False claims of US weather manipulation spread during European heatwave
Baseless claims that a US military facility is weaponising the weather are circulating online as Europe swelters, threatening to distract from the genuine scientific consensus on the continent's worsening heatwaves.
As Europe endures another spell of extreme heat, social media users are falsely attributing the temperatures to a US military programme. Posts circulating in recent weeks claim the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, or HAARP, is being used to deliberately manipulate the continent's weather.
To support these claims, accounts have shared out-of-context clips of public figures discussing geoengineering. One widely shared video features French TV presenter Anne-Claire Coudray, who said: "In response to climate change, more and more countries are exploring what's known as geoengineering. The idea is to intervene directly in the climate system to artificially cool the planet."
The footage actually originates from a late August 2025 news report examining theoretical scientific research into cooling the planet. It does not suggest that such technologies currently exist or are being deployed to manufacture heatwaves. Presenting these discussions as proof of an active weather-manipulation campaign misrepresents the scientific process.
HAARP itself is a frequent target of such conspiracies. Launched in the 1990s, the facility was built to study the ionosphere by transmitting high-frequency radio waves and measuring particle responses. The University of Alaska has operated the programme since 2015, publicly documenting its research, which aims to improve communication and surveillance technologies.
The theory relies on a fundamental misunderstanding of atmospheric physics. Weather systems, including heatwaves, form in the troposphere and stratosphere, whereas HAARP's experiments occur hundreds of kilometres higher in the ionosphere. Scientists have repeatedly confirmed that the facility's radio waves cannot interact with the lower atmospheric layers where weather is generated, meaning there is no mechanism to trigger these events.
For European public life, the spread of these theories is a disruptive force during a period of significant climate stress. Extreme heat already imposes severe economic costs, from depressed agricultural yields to strained power grids, and when misinformation diverts attention from established science, it complicates the policy responses required to handle these physical risks. If populations are misled about the root causes of heatwaves, building consensus for climate adaptation measures becomes significantly harder.
Climate researchers are clear on the actual drivers of the current conditions. The recent heat across western Europe was caused by a persistent high-pressure system that trapped hot air over the region. Furthermore, scientists confirm that human-induced climate change is making these heatwaves more frequent, longer-lasting and intense.
