Water safety experts warn of dangers of outdoor swimming as heatwave grips UK

Water safety experts have warned about the dangers of outdoor swimming after a number of drownings in recent days as people try to escape soaring temperatures by cooling off in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water. Emergency services have reported at least nine deaths because of water-related incidents in the past few days, seven of them young people, as Britain’s heatwave sends crowds of people to the seaside and other swimming spots. On Wednesday, Cheshire Constabulary said they had recovered a body after searching for a 17-year-old boy who was last seen in the water at Pick Mere, a lake in Northwich. This week, a teenage girl and five boys died in separate incidents in Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Hampshire, Lincolnshire and Lancashire. And on Monday, a man in his 60s died after suffering cardiac arrest having entered the water at Tregirls Beach near Padstow, in Cornwall, to help two relatives who had got into trouble. On Sunday, a 72-year-old woman died after being pulled from the water at West Angle Bay beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Dr Heather Massey, an associate professor in extreme environments and physiology at the University of Portsmouth, urged parents to ensure children visited supervised swimming locations where lifeguards were on hand, and that they knew what to do if they or others got into difficulty in the water. Deaths from drowning often rise in May as hot weather arrives and more people head to open water locations to cool down. …