If you're in the United Kingdom, I don't need to tell you that it's warm, and to take shelter in the shade and drink water as much as possible.
I've had my own experience with past heat waves, such as my iPhone almost melting, and now that we're in one of the highest temperatures (opens in new tab) the UK has ever known (July 18), I'm trying to use my devices as little as possible.
However, there will be times when I'll need to – for shopping, gaming sessions with friends, and appointments. All these examples are when I'm going to have to check the weather, check I've got enough water and more.
With this in mind, here are a few apps you'll be able to use on Windows, iOS and Android.
Refill
Available on both Android (opens in new tab) and iOS (opens in new tab), Refill allows you to look for the nearest places to top up your water bottle, just in case you're running on empty.
Keeping hydrated is one of the most important things you need to do in a heatwave, and it's something I've made sure to do for the current heatwave and others to come.
Refill (opens in new tab) has been a great help for this, as it's a service that can help anyone around the world for places that have Refill stations. Just walk up, have your bottle ready, and refill your bottle.
MSN Weather
Available on the Microsoft Store (opens in new tab), MSN Weather is a great app for Windows that can allow you to look at the closest forecast, alongside checking what the following days are going to be as you're gaming on Fortnite, Halo or anything else.
While you can check the weather in the widget menu of Windows 11, I've found that having a dedicated app, similar to what I have on my iPhone, helps much more, as I can get the detail that the widgets in Windows don't provide.
However, make sure to keep your PC in a cool space regardless, as the room it's in may shoot up in temperate as the fans on the graphics card whirl to render Sonic in its best resolution.
Carrot
Granted, Apple's fantastic free weather app is available on iOS, and soon for everyone running macOS Ventura and iPadOS 16, but Carrot (opens in new tab) is available on both iOS (opens in new tab) and Android (opens in new tab), so you've got the best app for both worlds here.
Depending on the subscription you've signed up for, you can have hourly alerts on the weather, or ones that alert you to storms and heatwaves that may be a danger to you.
On watchOS, I've found Carrot to be helpful when I raise my wrist, and I can find the latest UV (Ultra Violet) rating to see if I need to wear a hat. The above is a screen of my current watch face, where I can quickly glance at the current weather and UV rating.
But Carrot can go further – widgets play a big part with the app, so I can have an extra large widget take over an iPad display with all the detailed information I need for example.
Overall, it's a solid weather app that's going to help you out for when you need to go outside in a heatwave, and for the UK, there's no better time to look into Carrot.
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