Nine drown during heatwave - as thousands face water shortage

At least nine people have died after getting into difficulty in open water during the record-breaking UK heatwave this week. 

The family of 12-year-old Junior Slater, who died while swimming with friends in the River Ribble at Ribchester on Tuesday, paid tribute to "our little blue-eyed boy" and said "he was the life and soul of our lives".

He is one of seven young people to have died in water-related incidents in England over the last few days, after records were broken for May's highest-ever temperatures in parts of the country.

The first reported incident involved Declan Sawyer, 15, whose body was recovered after he got into difficulty after entering Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln on Sunday.

On Monday, a 13-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty at Leadbeater Dam in West Yorkshire, while the body of a teenage girl was recovered on the same day at Kingsbury Water Park in Warwickshire.

South Yorkshire Police said the body of a teenager had been recovered from the water at Rother Valley Country Park, Rotherham, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

A body has been found in the search for a teenage boy who was last seen swimming at Hawley Lake on the Hampshire-Surrey border on Tuesday afternoon - while on Wednesday, Cheshire Police said the body of a 17-year-old boy was found after he went missing in Pickmere Lake in Northwich.

On Sunday, a 72-year-old woman died after being pulled from the water at West Angle Bay beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

The following day, a man in his 60s died of cardiac arrest after entering the sea at Tregirls Beach in Padstow to help two family members who were in difficulty, Devon and Cornwall Police said.

In Ireland, another teenager died while swimming in the sea at a beach in County Dublin on Sunday.

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The RNLI has warned of the "very real risk" of swimming in open water during the heatwave, with Steve Instance, the water safety lead for the charity, insisting it remains "very much winter temperatures" in UK waters.

Meanwhile, NHS England said there were more than 20,000 visits to its heatstroke advice page on Monday, compared with 488 the previous Monday.

In total, there were close to 37,000 visits to the site over the course of the bank holiday weekend.

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Water shortages

The hot weather has also brought about water supply issues, with thousands of people in Kent urged to use water for "essential purposes".

South East Water said around 18,000 customers in the region were experiencing water supply issues, and that some would have intermittent supply until reservoir levels were restored.

Matthew Dean, head of operations control, encouraged those who still have a supply to "put aside some water for essential use".

He said: "We are continuing to ask customers in supply to use water for essential purposes only - for drinking, washing and cooking.

"We have bottled water collection stations already set up and are monitoring."

As well as in Kent, water supply issues also affected people in Sussex and Leicestershire earlier this week, with several hundred homes thought to have been impacted.

Temperatures set to ease

Forecasters have said that while parts of the UK will remain warm on Thursday, temperatures are expected to fall.

The Met Office has predicted temperatures of 31C (88F) in London - lower than the 35.1C (95.2F) recorded in Kew Gardens on Tuesday - while the Midlands and North West are expected to experience highs of 28C (82F).

However, another "tropical night", with temperatures remaining above 20C, is unlikely, according to the Met Office.

It added that while Friday could be another warm day, temperatures are set to fall over the weekend, bringing "some fresher and possibly showery conditions".

(c) Sky News 2026: Nine drown during heatwave - as thousands face water shortage