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From the rice paddies of Japan to the Acropolis in Athens and the sweltering streets of New York, heat records have been shattered this year as deadly heatwaves ripple across the globe, killing thousands and disrupting life for millions.

Climate change is fuelling a range of extreme weather, from flooding and storms to droughts, but the change it is most clearly producing is more extreme heat.

Last year was the planet's hottest on record with global temperatures exceeding 1.5 Celsius above the pre-industrial era for the first time.

Extreme heat is particularly dangerous for children, who heat up more quickly than adults and sweat less, meaning they stay hotter for longer.

So what does that mean in the world’s classrooms?

Last year, an estimated 171 million students had their schooling disrupted by more intense, longer and more common heatwaves.

In this series of stories, Context reporters look at the effect of extreme heat in the world’s classrooms, analysing the effects on children’s bodies and brains and looking at what is being done to make schools more heat-resistant in our boiling world.