What's a heatwave?

With the lack of any long-lived heat so far this summer, and the never-ending chatter in parts of the media about upcoming 'heatwaves', 'mini-heatwaves', 'deadly-heatwaves', and the like, what exactly is the difference between a spell of hot weather and a heatwave?

Many people don't consider there to be too much difference, away from us 'weather geeks' a few days of hot weather is enough to say it's a heatwave, but there is an official definition. The WMO (World Meteorological Organisaion) define a heatwave as 5 or more days where the temperature exceeds the average maximum for the time of year by 5c or more. 

So, for different parts of the UK, differing temperature levels can mean a heatwave. 

To check the likely temperatures in your part of the country take a look at your local forecast here.