Just when we thought we’d heard the last of hot weather events for 2026, a September heatwave has been forecast across Europe, with warnings of a ‘heat dome’ over the continent.

According to the BBC, France and Spain have been among the hottest locations in Europe with temperatures exceeding 40C at times – around 10C hotter than the average temperature at this time of year.

“The extreme heat is forecast to intensify for central and eastern areas over the next few days,” they added.

A heat dome develops “when a large area of high pressure becomes established over a region and remains there for an extended period”, according to weather and climate experts at the Met Office.

“Under high pressure, air sinks through the atmosphere. As it sinks, it becomes compressed and warms. At the same time, cloud formation is suppressed, allowing strong sunshine to reach the ground,” they explain.

The longer it goes on, the greater the heating effect.

“Clear skies encourage daytime temperatures to rise, while soils gradually dry out. As ground moisture decreases, less solar energy is used for evaporation and more becomes available to directly heat the land surface and the air above it,” they added.

It becomes a vicious cycle, where dry ground promotes additional warming, encouraging further drying. And because warm air occupies a deeper layer of the atmosphere than cooler air, the resulting pattern can resemble a dome-shaped area of heat – hence the name.

According to the BBC, the UK will not be massively impacted by the heat dome and the highest temperatures are behind us for now, it seems.

While there were warmer temperatures over the weekend for some parts of southern England, they assure: “The warmth is forecast to fade quickly as fresher Atlantic air and rain-bearing fronts are likely to arrive through next week.

“A return to heatwave conditions is unlikely through the next 10 days.”

The long-range weather forecast from the Met Office for 11-20 September suggests “dry interludes and relatively cool nights” are on the cards, “interspersed with occasional spells of rain and showers arriving from the west, perhaps accompanied by some strong winds at times too”.

The UK is bracing itself for wetter, stormier conditions throughout autumn and winter as a result of a ‘supersized’ El Niño weather event.

Experts suggest dry, settled weather looks “unlikely” as we reach mid-September and that temperatures will be close to average overall – with some relatively cool nights here and there.

When you hear ‘smile for the camera’ you think it will be in front of your face, not in your mouth. But Dyson’s new electric toothbrush is changing that one brush at a time.

If you thought brushing your teeth was as simple as bristles and paste, think again.

The £419 (woof) toothbrush is no ordinary device, but instead uses a tiny 100k pixel macro lens camera to analyse 28 images per second.

Everything has to be app-controlled these days, so naturally the toothbrush connects to an app on your phone, which allows you to see what the camera sees in your mouth.

You’ll get in-app feedback as you brush, so you’ll know when you’re brushing too hard, as well as a brushing map that shows how effective your brushing is over time.

As someone who hates going to the dentist (a story for another day) the idea that this brush could show me exactly what my dentist sees and give me tips for better brushing is super enticing.

The app also lets you control the intensity of the vibrations, which is great for those with sensitive teeth.

If that’s the case, you can even opt for Dyson’s sensitive toothpaste, which will reduce dryness and doesn’t foam so the camera on your brush can better identify areas for improvement in your mouth.

As it’s loaded with a flosser and water jet, the brush will then shoot 0.15ml of liquid into the gaps between your teeth to reach the areas you might have missed while flossing.

Dyson claims this will reduce 69% more plaque than market-leading electric toothbrushes.

If having water shooting into the gaps between your teeth while you brush sounds overstimulating as hell (speaking for a friend) you can choose to either combine the flossing and brushing modes, or use each separately.

Whatever you choose, the result is supposedly clinically healthier gums in just two weeks, bringing genuine innovation to the electric toothbrush market.

One early reviewer, who rated the brush five stars, said that “even after one use I was hooked”.

“It takes a little moment to get the technique right, but I’m so impressed at how clean and fresh my mouth felt after use!

“The flossing jet felt really powerful without being painful. I love the fact you can choose different modes of brushing, but also can turn flossing off if you just want to have a brush.”

