School Closures in the June 2026 Heatwave: Parents' Rights, Emergency Childcare and the Legal Framework Explained

Why schools closed on 24-25 June 2026

The Met Office issued red heat-health warnings for parts of England on 24 and 25 June 2026, with temperatures forecast to reach or exceed 35 degrees Celsius in southern and south-western regions. A red alert is the highest level in the Met Office and UK Health Security Agency joint heat-health alert system and is issued when temperatures are expected to remain unusually high overnight as well as during the day, creating conditions where heat stress can accumulate and pose a risk to health for all adults, not only vulnerable groups.

School buildings in England, particularly older stock, are often poorly equipped to manage extreme heat. Many secondary schools and primary schools lack mechanical ventilation or air conditioning, rely on south-facing windows that admit solar heat gain, and have large occupied spaces where cooling through natural ventilation is limited once outdoor temperatures exceed indoor temperatures. During a red alert, maintaining safe temperatures in classrooms becomes a genuine operational challenge for many schools.

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, confirmed on 24 June 2026 that school leaders are responsible for their own closure decisions and that the government does not issue central closure instructions during heatwaves. This reflects the longstanding position of the Department for Education, which provides guidance on managing heat in schools but treats the closure decision as a matter for individual headteachers based on their knowledge of their building, their pupils and the local conditions they face.

The legal framework for school closures

Schools in England have a statutory duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and associated regulations to ensure the health, safety and welfare of pupils and staff. There is no legal maximum temperature for schools equivalent to the 24 degrees Celsius threshold that the Health and Safety Executive sets as a guideline temperature above which employers should take action for office-based workers. The DfE guidance on schools and heat advises that headteachers should consider closure where temperatures in classrooms make it impossible to carry out normal teaching activity safely.

The decision to close is taken by the headteacher or, in their absence, the most senior member of staff present. Governors are not required to be consulted on an emergency closure decision, though they would typically be informed. Local authorities have no power to direct individual schools to close, though they may advise. The DfE has no legal power to direct schools to remain open during a red heat alert either. The decision in both directions rests with the school leadership.

The financial impact on working parents

The closure of schools during extreme heat events has significant financial implications for working parents and carers, as the existing framework provides no automatic right to paid leave or government reimbursement of emergency childcare costs.

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees have the right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with unexpected disruption to childcare arrangements involving a dependent, including a child. This is called time off for dependants. The right to take this time is statutory and cannot be removed by an employer. However, the right is to unpaid leave. Whether an employer chooses to pay for the time off is a matter of company policy or the individual employment contract, not a legal entitlement.

Many employers do offer paid emergency leave for childcare disruption, either as a contractual right or as a discretionary benefit. But there is no legal obligation to do so and no government scheme that compensates employees for lost wages when schools close unexpectedly. Parents who cannot take paid leave and cannot find alternative childcare may need to take unpaid leave, use annual leave, or make arrangements that have a direct cost.

Emergency childcare options during school closures

Families who need emergency childcare cover when a school closes unexpectedly have several options to consider. Holiday clubs and out-of-school providers sometimes have capacity for emergency bookings, particularly where they already know the child through their normal term-time wraparound provision. Local childminders may be able to take additional children at short notice. For families with Tax-Free Childcare accounts, costs paid to a registered provider for emergency holiday care can be paid from the account in the usual way, with the government topping up 20% of eligible costs up to £2,000 per year per child.

For families who have a 15 or 30 hour funded childcare entitlement for children aged 9 months to 4 years, those hours apply to registered providers and can be used for emergency holiday provision where the provider agrees. The entitlement follows the child, not the school-year calendar, so it remains available during unexpected closures.

Where a parent has Carer's Allowance or is a kinship carer with formal legal responsibility for a child, the same employment rights framework applies. Kinship carers do not have additional statutory rights to paid leave beyond those available to parents, though some employers have policies that specifically extend enhanced leave rights to kinship carers.

