‘Entitled’ sunseekers invaded Hampstead Heath’s wildlife ponds during the heatwave where swans were nesting and turned it ‘into a beach club’.
Hundreds of revellers were seen splashing, throwing balls, and letting their dogs swim in the water during the record-breaking heat as the protected birds and cygnets waddled nearby.
People in bikinis and swimming shorts lined the banks beside a huge yellow ‘no swimming’ banner as others, young and old, waded through the water and floated on inflatables.
One young swimmer was stopped from clambering over a swan nest to reach an island.
While a video posted on social media shows a sad-looking swan gently prodding an unhatched egg with its beak in the water after it had fallen from its nest.
The sunseekers’ actions during peak nesting season have invoked the fury of locals with the City of London Corporation being accused of not doing enough to protect wildlife.
Andrew Knight, a veterinary professor of animal welfare, has waded into the row after viewing the clip.
Meanwhile, Hamstead Heath’s popular Parliament Lido was forced to close yesterday because of ‘unacceptable behaviour’.
One regular café user said they heard one person had hit another over the head with a vodka bottle.
Dozens of sunseekers ignored a huge ‘no swimming’ banner at Hampstead Heath to take a dip in the water where swans were nesting
A video posted on social media shows a sad-looking swan gently prodding an unhatched egg with its beak in the water after it had fallen from its nest
Prof Knight said in a post on Facebook: ‘Hundreds of people. One protected London pond. Peak nesting season. Ducks, swans, 12-day-old cygnets.
‘And yet… splash splash splash.
‘Locals are furious after heatwave revellers turned Hampstead Heath into a beach club.
‘Right now, birds are still raising their young. Nesting season isn’t over. Disturbance from swimmers — splashing, noise, dogs, and crowding near nesting sites — can cause parent birds to abandon nests or leave chicks vulnerable.
‘No fines. No enforcement. Just the same people hopping back in the moment officers leave.
‘Here’s the uncomfortable question nobody wants to ask: Are we so addicted to our own enjoyment that we’ve stopped noticing when we’re the problem?
‘Because “I didn’t know” doesn’t work anymore.
‘The signs are there. The nesting season is the same every year. And ‘everyone else was doing it’ isn’t a defence—it’s a confession.
‘We expect nature to be resilient. But resilience isn’t a free pass for selfishness. Is my brief pleasure worth more than a bird’s life?
‘The heath is a home for wildlife, they were here first.’
The video was posted on Instagram account swansofhampsteadheath who hit out at the City of London Corporation.
‘We’ve all known for over a week that this was going to be a hot Bank Holiday weekend, and @cityoflondonheath had every opportunity to prevent last year’s scenes from repeating themselves but they failed to do so,’ they wrote.
‘We are currently in peak nesting season. There are still eggs waiting to hatch, ducklings and chicks only days/weeks old, and for the first time in years, swans have successfully nested on this pond, with cygnets now just 13 days old.
‘Restricting these birds to a small section at the back of the pond makes it incredibly difficult for them to access the natural food they need to survive.
‘Entitled’ sunseekers invaded Hampstead Heath’s wildlife ponds during the heatwave where swans were nesting and turned it ‘into a beach club’
One swimmer stands in the water as swans and their cygnets swim nearby
Hundreds of revellers were seen splashing, throwing balls, and letting their dogs swim in the water
The pond is home to newly hatched chicks, with some only 13 days old
‘COL continue to show they are either unable or unwilling to provide sufficient staff to properly manage the non-swimming ponds.’
They claimed that swimmers are only temporarily cleared from the water by officers but ‘with no fines issued and no meaningful enforcement’.
‘The same people return to the pond the moment officers leave,’ the post added.
‘The non-swimming ponds are increasingly being treated as beach destinations.
‘Large numbers of people entering shallow water damages sensitive aquatic habitat, disturbs nesting wildlife, churns up sediment, and impacts water quality in an already fragile ecosystem.
‘I wrote to COL last year explaining that the signage was ineffective. By failing to properly protect these spaces, they are allowing the Heath to become overwhelmed, making it increasingly difficult for regular visitors to enjoy one of London’s most important urban wild spaces.
‘People travel from all over London to party in this pond with little regard for its wildlife.
‘The Heath should not have to lose its nature to accommodate people unwilling to respect it.’
Sian Whitehead visited Hamstead Heath pond yesterday and said the crowds of people entering the water had showed ‘no respect for the waterbirds and swam over to where the swan’s nest was which had unhatched eggs on it’.
She said: ‘I heard that one person even sat in the nest as if that was something funny to do. The swans have now abandoned that nest as it has been violated and obviously doesn’t feel safe.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the City of London Corporation for comment.
It comes as Britain is set to swelter through another day of blistering heat after forecasters warned temperatures could climb as high as 33C again – following a record-breaking spell that has already claimed six lives.
The Met Office confirmed Tuesday became the hottest May day ever recorded in both England and Wales, with temperatures soaring to a provisional 35.1C at Kew Gardens in south-west London and 32.9C at Cardiff’s Bute Park.
Travellers are also being warned that trains may be cancelled as the hot weather can cause the steel on the railways to expand, leading to buckling and damage to the lines.
As Great Western Railway confirms that it had to put a ‘speed restriction in place between Didcot Parkway and London Paddington because of high track temperatures’.
The unprecedented spring heat has sent thousands flocking to beaches, lakes and rivers across the country, but emergency services have been stretched by a string of fatal incidents involving children and teenagers getting into difficulty in open water.
Among the victims was 15-year-old Declan Sawyer, who died after entering the water at Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln on Sunday.
In West Yorkshire, a 13-year-old boy died after getting into trouble at Leadbeater Dam near Halifax on Monday afternoon. Police said he was pulled from the water and rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
A teenage girl’s body was also recovered from Kingsbury Water Park in Warwickshire, while another teenager was found dead in the water at Rother Valley Country Park in South Yorkshire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Hamstead Heath’s Parliament Lido weas forced to close yesterday after an ‘altercation’
And on Tuesday evening, Lancashire Police confirmed a body had been recovered from the River Ribble after a 12-year-old boy disappeared while swimming with friends at Ribchester.
The tragedy continued in Cornwall when a man in his 60s suffered a cardiac arrest after entering the sea at Tregirls Beach near Padstow in a desperate attempt to rescue two relatives who had got into difficulty in the water.
The family members were brought safely ashore by members of the public, but the man died at the scene.
Ireland has also been gripped by the same early-summer heat, with a teenage girl dying after getting into difficulty in the sea at Burrow Beach near Howth on Sunday.
Met Eireann said Ireland provisionally recorded its hottest ever May temperature on Tuesday at 30.5C.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution warned swimmers not to be lulled into a false sense of security by the soaring temperatures, stressing that water temperatures remain dangerously cold despite the sunshine.
The RNLI said there was a ‘very real risk’ linked to swimming in open water during the heatwave and warned of cold water shock.
The National Fire Chiefs Council has also issued an urgent safety warning, urging parents to speak to children about the dangers of swimming unsupervised in lakes, reservoirs, canals and rivers.
Despite slightly cooler conditions expected in some regions on Wednesday, forecasters say south-west England could still see highs of 32C to 33C.
Temperatures are then expected to remain stubbornly high through the week, with London and the East Midlands forecast to hit 32C on Thursday before easing slightly by the weekend.
The extreme weather has already caused widespread disruption on Britain’s railways, with Network Rail forced to impose speed restrictions amid fears tracks could buckle in the heat.
Britain also endured what meteorologists described as a ‘tropical night’ on Monday, after temperatures failed to drop below 20C in parts of the country.