Well, what can I say? If the Dyson toothbrush means that I don’t have to remember to floss on top of brushing my teeth, I’m ready for my closeup, Mr Dyson.

If you are anything like me, you likely assumed that after menopause, ovaries no longer served a purpose in female bodies. Much like an appendix, they just kind of… hang around.

Well, reproductive biologist Francesca Duncan believed this to be true, too. However, following research by her team at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, it has been uncovered that actually, the ovaries shift into a new job once their reproductive purpose is finished.

In fact, Duncan’s team found that ovaries continue to undergo molecular changes following menopause and appear to take on the role of an immune-like inflammatory organ.

Science Alert explains that when the team studied on mice: “Though old and post-reproductive ovaries looked and functioned very differently from those of young mice, they also had distinct transcriptome profiles, much like what Duncan saw in postmenopausal women.”

Put simply, transcriptome profiles are genes that a cell is actively using right now

“These findings challenge the assumption that the post-reproductive ovary is inert, instead indicating that it acquires an immune identity with potential endocrine and paracrine influence on whole-body aging,” Duncan and team conclude.

Duncan speculates that this finding could explain why women tend to be less healthy than men as they age, even if they tend to live longer. The ovaries post reproduction could secrete molecules that predispose people to chronic inflammation in their menopausal years.

As if menopause wasn’t stressful enough.

Menopause is still, much like many women’s health issues, chronically misunderstood and under-researched. More and more studies suggest that menopause is a full-body experience and has lasting effects on women way beyond the initial experience of the condition.

The gap in knowledge of the ovary’s biology after menopause is “a little bit frightening,” Duncan says to the publication Science. “We really owe it to women’s health to study this period of time.”

On their website, the UK Gout Society shares: “Gout affects between 2 and 3 in every 100 people in the UK. It usually occurs in men over 30 and women after menopause – and is over five times more common in men than women.”

This disease was once called the “disease of kings”, as it was historically associated with the wealthy and powerful ruling class who could afford extravagant diets. However, it is now the most common form of inflammatory arthritis worldwide

The NHS explains that gout is characterised by “sudden severe pain in a joint – usually your big toe, but it can be in other joints in your feet, ankles, hands, wrists, elbows or knees”, and “hot, swollen, red skin over the affected joint – redness may be harder to see on black or brown skin”.

Now, researchers have identified, and are studying a highly common symptom that accompanies gout: erectile dysfunction.

Back in 2021, a review of nine studies found that patients who lived with both gout and erectile dysfunction often had abnormally high levels of uric acid – a normal waste product created when the body breaks down chemicals called purines- in their blood, leading the review authors to suggest that erectile dysfunction could be treated with urate-lowering therapies.

Last year, scientists built upon that idea in a study that analysed clinical data from people age 24 to 49 and found that the odds of erectile dysfunction were more than 2.5 times greater for every 100 μmol/L increase in serum uric acid.

While studies are ongoing, the authors shared that treatments that lower uric acid could potentially restore erectile function.

Gout can be caused by being overweight, drinking alcohol or having high cholestoral, according to the NHS, and because these are linked to lifestyle, there is often a shame surrounding the disease.

Authors of a 2019 paper concluded: “Gout seems to lead to stigma and many patients may feel guilty about their lifestyle choices. Actions need to be taken to manage dissatisfaction of patients and to encourage them to speak up to request better management of the disease.

“There seems to be an urgent need to educate both patients and the general public about the seriousness of gout and the burden on patients and their families.”

Similarly, the intimate nature of erectile dysfunction puts people off speaking to their doctors about it. Back in 2023, a survey by TRTed and The Urology Foundation revealed that almost half of men (46%) would not book an appointment to speak to their doctor about this condition.

While this is an intimate, sensitive topic for you, it’s worth remembering that it’s extremely run-of-the-mill for your GP. According to the NHS, at your appointment you can expect:

• the doctor or nurse may ask about your lifestyle and relationships, and any problems you might be having
• they may do some basic health checks, such as taking your blood pressure
• they may examine your genitals to rule out any obvious physical cause

If you’re still uncomfortable, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) have a range of support available to anybody struggling with the mental health impacts of erectile dysfunction.

