Bleak forecast for Met Office BBC contract
The Met Office has been accused of failing to predict the heavy snowfall in the south-east
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Sunday, 17, Jan 2010 12:21
By Anisa Kadri.
Following complaints that its weather forecasts are inaccurate, the Met Office could be dropped by the BBC.
According to the Sunday Times, when its contract with the Met Office expires in April, the broadcaster may join forces with a New Zealand forecaster called Metra.
The Met Office has most recently come under fire for failing to predict the heavy snowfall in the south-east that caused the closure of many schools and brought traffic to a standstill. It also wrongly predicted a "barbecue summer" in 2009.
A YouGov poll for The Sunday Times indicated that 74 per cent of people feel that the Met Office's weather predictions are inaccurate.
The chief executive of the Met Office John Hirst, who received a £40,000 bonus from 2008-2009, blames the public for not paying attention to snow warnings and claims the forecaster's predictions were "very good".
Despite a large number of commercial rivals predicting the winter weather correctly, many will not put forward a bid to sign a contract with the BBC because they would need to provide numerous presenters.
One competitor said: "Where are we going to find 20 weather presenters? It's a huge burden. The Met Office has an unfair advantage."
Metra has apparently been in negotiations with the BBC since September when forecasters received a document stating that the broadcaster wanted one of them to provide data and presenters, as witnessed by the Sunday Times.
Metra already create graphics for the BBC, such the 3D weather map that apparently caused some viewers to feel nauseous when it was unveiled in 2005.
A BBC spokesperson said the corporation was looking for "value for money" when it chooses which forecaster to align itself with.