False claims that heatwave is bogus spread online
www.bbc.com
Weather forecasters wrongly accused of using misleading data to "drive fear".

False claims suggesting that the BBC has been misreporting temperatures in southern Europe have been spreading on social media.

A clip of Neil Oliver, a GB News presenter, accusing the BBC “and others” of “driving fear” by using “supposedly terrifying temperatures”, has been viewed more than two million times.

For the past few weeks, an intense heatwave has been sweeping through parts of southern Europe and north Africa, with extensive wildfires breaking out in Greece, Italy and Algeria - leading to more than 40 deaths.

Speaking about the fires on Rhodes on GB News on Monday, Mr Oliver accused the BBC, and other broadcasters, of trying to “make people terrified of the weather”.

  • Saik0English
    -6•11 months ago

    I love when people who’ve never lived here act like they know better about it though.

    Temps over 110 are indeed regular here. It’s something we’ve generally learned to deal with. And yes… the dryness of heat makes a HUGE difference in the matter.

    How you know that it’s been a cooler summer (At least in June) was that humidity was up a bit. Now we’re back to “normal” and it’s dry and hot. But it’s about August… and Monsoon season is going to kick in, it will cool down again.

    For those of us that have lived here for a while… you will remember at least a few years where there were 3 solid months of “heat”. This year is shaping up to feel more like 1.5-2 months of that heat.

    • @agent_flounder@lemmy.worldEnglish
      -2•11 months ago

      Preach. Lived in Tucson until after college. I can’t handle the heat like I used to. It’s been a weird summer where I am (Denver) with way, way more thunderstorms than I think I have ever seen, May - June, kind of like how southern az monsoons are in Aug. So I kind of wonder if several areas have had an odd summer this year.

      I remember Tucson would hit 100 in may and stay over 100 until like September. Of course 100 is just a warm day for Sonoran Desert dwellers. The weather station had a contest to guess when the Santa Cruz (or was it Rillito?) would melt (break 100°) Which if you’re from the area is fairly amusing on two levels. (The river is almost always dry)