Oxfordshire schools extend closures as heat continues

The Met Office extended a red warning for extreme heat to 9pm on Friday, June 26, as unprecedented June temperatures up to 38C continue in the ongoing heatwave.

The latest count saw 140 schools in the county fully or part closed on Thursday due to the heat warning, which poses a ‘danger to life’ even for people not usually considered vulnerable.

READ MORE: Thunderstorms as red weather warning issued for Oxfordshire

As of Thursday afternoon, a total of 13 schools have announced they will be fully shut on Friday, with 35 further schools announcing partial closures, finishing early before the hottest times of day.

Schools announce emergency closures today. (Image: Newsquest)

One of the fully closed schools is Warriner School in Bloxham, near Banbury.

Headteacher Sharon Nicholls wrote to parents, and said: “This has not been an easy decision but in order to keep our students and staff safe in the current extreme heat conditions, the school site will continue to be closed to students on Friday, June 26.

“We have just carried out a health and safety temperature check across site and some of our classrooms, at 10am, were over 35 degrees Celsius.

“This decision has been taken very much in the interests of student and staff wellbeing and safety.”

The schools which will be fully shut until Monday, June 29 are:

• Barley Hill Primary School in Thame
• Bartholemew School in Witney
• Bloxham Grove Academy in Bloxham near Banbury
• Clifton Hampden Church of England Primary School in Abingdon
• Cumnor Church of England School
• Drayton Community Primary School
• Ladygrove Park Primary School in Didcot
• Langtree School in Woodcote
• Lord Williams’s School in Thame
• Mill Lane Community Primary School in Chinnor
• The Warriner School in Bloxham
• Windmill Primary School in Headington
• Wykham Park in Banbury

The schools which will be partially open on Friday, June 29 are listed in full on the Oxfordshire County Council‘s ‘unplanned school closures’ web page.

Many are closing between 11.30am and 1pm, some after the pupils’ lunch break, in order to prevent prolonged exposure to uncomfortable temperatures in classrooms.

Not all schools will have decided on their arrangements for Friday as yet and all current information is subject to change.

READ MORE: Full list of 117 school closures in Oxfordshire TODAY

On Wednesday around 110 schools announced closure arrangements due to the weather, with that number rising to 140 on Thursday.

It comes as the record for the UK’s hottest June day was broken for a third time yesterday, with a temperature of 36°C breaking the previous record of 50 years.

The record was broken when provisional temperatures reached 36°C in Wisley, Surrey, and Gosport, Hampshire, on Wednesday, the Met Office said.