White paint, trees or air con? What parents and teachers can do to cool UK’s overheating schools

Pupils line up with their water bottles at a primary school in Grays, Essex, during a heatwave in June. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

This summer, repeated heatwaves drove classroom temperatures to unbearable levels, leaving pupils and teachers scrambling to cope and forcing thousands of schools to close. School WhatsApp groups have lit up as parents, teachers and governors try to work out what can be done.

Experts agree that in the medium term governments and local authorities must act to ensure all schools are equipped to withstand the new realities of a climate destabilised by the continued burning of fossil fuels.