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A 13-year-old girl has died after getting into difficulty in a river as the water-related death toll reached at least 15 in the recent UK heatwave. Emergency services continue to search for a boy who went missing in a river two days ago.
The girl was pulled from the River Wharfe in Burnsall, near Skipton, North Yorkshire, on Sunday evening. She was airlifted to hospital where she was pronounced dead, North Yorkshire police said.
Julian Smith, the MP for Skipton and Ripon, thanked emergency services and local residents who supported the rescue, saying on Monday: “This morning all my thoughts, prayers and wishes are with the family of the young girl who died in Burnsall yesterday. I was so sorry and sad to hear this horrific and devastating news.”
At least 15 people have died in water-related incidents during the hot spell across the UK, when temperatures reached record highs. South Yorkshire police on Monday continued the search for an 11-year-old boy who entered the River Don on Saturday and has not been seen since.
Police were called to the scene in Mexborough at around 8pm on Saturday and emergency crews from the National Police Air Service as well as paramedics and the fire brigade attended.
Last May, 26 people were recorded as having died in water-related accidents, slightly lower than the same month in 2024, according to the charity National Water Safety. The number of water-related fatalities increases over the summer months, as more people enter the water, with a total of 202 accidental deaths in 2025 – down from a high of 315 in 2021.
Men in their 60s were more likely to have died in a water-related accident than any other group, according to the statistics. Inland areas, such as reservoirs and rivers, were linked to more deaths than the sea.
A 15-year-old girl from Cheshire died in hospital on Saturday after getting into difficulty in the sea off the coast of Merseyside on bank holiday Monday. A woman in her 60s died on Saturday after she and a man tried to rescue their dog from the sea off the coast of Thornton-Cleveleys. Lancashire police said the man, also in his 60s, remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Temperatures dropped on Monday towards the average for the time of year after the heatwave. Forecasters said the first day of June would feel “more like spring or autumn”, with thunderstorms and cooler temperatures expected.
The UK recorded its highest ever May temperature for the second consecutive day last Tuesday, as thermometers hit 35.1C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens, in west London, the Met Office said.
The Met Office meteorologist Rebecca Mitchell said the heatwave was “over”. “Ironically, it’s the first week of meteorological summer starting [on Monday], but it will be feeling much more like spring or autumn and a big contrast to the heatwave.”
Forecasters expect rain, possible thunderstorms, strengthening winds and temperatures about 14C lower in some places compared with last week.
