The Met Office - utterly useless.
Discussion
Weather is news right? Correct board then I hope.
I am sitting typing this grumpily because the Met Office is telling me my local forecast is no rain till Wednesday, yet I cannot go out and wash my car because it is raining.
Yesterday, the Met Office was saying that it would rain every day EXCEPT Wednesday.
The BBC, who if I recall correctly use the Met Office, are also saying it isn't raining.
Google, on the other hand, seems to be suggesting that the rain I am experiencing is actual and that there will likely be some more tomorrow. Very much more helpful.
We as tax payers pay for the Public Weather Service to (according the Met Office) "Produce weather forecasts which help the UK public make informed decisions about day-to-day activities".
Yuh, right. Time to stop their funding, hang some seaweed in the porch, watch the cows to see if they are laying down and use Google.
Useless bast ards.
I am sitting typing this grumpily because the Met Office is telling me my local forecast is no rain till Wednesday, yet I cannot go out and wash my car because it is raining.
Yesterday, the Met Office was saying that it would rain every day EXCEPT Wednesday.
The BBC, who if I recall correctly use the Met Office, are also saying it isn't raining.
Google, on the other hand, seems to be suggesting that the rain I am experiencing is actual and that there will likely be some more tomorrow. Very much more helpful.
We as tax payers pay for the Public Weather Service to (according the Met Office) "Produce weather forecasts which help the UK public make informed decisions about day-to-day activities".
Yuh, right. Time to stop their funding, hang some seaweed in the porch, watch the cows to see if they are laying down and use Google.
Useless bast ards.
Weather has all sorts of factors that influence it lcally, not just globally. They can't give a forecast for every square foot of land, can they?
Why can't you wash your car in the rain anyway? I only wash mine when it is raining, it does a miles better job and only take 5 minutes.
I guess you don;t have much to worry about
Why can't you wash your car in the rain anyway? I only wash mine when it is raining, it does a miles better job and only take 5 minutes.
I guess you don;t have much to worry about
Willy Nilly said:
Weather has all sorts of factors that influence it lcally, not just globally. They can't give a forecast for every square foot of land, can they?
The topography of the UK means that our weather is some of the most unpredictable in the World.I've been in countries with huge landmass where weather reports have been able to say "it is going to rain at 3pm today in x areas" and they get it right.
Best weather forecast in the UK; eyes. Look out the window, you can tell what it is doing. Just have an umbrella for an hours time when it pisses it down
This is the problem with modern, soft, society. The weather used to be something that was happening while you were doing whatever it was you wanted to do.
Nowadays it seems to have become the thing that controls what you do and when.
If you think long and hard about it, we simply have no need to know what the weather will be or is supposed to be unless we are scared of rain or sun or are low IQ and our carer forgets the umbrella or sun cream.
Nowadays it seems to have become the thing that controls what you do and when.
If you think long and hard about it, we simply have no need to know what the weather will be or is supposed to be unless we are scared of rain or sun or are low IQ and our carer forgets the umbrella or sun cream.
Manks said:
Weather is news right?
By definition "news" is in the past tense - the reporting of factual stuff which is known.Since the weather slot is a "forecast" it is purely speculative and cannot fall within the usual definition of news.
However, this is Pitonheads where NPE rarely troubles itself with facts and much prefers speculation. As such, you have picked exactly the right forum!!
OzOs
Ozzie Osmond said:
By definition "news" is in the past tense - the reporting of factual stuff which is known.
Since the weather slot is a "forecast" it is purely speculative and cannot fall within the usual definition of news.
However, this is Pitonheads where NPE rarely troubles itself with facts and much prefers speculation. As such, you have picked exactly the right forum!!
OzOs
As the op isn't blaming Blair, Brown, immigrants or lefties I would suggest he has picked the wrong forum. Since the weather slot is a "forecast" it is purely speculative and cannot fall within the usual definition of news.
However, this is Pitonheads where NPE rarely troubles itself with facts and much prefers speculation. As such, you have picked exactly the right forum!!
OzOs
I've often marvelled at how much money is wasted on forecasting the weather. When I used to cycle to work, they got the wind wrong pretty much every single day. The weather, unless we were in the middle of a heatwave or a particularly rainy patch, was also usually pretty poorly forecasted.
What I don't get is that no one has said to them "listen, you're constanly getting it wrong, and very often, not even close to right, so how about the millions we spend, we uses on a massive redundancy pay out and all go home?"
Any then they expect us to think they know what going to happen in 5, 10 or 20 years time? Shyeah, righto chaps.
What I don't get is that no one has said to them "listen, you're constanly getting it wrong, and very often, not even close to right, so how about the millions we spend, we uses on a massive redundancy pay out and all go home?"
Any then they expect us to think they know what going to happen in 5, 10 or 20 years time? Shyeah, righto chaps.
Manks said:
Weather is news right? Correct board then I hope.
I am sitting typing this grumpily because the Met Office is telling me my local forecast is no rain till Wednesday, yet I cannot go out and wash my car because it is raining.
Yesterday, the Met Office was saying that it would rain every day EXCEPT Wednesday.
The BBC, who if I recall correctly use the Met Office, are also saying it isn't raining.
Google, on the other hand, seems to be suggesting that the rain I am experiencing is actual and that there will likely be some more tomorrow. Very much more helpful.
We as tax payers pay for the Public Weather Service to (according the Met Office) "Produce weather forecasts which help the UK public make informed decisions about day-to-day activities".
Yuh, right. Time to stop their funding, hang some seaweed in the porch, watch the cows to see if they are laying down and use Google.
Useless bast ards.
what 'general' area are you in?I am sitting typing this grumpily because the Met Office is telling me my local forecast is no rain till Wednesday, yet I cannot go out and wash my car because it is raining.
Yesterday, the Met Office was saying that it would rain every day EXCEPT Wednesday.
The BBC, who if I recall correctly use the Met Office, are also saying it isn't raining.
Google, on the other hand, seems to be suggesting that the rain I am experiencing is actual and that there will likely be some more tomorrow. Very much more helpful.
We as tax payers pay for the Public Weather Service to (according the Met Office) "Produce weather forecasts which help the UK public make informed decisions about day-to-day activities".
Yuh, right. Time to stop their funding, hang some seaweed in the porch, watch the cows to see if they are laying down and use Google.
Useless bast ards.
Eric Mc said:
Do people think that weather forecasting works on some sort of "magic" calirvoyance system?
Have people never tried to understand the basics physics behind weather charts and forecasting?
With all due respect I think you maybe missing the op's point, I think he's simply asking why do they bother, I don't think he's denying the fact that they have genuine difficulties predicting the weather. The problem as I see it is the met office, or at least the presenters, are regularly telling us with such certainty what the weather will be like tomorrow without using words like maybe, possibly, etc. It comes across as though it's fact & they are 100% positive rather than coming across as the rough guide that it actually is. Have people never tried to understand the basics physics behind weather charts and forecasting?
fergywales said:
Willy Nilly said:
Weather has all sorts of factors that influence it lcally, not just globally. They can't give a forecast for every square foot of land, can they?
The topography of the UK means that our weather is some of the most unpredictable in the World.I've been in countries with huge landmass where weather reports have been able to say "it is going to rain at 3pm today in x areas" and they get it right.
Best weather forecast in the UK; eyes. Look out the window, you can tell what it is doing. Just have an umbrella for an hours time when it pisses it down
You are better off watching your local forecast rather than the national one of you want an idea of what is most likely to happen in your area. Better still, try
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/10209 put in your town or postcode, select "last 12 hours" and draw your own conclusions - ie. make your own forecast
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