BBC admits its weather app is designed to give gloomy forecasts
The BBC has admitted that its weather app is designed to give gloomy forecasts.
The broadcaster confirmed that its smartphone service picks the symbol that summarises the day’s weather based on the worst part of the forecast.
It told The Times: “The day symbol reflects the weather conditions likely to have the greatest impact on people’s lives.”
The BBC added that while this may place emphasis on a “short, specific spell of weather”, it is designed to be “read in context with the broader picture and hour-by-hour detail, which changes according to the latest data”.
The Met Office used to provide the weather forecasting for the BBC, but that stopped in 2016.
The meteorological service said that they use a different approach when selecting the symbols to depict their forecast.
It told The Times: “Symbols on forecasts online and on our app are the result of a blend of different forecast models to give the most accurate symbol of the weather possible.”
From 2016 onwards, MeteoGroup, the largest private-sector weather company in Europe, now has the contract.
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Bill Giles, who was in charge of the BBC’s meteorology department for two decades before retiring in 2000, said that forecasters “erring on the side of caution” could be a hangover from a time when they primarily aimed to serve the air force rather than the general public.
He told The Times: “It was only in my era that we started to do forecasting in a way that the general public understands.
“The problem now is, how far do you go down the line in telling people what they should do?”
Businesses have expressed their frustration with the BBC’s practice of using the gloomiest forecasts as they interfere with their trade.
Gill Haigh, managing director of Cumbria Tourism told The Times that businesses get frustrated when they’re waiting for customers in good weather, but people aren’t coming because the weather symbol has indicated a gloomier forecast.
She said: “If it’s okay between 10am and 3pm, which is the time most people will be visiting, but raining throughout the night, that really isn’t going to be a concern for a visitor.
“So it’s really important that the weather forecast is not only accurate, but it’s a true reflection.”