As soon as I see the sun, I’m frightened’: The parents paying the heart-breaking price of soaring temperatures. CNN Laura Paddison In Chorley, northern England —  When the sun started to beat down in Chorley, in the north of England, 13-year old Dylan Ramsay did what many children do when the summer heat arrives: Jump into water. 

On the warm July day, Dylan and his friends left the local playground and headed for a nearby quarry. He was looking for a bit of fun and a way to cool down, but Dylan never came home. He was in the water only a short while before he got into difficulty. Another swimmer pulled him out, but it was too late. On Thursday, as the UK endured its hottest June temperature on record, CNN visited the quarry where Dylan drowned, with his mom, Beckie Ramsay. “As soon as I see the sun, I’m frightened,” she said. “I wake up in the morning and I’m waiting to be tagged in posts — kids drowning, someone gone missing, not been seen for hours,” Ramsay said. As she stood near the gates with two small signs that read “Danger deep As she stood near the gates with two small signs that read “Danger deep water” and “Stay away,” she kept checking her phone. Ramsay, a mother of four, including Dylan, has become someone grieving families often call when their child dies in the water. This year has already been particularly hard. Since Dylan’s death in 2011, hundreds more children in the UK have drowned seeking relief from scorching temperatures in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and quarries. It’s a problem that extends far beyond the UK, and is getting worse as the climate crisis pushes up temperatures. Since Dylan’s death in 2011, hundreds more children in the UK have drowned seeking relief from scorching temperatures in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and quarries. It’s a problem that extends far beyond the UK, and is getting worse as the climate crisis pushes up temperatures. In the 15 years since Dylan passed, extreme heat has become more frequent and severe.

Perhaps nowhere is this truer than in Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent, which is currently experiencing its most severe heatwave ever recorded. In May, even before summer arrived, the UK sweltered under a record-breaking heat wave, during which at least 19 people drowned in open water, 13 of them children, according to the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS).In France, which endured its hottest day on record Wednesday, at least 55 people — most of them young— drowned over the last 10 days, according to a government official. ed......so very tragic, but with climate change and global heating, this will only become worse......read on      https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/28/climate/europe-heatwaves-drownings-intl-cmd