Derbyshire heatwave LIVE: Everything known so far about school closures as Met Office predicts highs of 40°C

Emergency 999 calls to fire and resc ue teams in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have increased by more than 312 per cent since the beginning of the heatwave. 

Call handlers received 906 calls for emergency assistance across the two counties between 00.01am on Monday, July 18, and 2.30pm today (Tuesday, July 19).

The average number of 999 calls received in a 24-hour period is 110, according to Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.

At one point, calls were being diverted to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service due to the high demand.

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A provisional temperature of 40.2°C was recorded at Heathrow at 12.50 today which, if confirmed, will beat the previous record of 38.7°C set in 2019 by 1.5°C.

With temperatures continuing to climb through the afternoon we will have to wait to see what the new record will actually be. New temperature records could also be set for Wales and Scotland.

The first ever red warning is still in place across parts of England together with a larger amber warning, covering much of England, Wales and southern Scotland.

With the extreme heat today comes the risk of thunderstorms,particularly in parts of the southwest today and, later, the northeast of England. A yellow thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of the Southeast tomorrow.

Temperatures remained above 20°C in many areas last night and overnight temperature records are expected to have been broken with 25.8°C provisionally being recorded in Kenley in Surrey and 24.5°C in Aberporth in Wales, exceeding the previous highest daily minimum record of 23.9°C, recorded in Brighton on 3rd August 1990.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Neil Armstrong, said “We are continuing to see exceptional temperatures in the UK today and it is important people plan for the heat and consider changing their routines. This level of heat can have adverse health effects.”

“Along with the extreme heat we are now seeing an increasing risk of thunderstorms particularly in the Northeast of England this afternoon (Tuesday) and in the south tomorrow (Wednesday).”

Temperatures reached 36.9°C in Coton-in-the-Elms on Monday, beating the previous record which was set in 2019.

However, the record is unlikely to last long with temperatures set to reach a sweltering 40°C in places today.

A Met Office amber warning for extreme heat remains in place for a second day across a large swathe of the county, with some parts under the UK’s first ever red warning for exceptional heat.

Derbyshire’s previous highest temperature was 34.9C, also at Coton-in-the-Elms, in July 2019, according to the BBC.

Some schools across Derbyshire are shut today as the county continues to sizzle in the heatwave.

Archway Learning Trust confirmed that all its schools will be closed “for the welfare of our students and staff” on Tuesday, July 19.

In Derbyshire, the Trust runs Lees Brook Community School, Alvaston Moor Academy and The Long Eaton School.

Others remain open but are allowing pupils to attend in their PE kits instead of their usual uniform, such as The Bolsover School.

Hady Primary, Hasland Junior School, Duckmanton Primary, Old Hall Junior School, Outwood Academy Newbold, Brockwell Junior School, Abercombie Primary, Brimington Junior School and Brookfield Community School all said they will continue with the classes as usual.

All open access land within the Peak District National Park has been closed to the public as the extreme heat as caused the risk of wildfire to reach ‘critical’ level.

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It comes as some GP surgeries and operating theatres in the UK have already closed after hospital bosses warned that the extreme weather made it hard to keep services running.

Dr Hal Spencer, chief executive of Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I’m proud to say that colleagues across the Trust are continuing, as always, to go above and beyond, but this is especially appreciated in this heat.

“We have responded proactively to this forecasted weather, acting to minimise effects on patients, visitors and colleagues. We have packed scrub uniforms for all clinical colleagues to wear instead of the traditional uniform as these are often more comfortable in hot temperatures; we have distributed fans and temporary air conditioning units across the Trust and are putting additional cooling systems in place to protect the equipment needed. We also have specialist refrigeration engineers on site to react to any issues and have brought in additional industrial cooling units as emergency backup for key operational areas.

“Our goal is to keep cool and carry on. I’d kindly ask for everybody’s support. People can help by taking care in the hot weather and following the advice and guidance. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for working around the clock to care for patients – recognising this is for hospital colleagues but also for primary care and community colleagues too. We appreciate all that the whole system is doing to provide appointments and support each other.”

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