On 19 July, BBC Weather tweeted: “Another scorching day ahead in southern Europe. Whilst temperatures won’t be as high as yesterday in northern Spain, we could see highs of 46 or 47C for the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. #europeheatwave” The tweet has had 1,6 million views.
The same day, Monotti tweeted: “BBC tweets a temperature for Sicily which is 10°C HIGHER than the BBC app for Palermo, Sicily. What’s going on?” His tweet has been viewed 1,1 million times.
On the same day BBC was tweeting temperatures of 47oC while its app was displaying 37oC, No Tricks Zone explained in an article what had happened. The #europeheatwave hysteria started when climate sensationalist media outlets, such as Relotius Spiegel, uncritically cited a sloppily and manipulatively formulated 13 July report from the European Space Agency (“ESA”). ESA’s report first referred to “air” temperature and then later specified that it was, in fact, referring to surface temperature.
Surface temperature refers to the temperature right at the ground surface. Usually, weather reports use “air” temperatures which are measured two metres above the ground. The surface temperature is much hotter than the air temperature. In Sicily the temperature reached only 32°C over the weekend of 15 and 16 July – a far cry from 48°C reported, which illustrates the huge difference between ground surface temperature and readings taken two metres above the ground.
“Once the trickery was exposed, Spiegel quietly changed the wording in its 14 July report … It’s clear that the authorities and media tried to pull a fast one on the public but were caught again, thanks to careful readers,” No Tricks Zone wrote.
Read more: Europe’s “48°C Horror That Never Was”…ESA, Media Sharply Criticized For Manipulative Reporting, No Tricks Zone, 19 July 2023
Not to be deterred by contradictions within their own reporting nor by the backtracking of other news agencies, BBC Weather stuck to its script and on 23 July tweeted: “One of Europe’s highest ever temperatures is possible for Monday in Sicily; 48C! The European temperature record currently stands at 48.8C.”
On 25 July, BBC Weather made yet another claim about temperatures in Italy. It tweeted: “The highest temperature in Europe so far this year was 48.2C recorded in Jerzu, Sardinia yesterday. It’s also the highest recorded July temperature for Europe.” The tweet has been viewed 226,700 times.
Monotti tweeted: “BBC weather claims 48.2°C for Jerzu, Sardinia yesterday. Jerzu weather station itself maximum for yesterday is instead charted at 41.5°C.” His tweet has been viewed 187,300 times.
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