Impact of Rising Heatwaves on School Calendars in the UK

New Delhi, India Aug 23, 2026 ALN: Over the past two weeks, the sound of children has returned to Scotland's school playgrounds. Their summer breaks began in late June or early July and ended in mid-August.

It's an academic year replicated in other European countries too.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, however, children will not return until early September. Their holidays are a similar length to Scotland's but England and Wales schools did not break up until late July, something that meant pupils were in school during the peak of the early summer heat.

Or at least they were meant to be in school. While it was 30C or more outside, inside many classrooms it felt far hotter. With no air conditioning and limited ventilation, the heat became stifling and more than 1,000 schools across the UK either closed or sent pupils home early before the hottest part of the afternoon. Conditions were particularly challenging for GCSE and A-level students sitting exams during extreme heat.

Baroness Brown, chair of the UK's Climate Change Adaptation committee, has warned that "we know high temperatures can significantly impair concentration and performance" of children in schools.

Back in February 2026, Ofsted's chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said the timing of the school holidays should be reconsidered: "It's pretty hot usually in May, June and July, just at the point you're asking children to sit down and take an exam… so I think there is a need to have a good old look at it [the school year]."

The recent hot weather has seen some parents join his call. Andrea Bigger, a parent in London, is "absolutely aware of the dangers" of extreme heat in classrooms. She says her daughter has previously suffered from heat exhaustion and was hospitalized after overheating at her primary school. She is "really concerned that the UK is not ready or prepared for this".

And this summer was not a one off. BBC analysis of temperature data shows a clear shift. In the 1960s, the first 30C day was occurring on average on 13 July. In the 2020s that figure has been 19 June.

So, is it going to be increasingly difficult for schools to operate in the summer months? And is moving the school summer holidays the solution to ensuring pupils are able to be taught for as much of the year as possible?

Longer summer season

This summer is likely to become the hottest on record, according to the Met Office. Multiple temperature records have been broken with five widespread heatwaves and four consecutive months where the temperature has exceeded 35C. This has never happened before.

June saw one of the UK's most intense heatwaves, with up to seven consecutive days where temperatures were well above the official heatwave thresholds of 25-28C - just as the exam period was in full swing. Temperature records were broken too: 38C was recorded in Lingwood, Norfolk on 26 June, the hottest June day ever measured in the UK.

The Met Office issued a red extreme heat warning at the end of June, while the UK Health Security Agency has issued multiple amber warnings over the last few months. The heat then continued into July, with heatwave conditions felt widely for most of the month.

Schools struggled to cope, with some closed declaring "heat days" as temperatures in classrooms became too high for children to concentrate. These kinds of disruptions, or heat days, could become more likely as human-induced climate change brings hotter summers and more frequent heatwaves.

Summer heat is arriving earlier. Will Lang, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, says the "de facto 'hot season' in the UK is lengthening, with increasing prevalence of hot weather - including heatwaves – in May and September in addition to the standard meteorological summer of June, July and August".

It's one sign of a warming climate reshaping the pattern and timing of UK summers.

Poorer performance in hotter schools

Research indicates that high temperatures can lead to poorer academic performance. Studies have shown that students in hotter classrooms tend to score lower on tests and have higher absenteeism rates. This trend raises concerns about the long-term implications for educational outcomes as climate change continues to impact weather patterns.

As the UK grapples with the reality of more frequent heatwaves, the conversation around school calendars is becoming increasingly urgent. Educators, parents, and policymakers must consider how best to adapt to these changing conditions to ensure that students can learn effectively and safely.