THOUSANDS took to the water to cool off during the heatwave yesterday, leaving the sand scarcely visible at many seaside resorts.
An estimated 150,000 people were on the beach at Bournemouth, Dorset. Lifeguards and paramedics urged everyone to carry water to stop dehydration.
Inland waterways and ponds also attracted huge numbers for a dip; at least two young men drowned. A six-year-old girl was in intensive care after being found floating face down in a lake in which more than 1,000 people were bathing.
Christopher Jones drowned after jumping into a lake that he was helping to build. He ignored a sign warning “Danger Deep Water” at Paper Mill Farm, Whitchurch, in Hampshire, on Tuesday. A friend attempted to save him but could not find him in the muddy water.
Another 17-year-old, Mark Attwood, died after he and seven friends went swimming in the Aldwarke canal lock in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Police divers were called to the canal, which is a popular spot for swimming in hot weather, after reports that he had failed to resurface.
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A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “This is a treacherous stretch of water and we are warning people not to swim there.”
The six-year-old girl was pulled from a lake at Market Bosworth Water Park in Leicestershire. An air ambulance took her to the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Birmingham. A spokeswoman said that her condition was poorly but stable.
In Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, a 14-year-old boy was taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg after falling under a water wheel at an old mill. He was playing with friends by the Abbey Mill restaurant when he climbed over a wall to look at the giant wheel and fell into the pool beneath it.
Gravesend in Kent was the hottest spot, reaching 36.4C (97.5F) by 4pm yesterday.
In Brighton, pier managers urged teenagers not to throw themselves from the top of a 50ft helter-skelter on the pier into the sea. A coastguard spokesman said: “This is a very, very dangerous craze, especially because it’s so hard to judge the tides and to know how deep the water is, particularly from the height of that helter-skelter.”
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Tourist staff in Kent reported a surge in bookings from French and Dutch holidaymakers keen to come and make the most of the heatwave.
One worker at Folkestone Visitor Centre said: “We have had a lot of calls from tourists from France and Holland wanting to soak up the sun over here.”
It was another difficult day for travellers. Some motorists resorted to picnicking on the hard shoulder after being stuck in huge tailbacks for five hours on the A34 in Berkshire, while others were stuck on stationary trains.
Worst hit were rail services in the Midlands. Virgin Trains had to cancel 20 of its West Coast Main Line services, including 16 trains running between London and Birmingham. A power supply problem in East London caused long delays for commuters at Liverpool Street station.
Network Rail said that there had been 11 instances of rails buckling on Monday and Tuesday this week and that some rails had reached temperatures as high as 50C.
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Network Rail said that more disruption was expected today, and that the problems would continue as long as the heatwave lasted.
Colour was added to the heatwave by huge numbers of painted lady, red admiral and clouded yellow butterflies that fluttered in on the warm winds from the Continent.
Lepidopterists have also reported the appearance of huge numbers of resident species, including the small tortoiseshell, chalkhill blue and wood white.
Dogs reclined under two gazebos in one Blue Cross dogs home as the animal charity erected children’s paddling pools for dogs to splash in.
Penguins at Edinburgh Zoo were given a luxury shower to stop them overheating. A prematurely bald grey seal called Ray refused, however, all of his keepers’ efforts to apply sun cream. Instead, the seal has been kept in a special tank covered in nylon mesh at the National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, Cornwall, so that he does not get sunburn.
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Two trials were adjourned at Leicester Crown Court because the air-conditioning could not cope and more than 20 firemen fought a blaze at the Devon stables owned by the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, after 2,000 tonnes of manure and straw caught fire in the heat.