Home
Weather London
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
Career
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Seeking the truth: Extreme heat, or extreme headlines?

09:00
7 July 2022

Seeking the truth
Extreme heat, or extreme headlines?

Sunbathers at Brighton Pier in a heatwave last year
© picture alliance

A heatwave is on the horizon, but how severe is it really looking?

Through the week, temperatures will be gradually on the rise as high pressure begins to build in from the south-west.

Depending on the exact placement of the high and the jet stream, there is the chance that we could draw up even more heat from the southern European continent.

Whilst weather models at present are trending with temperatures rocketing to around 30C next week, one publicly available weather model, has been showing something a little more severe, with a few alarming 40C figures popping up in there.

This is the first time any operational model run has shown 40C across the British Isles, so has consequently received major media attention.

However, there a lot of considerations that need to be taken before jumping to any conclusions:

  • These significantly high temperatures are still 10-14 days out. Weather models become inherently inaccurate this far into the future, and are only reliable with such detail a couple of days out
  • There are several weather models, each producing several different (and less extreme) outputs a day that many people do not get to see; the significantly higher values are an outlier and not an indication of the average trend
  • Weather model outputs are not a forecast, just a possibility from a range of scenarios
  • The weather is highly changeable in the British Isles; many factors would need to align to produce such extreme heat

Unfortunately, is not impossible for temperatures to soar to 40C in the British Isles. Such temperatures are now a realistic probability during the summer, especially in theme with recent record-breaking heat across the rest of Europe.

It’s still far too early to say whether this has any truth in it, but rest assured, we’ll be providing honest forecast updates as the week goes on.

You can keep an eye on our TemperatureRadar up to three days ahead too.

Weather & Radar editorial team
More on the topic
A marked change in the weather. Cold front heading south. . . Monday, 7 September 2026
Map of Europe showing a cold front stretching from Scandinavia to Spain. Thunderstorms are shown in southern and central Europe.
Monday, 7 September 2026

Cold front heading south

A marked change in the weather
Autumn arrives with vivid colour. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday, 6 September 2026
Split image showing peach-lit textured clouds above silhouetted trees and golden cumulus clouds reflected in a calm canal lined with boats.
Sunday, 6 September 2026

Your weather - Your shots

Autumn arrives with vivid colour
Warm waters raise severe weather risk. Mediterranean bathtub. . . Friday, 4 September 2026
Left: Map showing water temperatures in the Mediterranean; Right: Dark clouds over a stretch of Mediterranean coastline. A bolt of lightning strikes and a curtain of rain can be seen.
Friday, 4 September 2026

Mediterranean bathtub

Warm waters raise severe weather risk
All weather news
This might also interest you
Bright and warm conditions take hold. Spring-like outlook. . . Thursday, 23 April 2026
Split UK map showing warm temperatures up to 21 degrees in orange on the left and clear sunny conditions with temperatures from 12 to 18 degrees on the right, with sun icons across the country.
Thursday, 23 April 2026

Spring-like outlook

Bright and warm conditions take hold
Storm Chandra makes impact. Severe gales & heavy rain. . . Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Split image showing strong winds over the UK on a forecast map and widespread rain and snow on a weather radar map.
Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Severe gales & heavy rain

Storm Chandra makes impact
Historic Storm Éowyn arrives. On this day.... . . Saturday, 24 January 2026
Split image showing a person in a yellow jacket struggling against strong winds and heavy rain on a street at night on the left, and an Irish wind forecast map on the right with red and purple shading, gusts up to 75 mph, and a wind warning icon, divided by a curved white line.
Saturday, 24 January 2026

On this day...

Historic Storm Éowyn arrives
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwittertikToklinkList