13-year-old girl drowns as temperatures set to soar above 30C in UK
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Damon Green
A photo has emerged of the 13-year-old girl who drowned in a river in Bury.
On Friday, Shukri Yahya's family paid tribute to the "helpful and loving" youngster.
Greater Manchester Police said the teenager was found by underwater search teams after officers were called to the River Irwell in Bury just before 8pm on Thursday.
Shukri's uncle, Mustaf Omar, said his niece, who could not swim, was everything a little girl and daughter should be to her family.
Detective Inspector Andrew Naismith, of GMP's Bury district, said: "This is an incredibly tragic incident in which a young girl has lost her life, and my thoughts are with her family at this devastating time.
"We have a team of detectives working on this, but there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances at this time.
"With the warmer weather, it's tempting to go into the water to cool off, but I'd like to remind everyone of the dangers of playing near or swimming in rivers, lakes and reservoirs and would strongly urge against this."
Also on Thursday,two men, aged 25 and 26, died in Torquay after getting into difficulty in the sea.
Police were called by the coastguard at around 2pm to reports that two bodies had been pulled from the water near Babbacombe Beach by the RNLI lifeboat.
Emergency services including ambulance, police and HM Coastguard were at the scene where the men were brought to shore and taken to Torbay Hospital.
In a separate incident in Torquay, two people were said to have been rescued from the sea.
With the country set to see the hottest day of the year so far this weekend, mirroring the heatwave blasting much of Europe, police issued a warning about the dangers of cooling off in water.
The UK could see the hottest day of the year so far this weekend with temperatures set to soar above 30C (86F).
According to the Met Office, the temperature could reach a maximum of 34C (93.2F) in London and the east of England on Saturday.
The hottest conditions recorded in 2019 so far were at Weybourne in Norfolk on June 2, where the temperature reached 28.8C (84F).
The highest ever temperature on record for June was 35.6C (96F) in 1976.
ITV News Europe Editor James Mates reports on the heatwave on the continent
Across Europe, hot Saharan winds have brought scorching weather with temperatures in some parts exceeding 40C (104F).
Meteorologists put more than half of France on alert for high temperatures, while in Germany rescue services urged people to look out for young children, the elderly and others at risk in hot conditions.
Summing up the UK weather for Friday, Greg Dewhurst, a Met Office meteorologist said: “It’s a bit of a cloudy start across some eastern parts of the country but this will soon clear and we’re looking at a sunny day for much of the UK.”
Mr Dewhurst said weather conditions will see an “east west split” with the highest temperatures in the west and an easterly breeze cooling the other half of the country.
Temperatures in Wales and the west country, including festival-goers at Glastonbury, could see temperatures of 30 or 31C on Friday.
In west Scotland it could reach 27 or 28C and in Northern Ireland 25C, while in Aberdeen it will be a cooler 17C and in London and down the east coast 24C.
After a humid Friday night, Mr Dewhurst said Saturday would be a case of “role reversal”.
The highest temperatures will be in the east, with a maximum of 34C possible in an area covering London and up towards Lincolnshire.
“We will see the hottest day of the year so far,” said Mr Dewhurst.
He said the spike in UK temperatures was not a heatwave, which are typically considered to last three days or more.
“It’s more just a hot spell rather than a heat wave,” he said.
“It’s different for Europe because it’s more prolonged.”
More widely across the east of England on Saturday temperatures will range between 29 and 32C, while in the west it will be 22 to 25C.
On Saturday night, there will be a risk of thundery showers in northern parts of the UK, bringing fresher air on Sunday.
Maximum temperatures could reach 25C on Sunday in the south east.
Mr Dewhurst said the outlook for next week was a mix of sunny spells, scattered showers and lower temperatures.