UK heatwave leaves seven children and two adults dead in water incidents

Now, the dreadful danger of swimming in open water has been starkly and tragically revealed in the half -term bank holiday heat wave.Seven children and two adults died in separate open water incidents as temperatures reached record highs across the UK.Well, these are the locations across the country, from Yorkshire and Lancashire down to Cornwall, where people, predominantly youngsters in their teens, lost their lives while swimming.Ben Chapman reports.

Junior slater, Reko Puttock, Declan Sawyer, just three of the nine people, seven of them children, to have died in open water since the hot bank holiday weekend.12 -year -old Junior had got into difficulties while swimming in the River Ribble in Lancashire yesterday afternoon.His family said, our little blue -eyed boy, he will be truly missed.He was the life and soul of our lives.Words can't describe how we're feeling right now.We will forever love you, Junior.

It follows the discovery of 13 -year -old Reco Puttock's body at a dam near Halifax.His school said he was popular and well -loved, while his rugby league club said, there are no words we can say which will make this loss any less painful for his family and friends, especially at such a young age.At Pickmere Lake in Cheshire, where a 17 -year -old's body was pulled from the water last night, people who live close by, like Sarah, never swim in it.And there are signs telling people not to.

In this heat, it's warm on the top, but underneath, it's cold.It's the cold currents that come up.And it's that that gets you.It's the cold water shock, especially if people are jumping in.

Even before the tragedies this week, deaths in open water were on the rise.New figures from the National Water Safety Forum show that 202 people died in accidents last year and most, 57%, occurred not at the coast but inland in rivers, reservoirs, lakes, canals and quarries.At this swim school in Lincoln, children are being taught survival skills.They're in the water, fully clothed, learning a simple, potentially life -saving piece of advice if they ever find themselves struggling.

The first thing you need to do is float on your back.We call it float to save lives.We float, we make our body as large as we can by making a star shape.We put our head back and tilt up and we relax and stay still.

But perhaps the most important advice this hot half term is for parents to talk to their children about the dangers of cooling off in unsafe, unsupervised waters, however inviting they seem.Ben Chapman, ITV News, Cheshire.