A teenage boy has become the third person to die during this week’s heatwave as thousands flock to Britain’s lakes and rivers to beat the 90F heat.
The 17-year-old was spotted struggling to stay above the water after going for a swim in the River Aire in Leeds last night.
Panicked onlookers called the emergency services at 6.45pm and reported that the teenager had failed to return to shore at the river near Cardigan Fields, Kirkstall.
Search teams were dispatched late into the night, leading to the discovery of a body at about 1.30am this morning.
A teenage boy has become the third person to die during this week’s heatwave as thousands flock to Britain’s lakes and rivers to beat the 90F heat
Search teams were dispatched late into the night, leading to the discovery of a body at about 1.30am this morning
The 17-year-old was spotted struggling to stay above the water after going for a swim in the River Aire in Leeds last night (pictured)
Panicked onlookers called the emergency services at 6.45pm and reported that the teenager had failed to return to shore at the river near Cardigan Fields, Kirkstall
It is the third confirmed death of the week following two others on Monday, after a woman drowned in the sea at Eastbourne and a man died in ice cold water at a lake in Surrey.
Meanwhile, the search for Ryan Evans, 13, continues into a third day after the boy was last seen struggling to swim in a lake in Stoke-on-Trent.
Police said two other boys, one aged 12 and the other aged 13, were able to make their way safely out the water.
A dive team and shoreline search groups in drysuits have been combing the extensive lake for a third day after the alarm was first raised at 4.50pm on Monday.
Naming the local youngster, Staffordshire Police said Ryan’s family were ‘distraught and devastated’, as the search continued.
Chief Inspector John Owen said: ‘It is a lad by the name of Ryan Evans, who’s 13 years old – he is a local male.’
Police are continuing to search for missing 13-year-old Ryan Evans, of Stoke-on-Trent (pictured)
This morning the search continued for Ryan Evans, 13, who was last seen struggling to swim at Westport Lake in Stoke-on-Trent (shown)
It is the third confirmed death of the week, after a woman drowned in the sea at Eastbourne and a man died in ice cold water at a lake in Surrey (Mercer’s Lake in Nutfield, pictured)
He added: ‘It is something no parent should ever go through.
‘We need to make sure they (the parents) find out the information before anybody else. We’re giving them all the support they need. That’s my primary focus.’
Britain has recorded its hottest day of the year for the third consecutive day as temperatures close in on 90F (32C), causing bridges to swell and railway lines to buckle.
Gritters and emergency ‘action teams’ have been put on standby by transport bosses today amid fears that motorways and main roads will melt.
The heat has been so intense that the record for the year was smashed as early as 11am this morning, with 88F (30.8C) registered in Portmadog in Wales.
The same high was felt in Northern Ireland, making today the hottest day in the country’s history.
The sweltering conditions even caused Barton Swing Bridge in Salford, Lancashire to expand, forcing firemen to douse the expanded metal frame in cold water for half an hour to get it to return to normal.
A woman drowned in the sea at Eastbourne on Monday, making it the first of three confirmed deaths this week