There’s truly nothing better than a clean house. But if I’m being really honest, I hate vacuuming so much, I rarely do it. Don’t even get me started on mopping.

Yes, mum, I know that’s really bad. Like loading and emptying the dishwasher, though, it seems to be a never-ending cycle.

Something about my flat means that huge dustballs akin to tumbleweeds start to develop every few days, even when I’m hoovering frequently. So obviously at some point I have to call it a day and give in to nature.

Luckily, technology means I no longer have to. Don’t ask me how, but scientists somewhere have created a tiny robot that sweeps over your floors and vacuums (and sometimes mops) them so you don’t have to.

It’s none of our business what that’s going to mean when the robot revolution arrives, we’re living in blissfully clean houses and not by our own doing.

If this sounds like a state of existence you want to partake in, keep reading for our round up of the best robot vacuums to shop now.

Best robot vacuums at a glance:

Tested by: Honey Wyatt, Shopping Writer

As soon as I unboxed this robot vacuum, I could tell we’d be fast friends. Already, its 35,000 Pa claim was enticing to me. Visually, it looks much sleeker and smarter than any other I’ve seen thus far, and it was really easy to put together.

It did take me a while to connect the robot to the WiFi, but my top tip would be to make sure you’re as close to the router as possible.

Once that was done, though, mapping took a mere few minutes. Using the Eufy app, you can easily edit the floor plan and assign rooms or ‘zones’ that you think need extra attention.

As the name suggests, the Eufy robot can mop and vacuum, and you can use the app to choose whether you want one ‘cycle’ to do both at once, or separately, as well as to adjust the suction and mopping intensity.

Sadly, the mop function only works with the included floor solution (although admittedly I haven’t taken the risk of figuring out whether you can put another kind of cleaner in there).

Once the first clean was done, I was truly astounded by how clean my floor was. It managed to get every speck of dust and debris (of which there was, embarrassingly for me, a lot) and hair without tangling the roller.

While it was quite loud, it didn’t mind it, as I found that it didn’t get stuck dodging around chair legs as much as other models I’ve tried; apparently it can even do this in the dark, thanks to having an LED fill light and dual millimeter-precision line lasers.

You can set cleaning schedules through the app, as well as ‘common tasks’ for routines you want to repeat, so maybe I’ll test how true to form that is in the middle of the night. Stay tuned (and sorry to my neighbours x).

There are some things you even you can’t see, so you’ll be able to rest assured that your house is cleaner than you could ever know with this Shark vacuum that uses UV detection to find hidden stains.

Shark has loaded this vacuum with UV Reveal Technology, which picks up on pet messes and sticky stains you might not have noticed, and can mop them up in seconds.

Two members of the HuffPost were keen to review it for that very reason.

Upon arrival, it took me longer than I expected to get it set up. Although the vacuum is app-controlled, so in theory it should be easy to connect to your WiFi, it kept disconnecting for a good half hour.

Naturally, I got quite frustrated, and that’s as a supposedly tech-savvy 26 year old, so this might not be the most practical thing for older generations to set up. Nevertheless, I persisted. Finally, the vacuum stayed connected to my WiFi, and it hasn’t disconnected since, even when my power went out.

Mapping my flat was a relatively painless process: it swivels around the entire floor, detecting where the carpet and any obstacles are, and creating a floor plan for your room.

Then, you have to fill the water tank and a separate tank with the included floor cleaner to get going.

Although pretty basic, the Shark Clean app lets you choose to either just vacuum or mop, or run a session with both. You can also adjust the mop and vacuum intensity and schedule cleaning sessions, so you really never have to think about it.

However, I don’t find it vacuums my house as thoroughly as I would like it to. Sometimes the Shark robot vacuum struggles to get into corners or edges, which need more vacuuming. The mopping function is really effective and leaves my house looking sparkling clean, so that’s a huge win for me.

