How The Great British Bake-Off Handled 2026’s Heatwaves

Usually, The Great British Bake-Off is filmed between April and June.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that fans have been wondering whether the most recent batch of bakers would be subjected to multiple record-breaking heatwaves.

The show (partly) addressed the problem directly on its Instagram page on May 27, soon after we saw the hottest May day on record.

“Us filming chocolate week,” they wrote over a clip of the iconic GBBO tent. The video was overlaid with the sound of comedian Peter Kay’s famous bit: “I like it warm, but I don’t like it this warm!”

“It’s always chocolate week when we have a heatwave,” a commenter wrote.

The Mirror reported that the show’s filming is still “underway”, and that its cameras were rolling during the June heatwave, too.

That meant amateur bakers had to continue to work their culinary magic while schools had closed due to the heat, and travellers had been advised to avoid “non-essential” journeys.

Though some fans worried filming would have to stop, the publication confirmed the show went on.

A source from the show told The Mirror, “Every measure that could be taken has been, to make the bakers comfortable. The lighting gaffer from the crew who’s in first every morning, opens up the tent, takes down the sides and gets airflow moving before everyone arrives.

“Earlier in the run, when temperatures were the opposite and it was freezing, he was doing the same thing in reverse, arriving early to put the heaters on and warm the tent up before the bakers and crew got in.

“Production runners have also kept everyone going in the heat by handing out ice lollies to bakers and crew throughout the day.”

Another source reportedly told The Mirror that the tent’s location near a cooling river, and a “welcome” breeze in the final weekend of May, made filming possible.

In 2018, then-hosts Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith shared how heatwaves affect bakers’ creations.

Prue told Rolling Stone conditions were “Worse for the bakers than for us, because we just come in briefly and go out. They’re in there all the time,” while Paul added: “Yeah, chocolate week suffered a little bit. Caramel sugarwork suffered a little bit”.

Ironically, he added, bread week – when warm conditions would have made loaves rise faster – was a little cooler that year.

New host Nigella Lawson has previously said she is “allergic to the sun”, so time will only tell how she handled the hotter temps.

HuffPost UK has reached out to Channel 4 for more details.