We're in the midst of the third heatwave of the year, but is it feeling a little more barable than the last to you?

Unlike the June heat, which set multiple records, this time around the daily highs are slightly lower, mostly peaking in the mid-30s at the end of the week. Plus, humidity and dew points are lower too.

Dew points in particular are much lower. The dew point essentially tells us how much moisture is in the air. The higher the dew point, the less effective sweating becomes to cool the body, resulting in that sticky summer feeling.

It isn't just daytime temperatures that are lower but nighttime temperatures too. While in June we saw multiple tropical nights, whereby temperatures did not drop below 20°C, this time only a few areas will experience a handful of these.

Despite the less intense heatwave, heat-health alerts are still active and the elevated temperatures can pose a health threat if adequate precautions are not taken.

The current trend suggests a long-running period of heat, perhaps even the longest spell since the infamous 1976 heatwave which persisted for between 13 to 16 days for some parts of England.