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This is Cornwall --
Incorrect weather forecasts are met with brickbats while accurate predictions are greeted with silence, perhaps rightly, many would say, given the money spent on expensive state-of-the-art equipment and the advances in science.
Nevertheless, the Met Office's reluctance to forecast far into the future is understandable, following the backlash it received for its famously bad claim that the UK was "odds on for a barbecue summer" back in 2009.
That year was a complete washout and left the Exeter-based organisation sheepish when tourism bosses responded with anger.
But amid the daily battle through the latest weather front, few spare a thought for the 1,800 staff when – as has been the case all too often during the past 12 months – the weather turns extreme.
Rain, wind and above all snow, generates a deluge of calls from the public, businesses and of course reporters demanding statistics, a forecast and a few colourful lines to illustrate the point. A resilience plan is in place to deal with unforeseen circumstances such as the second wettest year on record in 2012.
This means staff from other departments, such as internal audit, are trained and ready to man the phones, email accounts and Twitter feeds.
Helen Chivers, a press officer who briefs the media, said it is a 24/7 operation.
"When the weather gets bad we get a huge increase in enquiries – we have had to bring extra people in more often in the past year than before," she added.
"When the weather is extreme – particularly when it snows – we can have up to eight people on the desk dealing with enquiries.
"People want to know what the weather is going to do where they are, where they are going and how the roads are."
Forecasters at the Met Office yesterday revealed that temperatures had dropped two degrees below average so far this month, with no end to the cold snap in sight before the Easter holiday next weekend. This compares to the average mean temperature for March, which in Devon stands at 4.4C and in Cornwall, 5.3C, not far away from the coldest on record in 1962, when the mercury reached 3.1C and 3.9 in the two counties.
Temperatures are set to drop as low as -4C in rural areas and snow is expected on Sunday and Monday.
Mrs Chivers said an area of high pressure had become stuck over the UK and was bringing cold air from northern Europe and Russia.
She said it was "a bit early to predict Easter" but added there was "no chance of a heatwave any time soon". Reported by This is 3 hours ago.
Clik here to view.
This is Cornwall --Incorrect weather forecasts are met with brickbats while accurate predictions are greeted with silence, perhaps rightly, many would say, given the money spent on expensive state-of-the-art equipment and the advances in science.
Nevertheless, the Met Office's reluctance to forecast far into the future is understandable, following the backlash it received for its famously bad claim that the UK was "odds on for a barbecue summer" back in 2009.
That year was a complete washout and left the Exeter-based organisation sheepish when tourism bosses responded with anger.
But amid the daily battle through the latest weather front, few spare a thought for the 1,800 staff when – as has been the case all too often during the past 12 months – the weather turns extreme.
Rain, wind and above all snow, generates a deluge of calls from the public, businesses and of course reporters demanding statistics, a forecast and a few colourful lines to illustrate the point. A resilience plan is in place to deal with unforeseen circumstances such as the second wettest year on record in 2012.
This means staff from other departments, such as internal audit, are trained and ready to man the phones, email accounts and Twitter feeds.
Helen Chivers, a press officer who briefs the media, said it is a 24/7 operation.
"When the weather gets bad we get a huge increase in enquiries – we have had to bring extra people in more often in the past year than before," she added.
"When the weather is extreme – particularly when it snows – we can have up to eight people on the desk dealing with enquiries.
"People want to know what the weather is going to do where they are, where they are going and how the roads are."
Forecasters at the Met Office yesterday revealed that temperatures had dropped two degrees below average so far this month, with no end to the cold snap in sight before the Easter holiday next weekend. This compares to the average mean temperature for March, which in Devon stands at 4.4C and in Cornwall, 5.3C, not far away from the coldest on record in 1962, when the mercury reached 3.1C and 3.9 in the two counties.
Temperatures are set to drop as low as -4C in rural areas and snow is expected on Sunday and Monday.
Mrs Chivers said an area of high pressure had become stuck over the UK and was bringing cold air from northern Europe and Russia.
She said it was "a bit early to predict Easter" but added there was "no chance of a heatwave any time soon". Reported by This is 3 hours ago.
