A first aspect of the invention provides a wind turbine blade having a blade shell that defines a suction side, pressure side, leading edge, and a trailing edge of the blade. The blade further comprises a blade heating system comprising one or more heating elements configured to heat the blade in first and second heating areas, wherein the first heating area is closer to the leading edge than the second heating area is, and the heating system is configured to generate heat fluxes in the first and second heating areas such that the heat flux generated in the first heating area is lower than the heat flux generated in the second heating area.