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?

12:00
5 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
Record ocean heat halting hurricanes. Strong El Niño influence. . . Friday, 11 September 2026
A weather map shows a calm Atlantic Ocean with no hurricanes, alongside a picture of the sea.
Friday, 11 September 2026

Strong El Niño influence

Record ocean heat halting hurricanes
Hottest summer on record for Ireland. Beating 2025's record. . . Thursday, 3 September 2026
Temperature map of Ireland showing 29°C in Dublin, 26°C in Cork, 24°C in Belfast, and 23°C in Galway, with a red thermometer icon.
Thursday, 3 September 2026

Beating 2025's record

Hottest summer on record for Ireland
More rain needed to ease drought. Reservoirs still falling. . . Tuesday, 8 September 2026
Aerial view of a depleted reservoir with exposed banks and a narrow winding stream through the dry basin, surrounded by green hills and roads.
Tuesday, 8 September 2026

Reservoirs still falling

More rain needed to ease drought
All weather news
This might also interest you
A stormy week in the skies above. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday, 30 August 2026
Split image showing lightning branching beneath dark storm clouds above rooftops on the left and an orange-pink sunset over a calm sea on the right.
Sunday, 30 August 2026

Your weather - Your shots

A stormy week in the skies above
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
Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan. Up to 1,000 mm of rain. . . Wednesday, 8 July 2026
The image shows an intense tropical cyclone over the western Pacific, east of Taiwan and the Philippines. The centre of the system is depicted as a light purple and white vortex with a clearly visible eye, surrounded by a ring of red and orange areas indicating the strongest wind speeds. A white arrow marks the typhoon’s predicted track towards the north-west, in the direction of Taiwan. To the west of the storm lie the Philippines, with the cities of Manila and Cebu; to the north of these lies Taiwan, with Taipei. Further west, the Chinese coast, including Hong Kong, and parts of Vietnam can be seen. The coloured wind map shows predominantly green areas outside the storm’s core, indicating significantly weaker winds. White streamlines illustrate the typhoon’s anti-clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. The highest wind speeds are concentrated around the eye of the cyclone.
Wednesday, 8 July 2026

Up to 1,000 mm of rain

Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan
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