UK heatwave: The Simpsons fans joke cartoon ‘predicted’ extreme weather event

Series has become renowned for anticipating global news events

Fans of The Simpsons are joking that the long-running cartoon comedy “predicted” the record-breaking heatwave currently hitting the UK.

The country is in the middle of an extreme weather event that has yielded the hottest temperatures recorded, with some areas of the UK expected to experience temperatures of up to 43 degrees C today (19 July).

The Simpsons has become notorious for its ability to seemingly foreshadow global news events – from the invention of smart watches to the election of Donald Trump as US president.

With temperatures rising across the UK and parts of Europe, fans of the series have shared a number of clips from old episodes which loosely “predicted” the heatwave.

Several Twitter user shared a clip from the season six episode “Bart of Darkness”, in which Hans Moleman steps out of his house and says hello to “Mr Sun”, before setting himself on fire in the scorching heat.

“Simpsons predicted it again!” one person wrote.

One of the ‘Simpsons’ fans joking amid the ongoing heatwave (Twitter)

Others shared stills from the season 13 finale “Poppa’s Got a Brand New Badge”, which begins with a heatwave hitting Springfield.

“The Simpsons predicted it,” one fan wrote, alongside a clip from the episode which depicts the ink melting from a newspaper which reads: “Heat wave continues.”

Another of ‘The Simpsons’ heatwave ‘predictions' (Twitter)

One person shared an image of the air pressure weather map, which bore a resemblence to the dome featured in The Simpsons Movie.

“Turns out the heatwave happened because we’re stuck under the dome from The Simpsons Movie,” they joked.

Another ‘Simpsons’ joke referenced the 2007 film (Twitter)

“Simpsons predicted EVERYTHING,” another fan said.

You can follow live updates on the heatwave here.