NEW analysis has found that Clacton and other southern coastal towns were hit the hardest by rising night time temperatures.

Clacton recorded 25 nights when temperatures were above 20 and 132 additional nights higher than 18 degrees over 10 years, which was said to be attributable to climate change.

The analysis was carried out by Round Our Way, a not-for-profit organisation supporting people affected by climate change in the UK, and Climate Central which is an independent group of scientists who address climate change and other issues.

The analysis found the number of times the minimum night-time temperature exceeded 18C and 20C in summer, June to August, over the last 10 years, 2014 to 2023, is attributable to climate change.

Rachel Dench, the operations manager at Little Pals Nursery in Clacton, has 75 children in at any one time, aged between six weeks and four years.

She said that during the hot weather they try to keep the rooms as cool as possible using "fans, ice play and water play”.

Ms Dench also said the children are more lethargic and become more tired easily.

The nursery has regular breaks for drinking, with ‘ice poles’ being offered to the children to suck on, and ice trays being put in front of the fans to try and cool the air.

Good - The nursery recently celebrating their 'Good' rating from Ofsted this AprilGood - The nursery recently celebrating their 'Good' rating from Ofsted this April (Image: Little Pals Nursery)

Mrs Dench said that in 2022 it was so hot one day that the decision was made to close early and parents were called to collect their children.

She added: "Obviously we appreciated that the parents were working, however, we had to explain that we could not get the rooms any cooler."

Hot - Clacton beach in 2021Hot - Clacton beach in 2021 (Image: Submitted)

Roger Harding, director of Round Our Way, said: “Academic studies suggest we fall asleep quicker, for longer and more deeply in cooler rooms, so it is a worry for our health that Britain is starting to experience more warm nights”.

“While other countries experience higher temperatures they typically have homes and air conditioning designed to deal with this, unlike here.

"It is typically the very young and very old people in our lives who struggle to deal with high heat the most."