Dayna McAlpine, HuffPost Head of Content:

I live in an old rickety Edinburgh flat with wooden floors throughout, and not having to mop them myself is borderline a gift from god – it saves me so much time.

When the Shark vacuum works, my flat is so much cleaner. With having a small permanently shedding dog I would normally have to hoover at least every other day to keep on top of it. Now I can just send my hoover out while I’m out walking said shedding dog each morning and come home to a hairless house!

However, this robovac regularly loses connection from my phone or the internet. It can take several attempts to reconnect it over DAYS; I’m currently disconnected and it will not find my WiFi for love nor money, and there’s no troubleshooting that works.

It’s also only compatible with Shark’s own cleaning solution for mopping, but it is possible to get a big bottle of it for £10 on Amazon that lasts for ages.

Tested by: Dayna McAlpine

This is the best robovac I’ve ever tested – it does individual rooms, areas and you can set up routines for it.

It comes with voice activation – you can set the hoovers voice to Croatian midfielder Luca Modrić for some reason.

Randomly, it’s also a spy hoover. You can connect to the app and see through its camera and drive it about – very useful when you think you’ve left the balcony door open or the oven on!

Unlike other vacuums we tested, it has a countdown for every replacement component or for maintenance. For instance, on the app I can see that it’s 100 days until I need to replace the roller and five days until I need to clean the sensors, which comes in handy when you need to order new parts that you don’t already have in.

Plus, the space is always left REALLY clean once it’s been used, especially after it’s mopped.

Tested by: Hannah Ballantyne, HuffPost Optimisation Editor

With stronger suction power than most (at 42,000 Pa) this robot vacuum is ideal for people with dust allergies or hairy pets, or those who feel the need to vacuum every day.

In fact, the Dreame X60 is designed specifically for pet owners, as it can detect and avoid food bowls and litter boxes, or you can use the app to add extra cycles near pet areas.

Not to mention, the vacuum can take photos of pets while cleaning, and recommend cleaning tips based on their daily habits, which feels a little dystopian but comes in handy if you have an unreliable cat you want to check in on while you’re away.

Dreame can also be linked with your smart home devices like Alexa or Siri to control your cleaning with your voice, or the app is super easy and intuitive to use, as you can schedule your cleans, adjust your preferences and check in on the vacuum’s progress.

When it comes to the clean itself, the vacuum is effective at recognising rugs and obstacles, and getting into the corners thanks to the extendable mop arm, which can fit under tight spaces you wouldn’t normally be able to reach, for a room that feels genuinely clean and not just swept over.

Naturally, the vacuum self empties itself into its tank, which is pretty large compared to the other options, at 72L, so you only have to empty it very 100 days.

Tested by: Natasha Hinde, Parents Editor

If nearly a grand sounds like too much to splash out on a robot vacuum, this one from Ultenic comes in at a sweet £200.

Admittedly, the suction is nowhere near as strong as other robot vacuums, but otherwise it has almost the same functionality.

It has 99.2% effective debris pick up, and can clean up to 200 square metres on a single cahrge.

After setting it up, it will roam your house to create a floorplan, which you can divide into rooms using the app.

Then, you can choose from either a vacuum-only setting, mop-only setting, or both in one cleaning session, before it sets off.

There are four different suction and mop levels to choose from, and you can set custom cleaning routines for each room.

It’s good at avoiding obstacles (and children and pets chasing after it, per Natasha’s original review) and you can even control it with your smart home.

While robot vacuums often come with a hefty price tag attached to them, the fact you don’t have to clean every day – or even every week – is a huge bonus.

Each vacuum varies in terms of its ability to clean into corners and avoid obstacles, which you’ll need to consider based on the needs of your house.

If you’re looking for a vacuum with strong suction power to get up stubborn dust balls, the Dreame X60 could be the one for you.

For a budget option, the Ultenic T20 will save you around £800 on other models, although it is quite loud and not as strong.

The Anker Eufy E35 is also great for multiple stories, as it can map different areas. You’ll just need to move it around.

