It’s 6.30am and I’m looking at the weather forecast again. This summer, loading up my weather app has become something of an obsessive habit.I scroll through the days ahead the moment I wake up, dread beginning to build as I see the red thermometers, warning triangles and banners declaring ‘extreme high temperature’ flash up, declaring that yet another heatwave is descending.As a mother of two young sons – Fabian, four, and Inigo, two – the excessive heat this summer has brought about an anxiety I’ve not felt before, one I suspect is afflicting other parents across the UK.It snuck up on me almost imperceptibly, humming away in the background until one scorching morning last week I realised I was scared – genuinely knot-in-the-stomach terrified - to take my children outside. Because parenting this summer has felt like being in constant survival mode, the unrelenting heat almost apocalyptic. Chloë and her sons Fabian, four, and Inigo, two, have been battling through the scorching summer holidays.Previously, I thought the cold, rainy season was the hardest time to be a parent: mud forever being trampled through the house; the car always smelling damp; trapped, too often, indoors as the weather howled outside. Now, the return of cloudy skies this week has left me euphoric.For months my children have moved through our house sluggishly, searching for the coolest rooms as I follow them with fans and wet flannels. The rooms are cloaked in a dusk-like light due to the drawn curtains, which makes the house feel a bit unwell, like it’s got a perpetual migraine.At bedtime, I’ve learned the children will fall asleep in 34 degrees but not 35. My eldest son drifts off with a wet t-shirt draped over him and a wet towel hangs on a chair in front of a fan in their shared bedroom to serve as a rudimentary aircon system. Bedtime stories are interrupted by government alerts about wildfires.Our garden is laid to waste, the grass dry and brown. Even if the sun wasn’t beating down upon it, this wouldn’t be an appealing place to play.I’ve found myself trying to limit the time we spend outside, frantically hurrying the children from the house to the car each time we go out, sometimes even picking them up and running the five metres of our driveway. I’m not alone in my despair. In June, the National Housing Federation warned more frequent warmer weather was making it ‘impossible’ for parents to make sure their homes were comfortable.They reported that almost 1.6million children in England, including more than 70,000 babies, live in homes that regularly overheat. 'At bedtime, I’ve learned the children will fall asleep in 34 degrees but not 35,' writes Chloë. 'My eldest son drifts off with a wet t-shirt draped over him'While I’ve tried not to keep my children imprisoned in our home, our choice of locations has been determined by the presence of aircon: the supermarket, the cinema, the house of a friend who has an AC unit in her living room.My youngest son’s nursery has aircon and, though normally I’d collect him early so we could have tea together as a family, I’ve taken to leaving him there for as long as possible so he gets the benefit of a cooler space. I feel a tug of guilt when I arrive to collect him, waiting there patiently for my return.I know I’m fortunate, though; other friends’ nurseries have closed due to the heat.It doesn’t help – as we attempt what amounts to extreme-sport parenting – that we’re simultaneously being bombarded with reminders to reduce screen time and give our children the kind of saccharine-sweet, sepia-toned ‘summer of play’ childhood of yesteryear.Only this week, a University of Exeter study found that parents only let their children play alone outside from the age of 11, and only for 25 minutes a week. Researchers warned of the harmful effects of this, saying that independent outdoor play is linked to reduced risk of anxiety and depression. 'I suspect the deep-rooted essence of my anxiety at the current heat is that it signals a future I’m petrified of,' explains Chloë.Which is all very well. But it’s just too bloody hot. Children’s playgrounds offer little to no shade. And my children are listless as the oppressive heat means they just aren’t sleeping. I know it’s not just my family suffering, because the official advice this summer has been to keep everyone indoors.But I worry it’s not just this summer. It’s a scary thought, as my sons ask me if the grass will ever be green again, that our changing climate means this summer may be the coolest one my children will experience for the rest of their lives. The Met Office predicts summer temperatures in the UK could reach 45 degrees by 2056.I suspect the deep-rooted essence of my anxiety at the current heat is that it signals a future I’m petrified of. The burning hot reality of my children’s coming summers is ever present, beating down upon my neck.Experts say such ‘eco-anxiety’, or ‘eco-distress’, is becoming increasingly common. I suppose it’s reassuring that I’m not alone, at least. But it doesn’t make me feel better about the future. Chloë has had to keep her sons (pictured) indoors as much as possible due to the heat. And I feel a bit, well, useless in the face of it. I already shop second-hand, rarely fly and eat a predominantly vegetarian diet. The sense I’m running out of options to make a difference further fuels my anxiety.So as you sweat your way through the next heatwave – meteorologists are already warning temperatures may soar in September – check in on the parents of young children in your life. They may not just be frazzled, but afraid.And if you’re a parent in the same sweltering boat as me, know that it’s OK to be scared. Because, hard as it may seem, our fear will help us change things for our children.