Body of boy, 15, recovered from Manchester reservoir amid UK heatwave | UK weather

The body of a 15-year-old boy has been pulled from a reservoir near Manchester as police renewed warnings about the dangers of open water swimming during soaring temperatures.

Manchester police said officers were called to reports of a child becoming distressed in the water near the Cowbury reservoir in Stalybridge at around 6.30pm on Saturday. Later that evening, a body was found and identified as the missing teenager.

The child’s family was notified. Police ruled out suspicious circumstances.

At least seven people died in water-related incidents during Britain’s record-breaking June heatwave. Temperatures at Santon Downham in Suffolk reached a provisional 37.3C (99.1F) on Friday after breaking records for three consecutive days.

This follows 15 water-related deaths during warm weather in May.

London’s ambulance service said it had its busiest day in its history this week as extreme heat gripped the capital. The service said Friday’s demand was higher than at the peak of the Covid outbreak and the heatwave in May.

A spokesman said: “The service also responded to 688 category 1 emergencies, another record for a single day. These are the most seriously ill patients, including people having a heart attack or stopping breathing.”

Deaths from drowning often increase in May as hot weather arrives and more people head to the open sea to cool off. It is thought that many deaths are caused by cold water shock because the water remains very cold even if the air temperature rises.

As scorching weather drives Britons into reservoirs, rivers, canals or ponds to cool off, Chief Inspector Helen Baxter has advised the public not to do so. “This is a very sad reminder of the dangers of entering open water,” he said. “We remind the public to avoid the temptation to cool off in reservoirs, rivers, canals or ponds.

“We all want to enjoy the warm weather; please make sure you do it safely.”

Experts have repeatedly pointed out that many people underestimate the dangers of cold water shock. Associate professor of extreme environments and physiology at the University of Portsmouth. According to Heather Massey, skin can become extremely hot after spending time in the sun, but open water locations such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs can remain cool.

A sudden drop in skin temperature after entering the water can trigger an involuntary breathing reflex, rapid breathing, and a sharp increase in heart rate.

“Unfortunately, this is something we see every year,” Massey said. “It’s a known problem that the air temperature rises rapidly but the water is still very cold. It hasn’t had time to warm up at this time of year.”

Research by Bournemouth University found that accidental drowning deaths are nearly three times higher on days when temperatures exceed 25°C compared to average summer temperatures in the UK.

Beyond noting the importance of understanding the risks of cold water, experts advise people to slowly enter open water rather than jumping in, allowing their breathing to stabilize before swimming. They also encourage people to choose supervised areas with lifeguards whenever possible.

RNLI’s “soar to liveHis campaign advises people to roll over onto their backs, tilt their heads back so their ears are submerged, and allow their breathing to return to normal before attempting to move.

If someone else is in trouble, the advice is “phone, swim, throw”: call 999 and ask for the appropriate rescue service, encourage the casualty to swim on their back and, if possible, throw something floatable at them rather than getting into the water yourself.

Temperatures are expected to drop about 5 or 6 degrees on Sunday, reaching 25 to 26 degrees on the east coast and the mid-to-low 20s elsewhere.

Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “We’re starting to see some clean air coming in over the next few days.” He added that the northern band of clouds and scattered rain will push moisture eastwards on Sunday afternoon.

Eslick noted that this “will be a bright sunny day for most people and will actually feel like a typical summer day,” adding: “[It] “We will feel much more comfortable than what we saw at the end of last week.”