When temperatures rise in the UK, it makes the headlines.
You may have noticed reports in the news and on social media that it’s time to stock up on sun cream and refill the ice cube trays because another scorching bout of sunshine is on the way in early August.
But should you believe everything you see? BBC Bitesize Other Side of the Story contacted the Met Office, the UK’s national Related to the branch of science concerned with atmospheric pressure and the weather. service for more information about the forthcoming high temperatures. They told us that there's no heatwave actually forecast - although that’s not to say it couldn’t happen. Despite this, there are still reports appearing on some news sites and social media that one is definitely on the way - but why? Let's take a closer look.
What is a heatwave?
In the UK, a heatwave happens when there is at least three consecutive days where the maximum temperature meets - or is higher than - what is called the heatwave A level or limit on a scale. When a threshold is reached, something changes. for that area. These thresholds are not the same across the country and vary from county to county. For much of the UK, the threshold is 25°C, but in parts of southern England and London, it can vary from 26 to 28°C.
At the moment, those three consecutive days of higher temperatures have not been forecast by the Met Office. This TikTok post from the BBC Weather team even suggests that the weather in August may be a mixture of sun and rain.
When headlines present misinformation about the weather
In late July 2025, there were headlines and social media posts about the UK facing a heatwave with temperatures coming close to the record 40.3°C reached in Lincolnshire in July 2022. Although these reports were confident of the summer temperatures soaring to sweltering levels, this is an example of misinformation as it’s only official when those temperature thresholds for a heatwave have been met or passed - and they haven’t - not yet, anyway.
Why is this? The experts at the Met Office are the first to admit that forecasting is never an exact science. Although they can confidently predict what the weather will be like up to four days from now, anything beyond that carries a level of uncertainty. Why is there this uncertainty? It’s because so many weather conditions in the UK are determined by atmospheric pressure over the North Atlantic Ocean. This pressure can vary - a lot - which makes predicting weather conditions far in advance a bit tricky.
Different weather charts are created using different forecasting models. A weather expert would never look at just one of these charts, but a number of them, using that bigger picture to make a forecast of what is the most likely outcome. Here’s some top tips from The Met Office to ensure you don’t fall foul of misinformation:
- Check the Source: Is this information from an expert weather forecaster or reliable organisation? If not, check any claims against what the genuine sources are saying.
- Check the charts: Have numerous weather possibilities been examined before a prediction is made? Looking at just one is not the way to make a forecast.
- Check the certainty: You can never get a 100% accurate forecast and the experts themselves will be the first to say it. They will make a prediction based on the outcomes of many different weather simulations to create the most likely forecast.
Why do people post news like this?
Posting that a heatwave is on the way with an enticing headline and images of sunny weather, without checking the facts with a reliable source first, is an example of clickbait. Different influencers, publications and organisations want you to click on their content so that they get lots of hits - and promising another stretch of warm summer weather while many families are enjoying the school holidays is likely to make people curious for more info.
That isn’t to say that a heatwave won’t happen in the UK as we head further into August. It’s just that even the greatest meteorological experts don’t want to make any promises about the weather that they can’t keep. If we are heading into heatwave territory as the month stretches on, they will probably be the first to tell us - but make sure you check the sources of anyone who suggests it in the meantime.
This article was published in August 2025
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