Birmingham is experiencing an extreme heatwave, forcing schools and businesses to close until it passes. A wave of school closures have been confirmed throughout the second city, with major chains also announcing shut downs. Below is a complete list of all the confirmed closures for Thursday, June 25.
School Closures
Washwood Heath Academy: Secondary school pupils will be sent home at 12.30pm tomorrow, as they have done today and yesterday. Primary pupils will follow at 12.40pm, while learning will continue via remote systems.
Bellfield Schools: Bellfield Daycare, Nursery and Infants is closing early tomorrow. The school, off Vineyard Road, Northfield, will close at 1.30pm, it has been confirmed.
Oasis Community Learning (OCL): The school based on Wattville Road, Handsworth, will be fully closed tomorrow due to the Met Office Red Weather Warning for extreme heat. The academy will remain closed on Friday to pupils for a scheduled staff Inset day.
Hodge Hill Primary School: On Hodge Hill Primary off Twycross Grove will be closed on Thursday 25th June.
Halesowen College: The college said: "Due to the current extreme heat conditions, all teaching and learning will move online for Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th June. Evening theatre performances are continuing and are being risk assessed on a daily basis."
Thornton Primary School and Sladefield Infant School closing early: An email said: "Classroom temperatures are very difficult to manage safely in the extreme heatwave, despite following all Government guidance. Please collect your child at 1pm TOMORROW and THURSDAY. School will close at the normal time TODAY."
Wood Green Academy: The academy confirmed it will close tomorrow, as it has done so today.
Lea Lift Forest School: The school said: "As you will be aware, our school is in an area currently under a red warning for extreme heat and following official guidance, we have therefore taken the decision to close on Wednesday and Thursday this week. We will re-open once the red warning has been lifted. (Monday 29th June). Temporary school closure - Wednesday 24th June and Thursday 25th June. We never take the decision to close the school lightly, and we fully recognise the impact and disruption this has on our pupils and families."
Birmingham Attraction Closures
Severn Valley Railway in Worcestershire: A spokesman for Severn Valley Railway said: "Due to the current weather warning regarding the area around the SVR experiencing extreme heat over the coming days, we have taken the decision to cancel services from 24th June – 25th June 2026 inclusive. Staff and customer welfare is paramount along with protection of our infrastructure and it is felt the risk in the extreme heat forecast is too high for us to do this. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. The current plan is that services will resume on Saturday 27th June 2026 onwards. This will be subject to review and further updates will be issued later this week. Visitors who have pre-booked tickets, will be contacted via email with options available to them. We shall keep our social media and website as up to date as possible throughout the week."
Wild Zoological Park in Wolverhampton: A spokesman for Wild Zoological Park said: "With temperatures set to soar this week, we’ve made the decision to close the zoo to visitors and cancel our bird and animal shows on 23rd, 24th and 25th June. While we’re sure some of our animals will be quite happy soaking up the sunshine, others need a little extra help staying cool and comfortable. Closing the park allows our keepers to focus on keeping the whole gang happy, hydrated and out of the heat, while giving our team a bit of breathing room too. If you have tickets booked for any of these dates, don’t worry – we’ll be in touch. Ben will also be contacting any schools with upcoming visits on those days that haven’t already rearranged their trips to discuss options. Normally we’d look at bringing bird shows forward to beat the heat, but temperatures are expected to be climbing pretty rapidly by late morning, making it too hot for both our birds and our visitors. The good news: Zoo Tots will still be going ahead as normal! As it’s first thing in the morning and takes place in our lovely shady area, we’re happy that our little explorers can still enjoy their session. Thanks for your understanding while we put the welfare of our animals, visitors and team first. Stay cool."
Greggs Closures
Greggs has confirmed it is closing 11 shops across the UK, including two in Birmingham's surrounding area. Both the 140 Cannock Road, Wolverhampton, location, along with the Greggs in Tesco Extra in Dudley will be shut on Thursday.
