More than 1,000 UK schools have been forced to shut this week as Britain's punishing heatwave turns Victorian-era classrooms into unbearable 'ovens', with pupils and teachers reportedly passing out at their desks. The mass closures come as ageing school buildings — many without air conditioning, working windows or basic ventilation — buckle under record-smashing temperatures sweeping across Europe. The scale of the crisis has already taken a physical toll on staff.