Teenage boy and man die as UK records hottest day of the year so far
A 15-year-old boy was pronounced dead after being recovered from a canal in West Yorkshire.
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A teenager’s body was found in a canal and a man died after getting into difficulty in the sea as the UK recorded its hottest day of the year so far.
Police were called to Stocking Lane in Knottingley, West Yorkshire, at 5.28pm on Tuesday and recovered the body of a 15-year-old boy, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
West Yorkshire Police issued warnings about swimming in open water in hot weather and appealed for anyone with information about how the boy ended up in the canal to get in touch.
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The force said officers were called at around 7.10pm on Tuesday following reports of three men in their 20s getting into difficulties in the sea.
All three were taken to hospital where one was pronounced dead a short time later, while a second is in a “critical but stable” condition and the third has been discharged, the force added.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said there had been 12 confirmed water-related deaths in the last four days across the country, with searches continue for four other missing people in water.
Five people remain in hospital as a result of open water-related incidents, it added.
Its area manager Gary Oakford, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends following the tragic death of a young man this week on Crosby beach.
“Sadly, this is the latest in a large number of water-related fatalities across the country during this period of hot weather.
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Two teenagers died in water in Greater Manchester and Oxfordshire on Sunday, along with a man in his 50s in North Yorkshire and a man in his 20s in Sheffield.
On Monday, the body of a man was recovered from a lake at Pugneys Country Park in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
In Dorset, a man died after falling from rocks on Sunday.
The deaths come after England reached its hottest temperature of the year on Tuesday – 32.2C (89.96F) recorded at Heathrow Airport in west London.
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The Met Office said that the mercury is expected to push 30C (86F) across southern and western England and 25C (77F) in Belfast, but scattered thunderstorms are also forecast to return.
A yellow weather warning for rain has also been issued by the Met Office across much of England and Wales on Saturday and Sunday.
It warns that heavy rain and thundery showers may lead to flooding and transport disruption over the weekend.
The previous high for the year was 31.6C (88.88F), which was also recorded at Heathrow on Sunday.
Local authorities have reported having to carry out urgent repairs to roads which have melted in the heat.
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Somerset County Council said on Twitter that a number of roads had been affected by the heat and that a sunny day with temperatures of around 20C can be enough to heat the roads to 50C.
It added: “The blistering heat has caused some roads to melt (yes, melt). We are doing all we can to protect the roads.
“We will continue to monitor the situation over the next few days.
“A sunny day in the 20Cs can be enough to generate 50C on the ground as the dark asphalt road surface absorbs a lot of heat and this builds up during the day with the hottest period between noon and 5pm.”
Public Health England has extended its heat-health warning, which warns people to take measures to stay cool and look out for vulnerable people, until Friday.
Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and extreme because of climate change driven by human activity, with scientific analysis finding events such as 2019’s record heat in the UK and Europe and the devastating heatwave in Canada and the US in recent weeks were made much more likely and more severe by global warming.
The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since pre-industrial times and temperatures will continue to rise, causing greater climate impacts, without urgent and significant global action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Scattered thunderstorms are forecast to return across the country’s east but are not expected to be as serious as the downpours which saturated south-eastern and central England on Tuesday.