1 week ago
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TOWIE star Lydia Bright has criticised her daughter's primary school for announcing a last minute closure due to the UK heatwave.
As of Wednesday, more than 1,000 schools across the UK are closing or reducing opening hours as Britons brace themselves for temperatures of 40C this week.
Lydia, mum to daughter Loretta, six, was critical of her school's decision, pointing out that an emergency closure 'creates problems for working parents.'
The former TOWIE star is currently on a P&O Cruises brand collaboration trip around the Mediterranean, and told her Instagram followers she has been desperately trying to arrange extra childcare for her daughter.
'Am I the only one who thinks this is madness?' she asked her 1.2m followers. 'At 7.15pm on Monday night, I received an email to say the school would be closing at 1pm on Tuesday and now today and Thursday because of the heat. I'm struggling to get my head around it.'
'Children all over the world sit in classrooms in these temperatures every day, without air conditioning,' she continued.
TOWIE star Lydia Bright has criticised her daughter's primary school for announcing a last minute closure due to the UK heatwave
As of Wednesday, more than 1,000 schools across the UK are closing or reducing opening hours. Lydia, mum to Loretta, six, was critical of her school's decision, pointing out that an emergency closure 'creates problems for working parents'
'Our children happily spend entire days on holiday in this heat and when we collect them at 1pm we're taking them home to houses that are exactly the same temperature. Maybe I'm missing something?'
'I'm currently overseas trying to rearrange plans for Loretta and I know I won't be the only working parent trying to move schedules and commitments.'
Lydia, who shares custody of Loretta with her ex boyfriend Lee Cronin, ended her post by saying: 'It feels like we're solving one problem by creating another for hundreds of working families.'
12 schools across Lydia's home county of Essex have confirmed full or partial closures on Wednesday, with most of those moving to remote learning.
Parents are facing major disruption after at least 578 schools in England and more than 500 in Wales announced full or partial closures amid concerns over dangerous classroom temperatures.
Almost 100 schools in Somerset are shut on Wednesday and Thursday, while around 100 schools in Buckinghamshire and dozens more across Gloucestershire have announced full or partial closures.
Other schools have relaxed uniform rules and allowed pupils to attend in PE kits rather than blazers and long trousers.
This all comes after a rare red extreme heat warning came into force for just the second time this morning, covering London, parts of the Midlands, and south-east Wales.
The former TOWIE star is currently on a P&O Cruises brand collaboration trip around the Mediterranean, and told her Instagram followers she has been trying to arrange extra childcare
The Met Office has since extended it by three hours until 11.59pm on Thursday and to other southern areas across Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex.
An amber extreme heat warning has also been issued for Friday, which covers eastern and central England, and Saturday for parts of eastern England.
Alongside the warmth, there is also a chance of thunderstorms with a yellow warning in place for Thursday evening in south-west England.
The forecaster has predicted temperatures could reach 40C this week and said that the exceptional conditions pose a risk to life not just for vulnerable people, but across the wider population.
Britain's highest temperature on record is 40.3C which was set in Coningsby in July 2022.
In an ominous warning, forecasters have said they expect the 50-year June temperature record of 35.6C to get 'absolutely smashed'.
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