‘Children were calling for their mummies’: UK pupils struggle in 40C-plus classrooms

Teachers call for schools to be urgently adapted for hot weather amid reports of nausea, fainting and heatstroke

The extreme heat that has hit the UK twice in the past few weeks has left teachers struggling to cope as temperatures in some classrooms climb above 40C, with pupils and staff suffering from heatstroke, nausea and headaches.

Teachers say they have been desperately trying to keep children safe, with some covering younger pupils in wet paper towels as they lie on the floor, while older students have been given trays of water under their desks to put their feet in.