Hertfordshire recycling centre hours change due to heat

The county is currently covered by a red weather warning for extreme heat, along with the rest of southern and central England and much of Wales.

According to the Met Office, temperatures in some places are expected to exceed 39°C.

A Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “Most of our services are running as normal, but we have made some temporary adjustments to a few services to keep the public and our staff safe during the extremely hot weather.

“This includes revised opening hours at recycling centres, as well as the temporary closure of four community libraries. We’d encourage residents to check our website for the latest updates."

A number of special schools have closed this week, as a result of the extreme weather, with all schools being asked to make “reasonable adjustments” for the heat, where necessary.

Gritters are on standby across the county in order to apply grit to stretches of the highway where the weather may have softened the asphalt road surface.

In addition, the county council has decided to close all recycling centres between 1pm and 3pm,  “to avoid the hottest part of the day”.

Those two-hour closures will remain in place at all of the county’s recycling centres on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, four of the county’s libraries will also remain either closed or partly closed “over the next couple of days”.

They are Leverstock Green Library, London Colney Community Library, Redbourn Community Library and Wheathampstead Community Library.

“We appreciate the public’s understanding, and we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused; however, keeping everyone safe is our priority," the county council spokesperson added.

“Based on the current weather forecast, we expect all our services to be back to normal on Saturday.”

Advice on how to stay safe during the hot weather can be found on the county council’s website, at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/hotweather