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
On the left, the weather radar for Italy showing heavy rain; on the right, a flooded road
Thursday, 2 April 2026

Severe weather in Italy

Flooding and heavy snowfall
Split weather graphic showing a low-pressure system with tight isobars over the UK on the left and a wind map on the right with strong gusts up to 90 mph, plus a windsock warning icon.
Thursday, 2 April 2026

Gales and blizzards

Storm Dave disrupts Easter weekend
Left: Weather radar from Monday evening – Right: The corresponding wind radar
Wednesday, 1 April 2026

Air quality dropping

Saharan dust coats the Canaries
All weather news
This might also interest you
Weather graphic showing rain and wind fields over the Canary Islands and a central warning symbol.
Friday, 12 December 2025

Storm and rain

Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands
plit image showing a double rainbow over a rocky shoreline on the left and sheep grazing in a green field under stormy clouds on the right.
Sunday, 2 November 2025

Your weather - Your shots

Mixed conditions on an unsettled week
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
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