The HuffPost team took testing robot vacuums (read: not having to vacuum themselves) extremely seriously.

Each of us set up the vacuum ourselves to test how easy it was to connect to WiFi, and used the vacuum around our houses and flats for a number of weeks to make sure we fully knew all of its features.

We assessed each vacuum for factors such as suction power, battery life, how often we had to empty the dust tank and refill the water, app compatibility and whether it could be controlled via a smart device.

We also considered how well it met each of our needs, from dust allergies, to pet hair, children’s clutter, and avoiding obstacles like chair legs, as well as whether it could navigate multiple floors.

Rob Reiner was among the winners at the Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday evening.

The late actor and filmmaker, known for helming hit films like When Harry Met Sally, Misery, This Is Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride, was stabbed to death at the end of last year, alongside his wife, the photographer Michele Singer.

One of his final performances was a guest role in the final season of The Bear, for which he was nominated in the Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series category at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys.

While the main Emmys are still a week away, it was announced on Sunday that Rob had posthumously won his award, his third triumph in this category. and his first since 1978.

Following his win, Rob has set a new record for the longest distance between wins in an acting category at the Emmys, surpassing a previous record held, fittingly, by his dad, comedian and fellow actor Carl Reiner.

The announcement was met with a standing ovation from the studio audience, with Wendi McLendon-Covey, who accepted the award on behalf of Rob, telling the crowd: “It’s appropriate to stand for this one. I know we all wish Rob could be here tonight.”

Following the deaths of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer, their son, Nick, was indicted with two counts of first-degree murder.

Nick has pleaded not guilty to his parents’ murders, and the case continues.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Apple TV+ dark comedy Widow’s Bay was the big winner at the Creative Arts Emmys, having gone into this year’s television awards with a whopping 19 nominations.

However, The Pitt and Hacks remain the most recognised shows of the year, with 25 and 24 nods in total, respectively.

The Primetime Emmys will take place on Monday 14 September, with screen legend Mariska Hargitay on hosting duties.

BBC presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed she’s living with a form of incurable blood cancer.

In a new interview with the broadcaster, Maryam shared that in November 2024, she was told she had polycythaemia vera (PV), a rare yet treatable form of the disease.

“I was told by my consultant that I have this incurable blood cancer,” she recalled. “Mostly I had no symptoms and that’s one of the problems with this disease.

“The only reason mine was caught was because my GP was so fastidious in the way she did my routine blood tests and immediately sent them for further diagnosis.”

Two years after her diagnosis, the presenter said she feels like she’s “started to understand the disease a lot better and the way it affects my life”.

“I’ve got a handle on it to a degree now, so I felt it was really important to raise awareness,” she added.

PV causes the body to make too many red blood cells and is typically diagnosed through a blood test.

It tends to develop slowly which means it can start out symptomless – as a result, Cancer Research UK said many people find out they have it when they have a blood test for something else.

As the illness progresses, it can cause symptoms such as:

• headaches;

• fatigue;

• burning pain in the hands and feet;

• blurred vision and other problems with your eyes, such as vision loss that comes and goes;

• night sweats;

• unusual bleeding – for example, nosebleeds;

• bruising more easily;

• itching, especially after a shower or bath;

• pain or discomfort in the abdomen from an enlarged spleen;

• high blood pressure;

• gout, which can cause sudden, severe joint pain;

• bleeding or blood clots, which can sometimes lead to stroke or heart problems;

• bone pain;

• reddening of the skin;

• feeling dizzy;

• chest pain.

Maryam, who has been with the BBC since 2003, said while the cancer is incurable, it’s “manageable with the right treatment”.

She continued: “It’s just a question of finding the right treatment and making sure it works for you.”

Treatment can range from low dose aspirin (to reduce the risk of blood clotting) to venesection, where some blood is removed and the body then makes more blood, but produces red blood cells more slowly than the rest.

People with a high risk of blood clots might need treatment to control their red blood cell levels. This can be given in the form of chemotherapy or targeted cancer drugs.