Horsforth school holds classes in church as others close to beat heat

Pupils at St Margaret's School in Horsforth, Leeds, have been taking lessons in a nearby church to keep cool

Schoolchildren have enjoyed respite from scorching temperatures in a variety of unusual classrooms, including a church and cave.

Ingleborough Cave played host to a group of children from a Lancashire primary school on Monday.

The temperature in the Yorkshire Dales attraction is a constant 9C (48F).

Elsewhere, classes at St Margaret's Primary in Horsforth, West Yorkshire, spent the morning learning in a nearby church to keep cool.

Cathy Taylor, assistant head at Brennand's Endowed CE Primary School in Slaidburn, Lancashire, said the school's planned trip to the North Yorkshire cave system "luckily" fell on the hottest day of the year so far.

She added: "Our children had a lovely time."

Sue Jarman, director of the tourist attraction, added: "It's lovely and cool in the cave. When it gets too hot, staff will often go and sit by the entrance."

Several schools across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have closed completely due to the hot weather, which is expected to continue into Tuesday.

Meanwhile, some schools were expected to close early or relax their uniform policy to help pupils in the heatwave.

Yorkshire and Lincolnshire could see record temperatures on Monday and Tuesday, with an extreme heat warning issued by the Met Office.

Some schools will close early on Monday and Tuesday, while others have relaxed their uniform rules during the heatwave

Due to the forecast high temperatures, Bedale High School in North Yorkshire is closed on both Monday and Tuesday.

A Facebook post to parents and carers said the school building did not cope well with heat "on a normal hot day - and the next two days cannot be described as normal".

Meanwhile, at John Spendluffe Technology College in Alford, Lincolnshire, uniform rules have been amended.

Head teacher Simon Curtis said: "The last couple of weeks, students haven't needed to wear their blazers.

"As of today, the students don't need to wear their ties and their top buttons are also allowed to be loosened - just to get a bit for airflow for them."

Some schools in South Yorkshire were also set to close early or to allow pupils to wear their PE kit in an effort to keep cool.