Girl, 12, dies after jumping into river during heatwave

A 12-year-old girl has died after jumping into the River Irwell in Greater Manchester.

Police were called to a stretch of the the river in Bury at 7.55pm on Thursday evening after reports of a young person in distress.

An underwater search team discovered the body of the girl.

Officers confirmed they are not treating the death as suspicious.

Greater Manchester Police issued a warning about the dangers of open water swimming during the hot weather.

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.

“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.”

Temperatures are set to soar in the UK this weekend.

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.

According to the Met Office, the temperature could reach a maximum of 34C (93.2F) in London and the east of England on Saturday.

A scorching heatwave is currently moving across Europe causing dangerously high temperatures, with France particularly affected.

Three people have died in the country after jumping into cold water to cool off after experiencing deadly ‘cold shock’.

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