UK school buildings at risk: how extreme weather is disrupting teaching and learning

• Category: Curriculum & policy
• Published: 29 September 2026
• Author: Only for Teachers editorial team
• Reading time: 5 min read
• Topic: School building resilience and extreme weather disruption

This report is based on original survey data collected directly from UK teachers through the Only for Teachers platform. All insights and findings are unique to our community.

77% of UK teachers say extreme weather disrupts teaching and learning in their classrooms. For most, it's not a once-a-year inconvenience. It's a pattern that's eating into instruction time, exhausting pupils, and forcing difficult workarounds almost every academic year.

Key findings at a glance

• 77% of teachers report that extreme heat or severe weather constantly or frequently disrupts their department.
• 36% have lost more than 10 hours of teaching time in the last academic year due to weather events.
• 45% of schools are poorly equipped to maintain normal operations during extreme weather.
• 49% can only partially deliver remote learning when weather forces a site closure.
• 45% of teachers say the DfE should prioritise thermal regulation and cooling retrofits.

How much teaching time is being lost to extreme weather?

When you add up the hours, the picture becomes stark. 64% of teachers have lost between 1 and 10 hours of instruction to severe weather in a single academic year. But the real concern sits higher: 36% say they've lost more than 10 hours. That's a school week's worth of learning disrupted.

For context, that's time pupils don't get back. It's not a snow day where everyone knows the score. It's a staggered loss. A heatwave that forces Year 11s out of exam revision spaces. A roof leak that closes one block mid-winter. A localised flood that means the science block goes offline. Teachers are adapting on the fly, moving lessons, condensing content, or rescheduling assessments. Pupils are losing focus because they're overheating. Staff are working round building failures instead of teaching.

Why are UK school buildings so vulnerable?

The reason is simple: age and underinvestment. 45% of schools are poorly equipped to handle adverse weather. The same proportion, 45%, say they're only adequately equipped. That leaves just 8% with genuinely modern or retrofitted buildings that can handle the extremes.

Poorly equipped schools report heating failures in winter, roof leaks, flooding in vulnerable areas, and ventilation so poor that summer heat makes classrooms physically unbearable. These aren't edge cases. In 43% of departments, classrooms become so hot that teachers are moving pupils to other spaces or fundamentally changing lesson activities. Another 34% report high temperatures causing noticeable fatigue and reduced pupil focus. Combined, 77% of teachers are dealing with the fallout of inadequate building design and maintenance.

This is a direct hit on learning. Overheated pupils don't retain information as well. They're tired. They're distracted. And there's nothing a teacher can do to change the building.

How ready are schools to pivot to remote learning?

When extreme weather forces a full or partial closure, schools have to go remote. But 49% of departments are only partially prepared. They have platforms like Teams or Google Classroom in place, but pupil access to devices or broadband at home is inconsistent. That means some pupils fall behind immediately. Others miss lessons entirely.

Another 12% are unprepared altogether. For them, site closures mean asynchronous work packs (if there's time to create them) or lost teaching time. Pupils in those schools are getting fewer hours of instruction when the weather strikes.

Only 34% of departments are genuinely ready: they have active digital platforms and the confidence that pupils have reliable access to devices and internet at home. That's a significant minority, but it also means two-thirds of teachers are working with a backup plan that's either incomplete or non-existent.

What do teachers say the DfE should invest in?

When asked what capital investment should be the priority, the answer was overwhelming: thermal regulation. 45% of teachers say the DfE should prioritise retrofitting insulation, installing heat pumps, adding external shading, or upgrading cooling systems. Teachers know what would actually fix the problem.

The secondary priorities scatter across digital resilience, outdoor infrastructure (covered walkways, canopies), and water management (drainage and flood defences). But the message is clear: UK school buildings are not climate-ready, and teachers want the government to fix the basics before the next heatwave.

What comes next

UK school buildings were designed for a much milder climate. They're being asked to do the job in 2026 with failing infrastructure and no meaningful capital investment. Teachers are absorbing the cost: lost teaching hours, pupil fatigue, and improvised workarounds. The DfE's school rebuilding programme is welcome, but it's slow. If your school has been waiting years for a retrofit, you're in good company.

Your collective voice matters. These numbers show that this isn't a complaint about the cold or heat. It's about instruction time lost, pupils struggling, and buildings that can't keep up with the climate we're actually living in.

Next week we'll be surveying again. If you've got thoughts on what else schools need to weather the next decade, we want to hear them.