Heatwaves and Thunderstorms: Which Publishers Captured the UK’s Weather Focus on Google?
23. June 2025Between June 20 and 22, the United Kingdom faced extreme weather conditions, with temperatures surpassing 33°C in parts of the country, followed by sudden thunderstorms and multiple yellow warnings issued by the Met Office. The abrupt shift from heatwave to storm chaos sparked widespread media attention, social media discussion, and public demand for timely weather updates.
To examine how this weather event was reflected in Google’s search landscape, we analyzed the UK mobile SERPs over the course of the weekend using the Trisolute News Dashboard. This analysis includes all relevant ranking types visible on mobile devices, such as News Boxes (Headline, Text, Carousel), Video Boxes, Publisher and other Carousels, Web Stories, Featured Snippets, Visual Digests, and organic results. The goal was to identify which publishers and platforms achieved the highest visibility and which keyword strategies dominated during this high-interest period.
Keywords that ranked for UK weather
This list contains the keywords that generated rankings on the UK mobile SERPs in the time period from June 20 to June 22 and were thematically related to the UK weather. The keywords are sorted in descending order according to their number of rankings. The ranking values in brackets after the keywords represent the number of different appearances on a 15-minute basis in the visible area of the mobile SERPs.
Between June 20 and 22, a total of 15 keywords related to the topic of UK weather generated 6,570 appearances on Google’s mobile SERPs. The keyword list clearly reflects the central themes dominating coverage during this period: the intense heatwave and the resulting thunderstorms. With “heatwave” (1,817 rankings) and “uk weather” (1,236) leading the list, the focus was split between broader meteorological conditions and the more specific impacts of rising temperatures. Several variants also highlight public safety concerns, such as “heatwave warning” (660), “uk thunderstorm warning” (283), and “thunderstorm warning uk” (168), all of which emphasize the role of official alerts in driving visibility. More general terms like “weather,” “temperatures,” and “heat” underline the widespread relevance of the topic across different angles of reporting—from forecasts and live updates to health risks and infrastructure effects.
Let’s now take a look at which publishers were able to gain the most visibility based on those keywords.
Top publishers on the weekend’s UK weather
Top 10 publishers and platforms on UK weather news on mobile SERPs
Before diving into the news publisher-specific performance, it’s worth noting that several non-editorial platforms also ranked among the ten most visible domains in the UK mobile SERPs. YouTube secured 2nd place with 12.22% visibility, followed by the Met Office in 3rd with 10.30%, and X (formerly Twitter) in 10th place with 2.39%. These results reflect the continued relevance of official sources and social platforms during live weather events, especially for visual content, real-time updates, and official warnings. Here are some insights into the top news publishers that were most visible on the weekend’s UK weather:
- BBC (bbc.co.uk)
BBC.co.uk achieved the highest visibility of all publishers with 12.75%. The outlet peaked at 7 p.m. on June 22 with 57.98% visibility—the highest individual peak recorded in the dataset. It reached 940 keyword rankings overall, with “uk weather” being the top term (287 rankings), accounting for 23% of all publisher rankings for that keyword. The most visible article focused on rising temperatures and weather warnings: “UK weather: Temperatures surpass 33C as storm warning kicks in.” - Sky (sky.com)
Sky reached 10.25% visibility, with its highest share on June 20 at 6 p.m. (34.88%). The outlet ranked 518 times, most prominently “heatwave” (166 rankings), which represented 9% of all rankings for that term. Its most visible article warned of storm alerts in the context of rising temperatures: “UK weather: Yellow warning for thunderstorms as heatwave intensifies.” - The Guardian (theguardian.com)
The Guardian secured 8.57% visibility, peaking on June 22 at 1 a.m. with 30.44% visibility. It ranked 288 times in total, with “heatwave” as the most frequent (140 rankings), making up 8% of all publisher appearances for that keyword. The outlet’s most visible article highlighted public health concerns tied to extreme temperatures: “Current heatwave ‘likely to kill almost 600 people in England and Wales’.” - BBC (bbc.com)
BBC.com followed with 7.28% visibility and reached its highest point on June 20 at 6 p.m. (32.39%). It reached 203 rankings, led by “heatwave” (64 rankings), which contributed 4% of the total rankings for that keyword. The outlet’s most visible article mirrored that of bbc.co.uk, spotlighting the heat and associated storm warnings: “UK weather: Temperatures surpass 33C as storm warning kicks in.” - Manchester Evening News (manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
As the only local publisher in the list, Manchester Evening News achieved 5.23% visibility, with its peak at 2 p.m. on June 21 (18.59%). It ranked 159 times in total, most notably “heatwave” (30 rankings), which accounted for 2% of all publisher rankings for that keyword. The top article delivered a regional update on changing storm forecasts: “Met Office issues new heatwave update as thunderstorm timings change amid weather warning.” - Independent (independent.co.uk)
The Independent reached 5.00% visibility, peaking at 5 p.m. on June 21 (13.71%). The outlet secured 210 keyword rankings overall, led by “heatwave” (54 rankings), representing 3% of all appearances for that keyword. Its most visible article centered on Met Office storm alerts amid rising temperatures: “Met Office: Thunderstorm warning issued for parts of England in midst of 34C heatwave.” - Daily Mail (dailymail.co.uk)
The Daily Mail recorded 4.32% visibility, with its peak on June 22 at 1 a.m. (30.44%)—the same time (and the exact same visibility percentage) as The Guardian. It reached 71 keyword rankings overall, most frequently “heatwave” (61 rankings), contributing 3% of all publisher rankings for that term. The most visible article focused on the public impact of the heatwave: “Heatwave hell as passengers are ‘slow cooked’ on stuck trains for hours amid 34C heat – as nation swelters on hottest day of the year.”
Key insights for news publishers
Several key takeaways emerge from the SERP visibility analysis. First, the strong presence of non-editorial domains such as YouTube, the Met Office, and X among the top 10 highlights the growing importance of video content, official public service channels, and real-time social media engagement during live weather events. Their ability to dominate specific ranking types such as video boxes, carousels, and featured snippets puts additional pressure on editorial publishers to diversify their format strategies.
Among the news outlets, the BBC clearly benefitted from its multi-domain setup, with both bbc.co.uk and bbc.com reaching high visibility independently. This dual presence gave the broadcaster a combined share of over 20%, reinforcing the advantage of a distributed domain strategy when targeting high-interest topics like national weather.
In terms of content, the publishers that ranked most consistently were those that provided actionable and directly relevant information, such as temperature milestones, official weather warnings, and the expected impact on infrastructure and daily life. Headline phrasing that closely aligned with user search queries, such as “heatwave warning” or “uk weather,” also proved effective in securing high rankings.
Notably, regional publishers like Manchester Evening News were also able to compete for visibility. Their performance shows that geo-targeted, timely updates can still break through the dominance of national outlets when they address local audiences with relevant detail.
Finally, visibility patterns across the SERPs often mirrored the timing of new warnings or weather developments issued by the Met Office. This suggests that fast response to official updates, ideally with content structured for featured or visual SERP formats, remains essential for maintaining visibility during fast-evolving, high-interest weather stories.
Not yet part of the Trisolute News Dashboard family? Request a FREE DEMO today and find out how your articles rank on Google Discover, Google News, and the SERPs!