Feeling hot, hot, hot! The UK basked in the year’s highest temperatures so far, which saw the Met Office issuing level three heat warnings in London, south-east and east England, while Royal Ascot broke conventions and took the unprecedented step of relaxing its dress code
It was time to blow up the paddling pool and pop open the sunroof as the first heatwave of 2022 arrived with a bang this week. Up and down the country, we were looking for ways to cool down as the thermometer topped out. And with this week promising more sunshine and soaring temperatures, here’s to living the British summertime dream… Did somebody say Pimms?
Engagement soars with the temperature
The long-awaited summer heatwave has led to this year’s highest Weather content page views since Storms Dennis, Eunice and Franklin hit the UK’s shores in February 2022. Consumption levels are up +38% versus the prior four week average.
Spending more time outside soaking up Vitamin D saw readers seeking advice on the best garden furniture – driving the Furniture category up +42% vs the four week average – with heatwave-related garden care driving Gardening page views to an all-time high of 6.7m.
Keeping oneself cool – and looking cool – is a summertime essential, leading to significant increases in page views across Fashion, Sunglasses and even Deodorant content! But we also care about our furry friends too, with heatwave Animal Welfare content up +33%.
Take Action
The positive impact of sunny weather on related content consumption creates the ideal opportunity for topical – even tropical – targeting. While bad weather can also generate lots of attention from readers, summery conditions tend to transcend past the headlines into other non-news related content categories.
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Reading the Nation will connect you to our broadcast-scale audience - who we see across the Ozone platform in their millions day-in-day-out - to unearth insights into their habits and behaviours when topics start to trend or big stories break.
