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A survey of 1,000 UK parents during June’s heatwave found that almost two-thirds said summers in the UK were “starting to feel genuinely unsafe for children”.

The poll, carried out by Focaldata on behalf of Round Our Way, found that more than half (53%) of parents said one or more of their children had missed, had a school/college day cancelled, been sent home early, or been told to stay at home because of the hot weather.

The survey is shared alongside temperature sensor data showing that some classrooms climbed above 40C this summer, while several recorded more than 100 hours above 28C. These levels of heat, it is reported, has lead to pupils and staff suffering from health issues such as heatstroke, nausea and headaches.

Many of the parents polled (40%) reported that children were coming home from school overheated and exhausted, while just under half (46%) said their children were unable to play outside because it was too hot.

Commenting on this research, the head of the exam board Cambridge OCR highlighted the growing inequalities in learning due to heat:

“There is the risk of an obvious fairness issue given the impact that extreme heat can have on concentration and performance. It has raised concerns that children’s concentration — and ultimately their grades — will be increasingly affected by rising temperatures, leaving schools without air conditioning at a disadvantage.”

“For exams to continue to be fair, young people should take them in similar conditions. Sitting in a Victorian building during a heatwave will be a very different experience to a modern hall with air conditioning.”

This new data, while alarming, is sadly is no surprise. Round Our Way have now documented classrooms reaching ‘worryingly hot’ over multiple years (see here for stories from 2024 and 2025). No safe maximum temperature exists in schools still, despite a 26C maximum temperature long advised by the National Education Union (NEU).

Polling by YouGov for Greenpeace has shed light on how people’s sleep, health, and work were disrupted by June’s heatwave across the UK:

• 65% of UK adults struggled to sleep during the heatwave, with nearly half (48%) of those losing three or more hours sleep each night
• Just under a quarter (23%) said they or someone in their household felt physically unwell because of the heatwave
• 60% of workers said their workplaces were uncomfortably hot
• More than a quarter of workers (27%) admitted they were less productive, and 9% reporting they worked in unsafe conditions

There was clear support when it comes to improving heat policies and structural measures:

● Over half of respondents (56%) said their homes need retrofit upgrades to cope with future heatwaves – yet 78% would struggle to afford them.

● Almost half (46%) of UK adults said they would support a levy on high-carbon emitting companies to fund these essential upgrades.

● 22% of UK adults were forced to throw away food that spoiled in the heat, went off sooner than expected or couldn’t be kept cool – compounding cost-of-living pressures.

New data from the spring 2026 wave of the DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker shows that 1 in 10 owner occupiers have already installed solar panels on their home and a further 57% say they would definitely or probably do so in the next few years. This presents an increase from 52% who said the same in spring 2025 but is still slightly below peak values in spring 2023.

When asked about the main reasons for considering solar, those who were likely to install them listed cutting electricity bills (83%), the renewable nature of the technology (72%) and reduced dependence on the electricity grid (51%).

Among owner occupiers who were unlikely to install solar panels, the main reasons for not considering the technology were the installation being too expensive (55%) and the payback taking too long (53%).

When asked what would encourage them to consider getting solar, 3 in 4 owner-occupiers named better financial support for installation (75%), followed by a guarantee scheme to cover any faults or damage (50%) and better financial incentives to sell excess electricity back to the grid (44%). These three incentives remain unchanged as top 3 since spring 2024, emphasising that the high outlay cost remains the largest barrier for those eligible to install solar on their homes.

New data from the spring 2026 wave of the DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker shows owner-occupiers are now more likely to say they already have or are likely to install a heat pump when they next need to change their heating system or boiler.

26% now say they have either already installed an air source heat pump or are very or fairly likely to install one when their heating system next needs upgrading. This is up 6 percentage points from the winter 2021 baseline and equals the previous peak from spring 2025. Change appears to be largely driven by fewer people saying they don’t know enough about the heating technology, now at 21%, which equals values in spring and summer 2025 but is down from 39% in winter 2021.

The share of owner-occupiers who say they are likely to install a ground source heat pump is lower, though an uptick from summer and winter 2025 is also observable here: 17% say they either already have or are very or fairly likely to install the technology next time their heating system needs upgrading, close to the highest point of 18% from spring 2025.