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Wannabe weather forecasters can play a fantasy league of a different kind this summer, as a new game is launched by the University of Reading.

The Weather Game offers the chance to try and predict the weather in set locations around the world, using data from world-leading organisations. Points are awarded for correct forecasts, allowing people to take on their friends and beat the experts to top the league.

Haboob was originally the name for a dust or sandstorm in the northern part of the Sudan, most commonly observed between May and September during the afternoon and evening. The name is derived from the Arabian word ‘habb’ meaning ‘to blow’ and has been used by the meteorological community for almost 100 years. Back in 1925, a paper titled “Haboobs” was published in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Many parts of the UK are currently experiencing heatwave conditions, which are forecast to continue until at least Friday. So, this week on the Weather Club, we thought we’d take a closer look at heatwaves, particularly last year’s European temperature records that were broken during June and July. What caused this extreme heat, and should we expect these temperatures to occur more frequently in the future?

Photo credit: Rainbow in Lockdown Street by Ollie Bevan-Thomas

The Royal Meteorological Society has teamed up with journal publishers Wiley to test the public’s knowledge of weather and climate through a short online quiz. The quiz will reflect the various themes of content published within Weather.

As the ‘house journal’ of the Society, Weather is our best known and most read publication. The first issue was published in May 1946 to act as a bridge between those having a professional and a general interest in the weather, and others working in related sciences such as climatology, hydrology and geography.

Many parts of Europe have experienced thunderstorms this week with some fantastic lightning displays. A beautiful and deadly natural phenomenon, lightning is simply a sudden, electrostatic discharge - a ‘spark’ or ‘flash’ as charged regions in the atmosphere temporarily equalise themselves through this discharge. 

Convective storms or Thunderstorms, as they are more commonly referred to in the UK, are severe local storms associated with thunder, lightning, heavy rain, hail, strong winds and sudden changes in temperature. They can occur all year round but are most common during the summer months.

Researchers at Newcastle University are hoping to create a record of convective rainstorms this summer and they need your help.