No legal maximum temperature for classrooms

The absence of a legal maximum classroom temperature has been a recurring political debate during summer heatwaves. The Health and Safety Executive's guideline of 24 degrees Celsius as a trigger for employer action applies to workplaces and is relevant to teachers as workers, but there is no equivalent specific regulation for pupils. The DfE guidance acknowledges that classroom temperatures during extreme heat can exceed levels at which effective teaching and learning can take place and that headteachers should exercise judgement accordingly.

The government has commissioned work on school building upgrades under the School Rebuilding Programme, which has focused primarily on structural safety and RAAC remediation rather than on thermal performance. Critics of the current framework argue that the combination of no legal temperature standard, no central closure protocol, and no financial support for families during closures places the burden disproportionately on individual schools and working parents during increasingly frequent extreme heat events driven by climate change.

Climate context: more frequent red alerts expected

The June 2026 red alert is one of several extreme heat events that have affected England in recent summers. The Climate Change Committee has projected that heatwave frequency, intensity and duration will increase under central climate scenarios, and that without significant adaptation in building stock and public infrastructure, the health and economic costs of extreme heat will grow materially over the coming decades. The UK Health Security Agency's heat-health alert system was upgraded in 2023 to include the red category, reflecting recognition that the previous amber-level framework was insufficient to capture the most severe events.

Part O of the Building Regulations, which came into force in June 2022, requires new residential buildings to be designed to manage overheating risk. No equivalent standard exists for new school buildings, though the DfE's Building Bulletins include guidance on ventilation and thermal performance for school design. Existing school buildings are not subject to any mandatory retrofit standard for heat management.

The heatwave and household energy costs

The heatwave driving school closures also has direct implications for household energy costs. The Ofgem energy price cap rises by 13% on 1 July 2026, increasing the typical annual dual-fuel bill from £1,641 to £1,862. Families using portable fans or air conditioning units to manage indoor temperatures during the heatwave will see the cost of that cooling reflected in bills that are already rising. A portable air conditioning unit drawing 1.5 kilowatts of electricity running for eight hours per day costs approximately £2.88 per day at the current unit rate under the price cap, roughly £20 over a one-week heatwave period.

For families with children at home because of school closures, daytime electricity consumption increases further. Additional devices, lights, devices being charged and occupancy patterns that differ from a normal working day all contribute to higher than usual consumption. Households on prepayment meters should ensure they have sufficient credit to manage increased demand without running out of power during the heatwave.

Frequently asked questions

Who decides whether a school closes during a heatwave?

The headteacher, or in their absence the most senior member of staff, makes the closure decision. The Department for Education does not issue blanket closure instructions and local authorities do not have power to direct individual schools to close. The decision rests with school leadership based on a local risk assessment.

Am I entitled to paid leave if my child's school closes in a heatwave?

You have a statutory right to take unpaid time off to deal with unexpected disruption to childcare arrangements under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (time off for dependants). This right cannot be refused by your employer. Whether the leave is paid depends on your employment contract or company policy. There is no legal entitlement to paid leave for school closures and no government reimbursement scheme.

Can I use Tax-Free Childcare for emergency childcare during a school closure?

Yes. If you have a Tax-Free Childcare account and pay an eligible registered provider for emergency childcare during a school closure, the 20% government top-up applies in the usual way, up to £2,000 per year per child (or £4,000 for a disabled child).

Is there a legal maximum temperature for classrooms?

No. There is no legal maximum temperature for school classrooms in England. The Health and Safety Executive guideline of 24 degrees Celsius applies to workplaces and is relevant to teachers as employees, but there is no specific regulation setting a maximum temperature threshold for pupils.

What is a Met Office red heat-health alert?

A red alert is the highest level in the Met Office and UK Health Security Agency joint heat-health alert system. It is issued when temperatures are expected to remain unusually high overnight as well as during the day, creating conditions where heat stress poses a risk to health for all adults, not only vulnerable groups. Red alerts are relatively rare and typically cover specific regions rather than the whole country.

What should schools do during a red heat alert?

The DfE advises schools to consider adjusting the school day, for example by changing outdoor activity times, moving pupils to cooler parts of the building, relaxing uniform rules, and ensuring pupils have access to water. If the headteacher judges that safe teaching cannot be maintained, they may decide to close the school or send pupils home early.