weather forcasts

I usually say it'll either rain or go dark before morning

Our weather man in N.Ireland is an eejit. Gets it wrong all the time or chances his arm giving you all types of weather in one day covering himself. I wait til I open the curtains in the morning to know what's definitely happening

SuzannahM

I always have the met office page for my area open on my laptop - just refresh it when I want to check it. I use it all summer so I know whether to put the washing out and find it reasonably accurate.

We're inland though, and I suspect it may be trickier on the coast where wind is much more of a factor.

I find the Met Office quite accurate.

I find that the weather app that came with my phone (iPhone) is pretty good really.

My neighbour’s son recommended ‘Dark Sky’ app. You have to pay for it (£3.99 I think), but I’ve found that it is very accurate - especially for the next hour’s weather. You can go back in time and find out what weather was like when on the day you were born - post 1950! Apparently BBC weather comes from Germany - so I heard - that’s why it’s not very accurate ?.

We live on a small island with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the North sea on the other. Weather patterns can change quickly because of this. If whether is coming over land it is more predictable. Don't blame the forecasters. There is no bad weather only the wrong clothes.

Was meant to be sunny yesterday it rained non stop.just goes to show lockdown not working this time. Last time it was clear blue skies nearly every day.now its cloudy most days

Why are they so long?

They drive me batty. I can ask Alexa what the weather will be like today and she will tell me one thing. If I then ask on my phone about my local weather I will tell me a different story and the Met Office another. Funnily enough I have just asked Alexa if it is going to rain and she said it will start in about 10 minutes and finish around 2.45 pm. Get real Alexa it is actually raining now. Ahhhhhh.

ps go to 10 day forecast for each and you get temperature rain wind measurements etc.

Even our met. office here in Denmark is highly unreliable.

I once seriously considered sending them a map of the country, when I got tired of hearing that it would be dry all day in the part of the country I lived in, only to look out the window and see the rain belting down.

Today, they predicted rain, which came as no surprise as it had rained for a week. What did come as a surprise was the beautiful sunny, almost frosty, weather!

I've used this website for many years and it's fairly accurate.
It's set for my locality but you can get forecasts for other places just by typing in the name.
www.wunderground.com/weather/gb/newcastle-upon-tyne

Blossoming BBC stopped using Met Office forecasts over a tear year ago. I laugh when BBC is giving details like eg heavy rain on the North Sea area, or sun coming from the west. The coast is hundred of miles long and the west, west if what? Their descriptions are far too vague.

Yup Septimia - Met office every time!! Here's the link for anyone who'd like to try it. Just put in your own place name. www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcqc7vwut#?date=2020-11-20

Like septimia I consult the Met. Office. It's the best forecast around, IMO. (Not always 100% accurate, but then British weather is fickle!)

Thanks Tillywhizz. I’ve just downloaded the app. It’s going to be really useful. X

I much preferred the old BBC website where you could look at the moving map of rain approaching - and plan your outside time around it.

On Facebook I like the Severe Weather Europe page for interesting alerts and updates.

Also love the Meteo Earth app, which shows developing systems coming this way from across the Atlantic.

I watch with amusement on the BBC tv forecasts as the presenter is facing eastwards and pointing at fhe uk, whilst there is often a huge depression approaching, hidden behind their left shoulder, of which they make no mention!

I have known it to be sunny here but raining in the next village. On one occasion I was in the front room when it started to rain. ran to get the washing in but it was dry in the back garden. So these forecasts are general and difficult to forecast showers.

Thanks for that geekesse I’ve learned something new! I guess the same would have applied for the period following the Iceland volcano eruption.

I find the Met Office hour by hour forecast to be the most accurate, you just enter the name of your town.

If the commercial channels are sponsoring the weather (as stated, NOT the weather forecast) why don't they insist on better weather???

I'm a dog walker and avid weather watcher. I use the Met office website. BBC gets their forecast from the GOV Met office but it's often delayed.
The reason why the forecast is different on the day from the night before is that the wind has probably changed. A friend cancelled a walk the night before we'd planned to meet and the next morning was glorious. Always check as close as possible to the moment I want to go out of the house.

It’s a mystery to me that technology is so much better now, but the forecasts are rubbish. Just hang a piece of seaweed out and do your own forecast.

Aeroplanes collect weather data with every flight. Now that air traffic is drastically reduced, there is less data on which to base forecasts. See here: www.theguardian.com/news/2020/apr/09/decline-aircraft-flights-clips-weather-forecasters-wings-coronavirus?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I always have the met office page for my area open on my laptop - just refresh it when I want to check it. I use it all summer so I know whether to put the washing out and find it reasonably accurate.

We're inland though, and I suspect it may be trickier on the coast where wind is much more of a factor.

I agree, but daren’t really say it. There was a similar thread months ago, and someone sniped at me that weather forecasting isn’t an exact science. I agreed, but thought they could have got it right two hours before!