TravelUK & IrelandHeatwaveAt their peak in the late 1930s, Britain had over 300 active public outdoor pools, including 11 in Liverpool and 68 in London alone. Come the 1970s, that heyday was already endingMilo Boyd Deputy Travel Editor & Commercial Writer08:46, 16 Jul 2026Fancy a dip?‌The latest heatwave doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Temperatures on Monday peaked at 30.1C in Hurn in Dorset, making it the ninth day in a row when 30C has been exceeded somewhere in the country. High 20Cs are forecast for the next ten days.‌There have now been 24 days in 2026 – consecutive and non-consecutive – when 30C has been exceeded somewhere in the UK: seven in May, eight in June and nine in July. That equals the number of 30C-plus days in 1976, which lingers in the UK’s memory for its heatwave and drought conditions.‌As well as creating a perfect environment to think about the fragile state of our planet, this record-breaking run is ideal for a swim.We've put together a map of all the UK's lidos, so you can find the one closest to you.‌At their peak in the late 1930s, Britain had over 300 active public outdoor pools, including 11 in Liverpool and 68 in London alone. Come the 1970s, that heyday was already ending. Rising energy costs and a policy shift toward indoor pools meant many lidos were being closed or knocked down, and by the 1970s the popularity of lidos had declined again, with many closed or demolished.By the turn of the millennium, only around 130 public outdoor pools remained, mostly in the south of England, and that number barely moved for the next twenty years, according to WR-AP.Today, estimates on how many remain vary depending on whether you include public, private, lido or tidal pools. One count suggests England currently has 127 lidos still open, while another puts the figure at over 160.Article continues belowWhile much lower than the 1930s heyday, the number is steady and now growing once again. Most of the newly opened pools are the restoration of old sites rather than brand-new builds, though there are some genuinely new pools too.Over 30 lido schemes have emerged since 2021, driven partly by the Future Lidos Group and lottery heritage funding. A new 50-metre outdoor pool opened in Brighton in 2023 and a council-funded restoration project is under way in Hull.Notable revivals over the years include Hampton Pool, which reopened in 1985, and Cheltenham Lido in 1996, plus more recent projects like Saltdean Lido in East Sussex and Tooting Bec Lido in south London.Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Heatwave