Met Office loses BBC weather forecasting contract

[Boysground]

It's a government supported quango so the information is surely public property anyway ? why were the BBC paying in the first place for it ?

Good point. I had a quick Google it looks as though they are very good at paying big salaries and bonuses. That will have to stop if they have lost a big proportion of income.

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[Paddington]

Simon is getting the Weatherhound groomed for its first appearance, "what's the weather going to be today, boy?".
"Ruff!"

 

[RobFZS]

I wonder what the bbc pay the met office. I assume bbc was one of the biggest customers perhaps mod and airports pay more. It will be a big drop in income and it may limit investment to improve the service.

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fairly sure they just had a new massive computer installed and the forecasts have been all over the place since then

edit

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/new-hpc

So they've been phasing the old computer down for this new one to come in next month and now they've lost the contract, gutted

 

[Boysground]

fairly sure they just had a new massive computer installed and the forecasts have been all over the place since then

edit

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/new-hpc

If they are not going to need it now @Clive could buy it to run through tff server. He will need a bigger computer soon.

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[RobFZS]

amazing how much money gets banded about unknown, until something like this props up

 

[Goweresque]

It's a government supported quango so the information is surely public property anyway ? why were the BBC paying in the first place for it ?

Because that would be unfair (and illegal) State Aid. It would be providing unfair competition to a private sector weather information supplier. I don't think you'd be very happy if the State owned farms (which ran at a massive loss financed by taxation) and they gave their produce to other parts of the State (School and hospital food for example) for free, thus depriving you of a potential customer.

The Met Office is run as a commercial body - it has to sell its services into the market in competition with other meteorological information suppliers. The BBC is likewise legally bound to run tenders for services and pay commercial rates for them.

 

[The Agrarian]

I've been gobsmacked at how many times this summer where I have checked both the local and national BBC forecast videos on the website, only to find that they give different forecasts for my region.

I think the presentation of forecasts at the BBC is of an excellent standard, with regularly updated videos at a national level throughout the day. Unfortunately, the content of the presentation is of a much lower grade. Frustratingly we all are forced to pay for it! Like a great many government ideas, they make the nation pay for it, and its usually not worth the money. NHS, comprehensives, rural policing, agriculture departments, national insurance, and on and on.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Seems like the helicopter rescue services. The US company Bristow have got the contract since July and the RAF still fly round in their yellow machines practising so their pilots can get their hours in.

 

[Grassman]

I've been gobsmacked at how many times this summer where I have checked both the local and national BBC forecast videos on the website, only to find that they give different forecasts for my

Very often the bbc app gives totally different information to the TV forecast

 

[MrNoo]

No Miss Kirkwood then? Mornings will never be the same!!

 

[RobFZS]

No Miss Kirkwood then? Mornings will never be the same!!

s'alright, she'll be bouncing about on strictly soon

 

[multi power]

If they bought all the presenters some seaweed and a pine cone it would be cheaper and no less accurate than some of the recent forcasts for here.

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Or do what I do, look at my barometer. It NEVER lies

 

[Paddington]

So the Met Office chaps and chapesses do the National forecast which is completely different from the BBC local forecast as presented by BBC staff, which again seems to differ from the BBC online forecast. Wonder if this will change ?

 

[Grassman]

Or do what I do, look at my barometer. It NEVER lies

Won't of been a lot of,use this year though with the unsettled weather and continuous low pressures coming across?

 

[John 1594]

Or do what I do, look at my barometer. It NEVER lies

Do you give it a tap on the glass just to make sure its reading right....

its a habit ive found myself getting...spent too much time watching grandfather doing it, now im doing it as well!!!!

 

[spin cycle]

bad news....i use bbc weather online forecast a for local town and it works great for me...the rest just seem like 'witchdoctors' IMO

 

[Martin Holden]

Excuse me?? Bonuses for weather forecasting and modelling? I'm not against rewarding for achieving or over achieving goals, but isn't the Met Office funded by central government? If so we are all paying for this!! I'll retract this if I am wrong re the funding, but come on, "get real" the private sector is a tough old place and the public sector in some cases seems to think we will carry on funding to request!! A great shame but perhaps the Met office saw this coming and what did they do about it?

 

[Kidds]

"Here's the forecast for today , @YorkshireAndrew has gone combining so rain is forecast this afternoon" [emoji6]

Now for the longer range forecast, Kidds is going away to North Wales for a few days this week. This will coincide with cold wet and windy weather with brighter warmer weather expected after the Bank Holiday.

 

[multi power]

Won't of been a lot of,use this year though with the unsettled weather and continuous low pressures coming across?

It was a lot more accurate than the BBC forecast

 

[ARW]

Hmm I may tender for the job. Sounds easy