recent deaths follow four earlier drowning incidents involving teenagers across England since Sunday. In Lincolnshire, a 15-year-old boy drowned on Sunday, according to police.

The victim’s father, identified as Declan Sawyer, warned families about the dangers of children playing near any rivers and lakes in the hot weather. Police said a teenage girl also died on Monday after being pulled from the water at a water park in Warwickshire, central England. In Yorkshire, one boy drowned in a reservoir on Monday, while the body of a 13-year-old boy was recovered on Tuesday morning from a country park.

Two older adults also died during the heatwave. In Cornwall, a man in his 60s suffered a cardiac arrest while attempting to help family members in the sea on Monday. In Wales, a 72-year-old woman was pulled from the sea on Sunday and died at the scene, according to local police.