Our schools are a dated mix of single glazing, dodgy pipes and atriums like Kew hothouses. They urgently need retrofitting for a changing climate
This week’s soaring summer temperatures have put a spotlight on our schools and their ability to cope, with one in Hertfordshire telling me that it recorded temperatures of more than 40C. So why are our schools struggling?
Modern schools often have too much glass, and not enough shading or ventilation to keep out the sun’s heat. During the 1950s, the focus on public health (after the creation of the NHS in 1948) meant that schools were designed to bring in more natural light. Windows often have built-in restrictors that stop them being opened too far, or at all, because of student safety concerns. Some schools have glass atriums, which were a common feature of those constructed during the government’s Building Schools for the Future programme in the early 2000s, but which now give the effect of walking into a Kew hothouse.
Harry Paticas is an architect and the founder of Retrofit Action for Tomorrow
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/25/2026 - 12:09
06/25/2026 - 11:54
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06/25/2026 - 07:44
Debate in Labour and union movement over climate commitments as many call for Burnham not to allow drilling in North Sea
Analysis: ‘Act on the evidence outside the window’: Andy Burnham urged to stick to net zero targets if he becomes PM
Backsliding on climate action would drive the Labour party into political obscurity, Zack Polanski has warned, as trade union leaders said more drilling in the North Sea would not help UK workers.
The Green party leader, speaking to the Guardian as searing heat swept the country for the second time this year, urged Andy Burnham – widely expected to be the UK’s next prime minister – to be bold on climate justice. He said any move to water down the party’s commitments would have dire consequences at the ballot box.
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06/25/2026 - 07:26
Burnham is coming under pressure from some to ditch net zero targets but this could be highly damaging on many levels
UK politics live – latest updates
Britain’s net zero economy is booming. The sector is worth £100bn a year to the UK, has outpaced other sectors, and supports higher-paying jobs than the average.
For a union leader to suggest that the man who has overseen this impressive record – the energy secretary, Ed Miliband – would be a “noose around the neck” of job creation, as Unite’s Sharon Graham has done, might seem extraordinary.
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06/25/2026 - 06:31
Temperatures linked to third child’s death in France, where three-quarters of country are under extreme heat alert
Europe live – latest updates
The UK recorded its hottest ever June temperature on Thursday, as brutally hot conditions supercharged by the climate crisis were linked to the death of a third toddler in France and a sharp rise in medical emergencies across Europe.
The UK’s new provisional high of 36.4C (97.5F) – recorded in Yeovilton, Somerset – surpassed Wednesday’s June record of 36.1C in Gosport, Hampshire, beating the previous peak of 35.6C set in Southampton in 1976.
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06/25/2026 - 06:15
Extreme weather breaks MRI scanners and cooling units, as workload rises for sleep-deprived staff on sweltering wards
‘Infection control becomes almost impossible’: four doctors on the NHS heatwave crisis
Doctors have set out the disastrous impact extreme heat is having on the NHS in England, with radiotherapy machines and MRI scanners failing, critical IT systems stalling and cooling units that serve entire hospitals breaking down.
The hot weather has also prompted a surge in admissions and people arriving at A&E, causing severe overcrowding in some places and exacerbating heat-related pressures on infrastructure.
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06/25/2026 - 05:03
LSE analysis highlights litigation linked to energy sources, water consumption and air pollution
The proliferation of datacentres and AI is increasingly at the forefront of environmental litigation around the world from Chile to Ireland, a report has found.
In an analysis of about 3,600 climate-related lawsuits filed since 2015, the latest annual review of climate litigation by the London School of Economics (LSE) found a growing number of cases challenging the energy sources, water consumption and air pollution of datacentres, all of which have related climate implications.
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06/25/2026 - 04:17
Cornwall's housing crisis is forcing young people to live in vans. As second homes and short-term holiday lets drive up house prices, a growing number are turning to van life to stay in the place they love. The Guardian meets young people who say their van brings them freedom but also uncertainty, as they struggle to find water, safe places to park and secure a future
’It can flip quickly from being idyllic’: the reality of life in Cornwall for young van dwellers priced out of the housing market
Some details in this film have been changed for safety reasons
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06/25/2026 - 03:38
Heatwave-related deaths climb in Spain, Italy and France as continent battles another day of extreme temperatures
Farryn Stock
Over in the UK, South East Water has announced a temporary hosepipe ban in Kent amid growing strain from the ongoing heatwave (31C today, 33C tomorrow).
“To safeguard that shared supply and prevent any homes from facing a sudden loss of water, we sadly need to ask our communities to not use their hosepipes immediately. We are deeply sorry for the disruption this causes, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone helping us protect Kent’s water.”
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06/25/2026 - 03:02
A blooming new wave of musical theatre is exploring the plight of the planet with a playful and hopeful approach
Earth is a single woman with a lot to give; Humanity is a charismatic bad boy who turns out to be an inveterate taker. Their toxic relationship is told in Hot Mess, a musical created by Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote, which works both as an eccentric romcom with broad commercial appeal and a serious analogy for our abuse of the once fecund, now depleted planet. A hot ticket at the Edinburgh fringe last summer and now on in London, it is at the vanguard of a newly blooming genre of musicals about the environmental crisis.
The RSC’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind uses exuberant song and dance for the true story of a teenager who builds a wind turbine from an old bicycle in drought-ridden Malawi. Bryony Kimmings’ Bog Witch is a one-woman show with music and standup about the plight of the planet, while in New York the folk-pop musical Dear Everything was a response to climate emergency co-written by V (formerly Eve Ensler) and narrated by Jane Fonda. Meanwhile, in the West End hit Hadestown, hell is strewn with empty oil drums.
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