The BBC has issued an apology after a ‘glitch’ on its weather app and website left users puzzling over a week of wintry forecasts which claimed the UK would see a top temperature of around 7C until next Thursday.
The issue emerged on Thursday night as users took to social media to point out the glaring error, which came just days after the Met Office announced the UK is on track for its hottest June on record.
The BBC’s site currently shows a map of Europe covered with a sea of pessimistic forecasts for the next week, including top temperatures of 7C in London, 8C in Paris and 12C in Rome.
But Met Office forecasts show temperatures are set to peak at 24C in London over the weekend, with minimum overnight temperatures of 13C over the next week.
On Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday, presenters again apologised to listeners over the issue, and joked that their in-studio forecaster would definitely give their audience ‘the correct’ forecast.
Viewers of the BBC’s news channels meanwhile pointed out that forecasters appeared to have the wrong information behind them as they predicted temperatures of up to 24C over the weekend.
Social media has erupted after the BBC Weather app predicted it will be 7C across Europe for the next two days
The pessimistic forecasts continue through until next Thursday
Responding to the reports last night, a statement on BBC Weather’s social media accounts said: ‘Our apologies for the incorrect temperatures appearing on the website and app.
‘We are working with our data suppliers to fix this fault.’
Seeing the funny side, social media users last night poked fun at the BBC, with some joking that those in charge must be ‘having a laugh.’
One user joked: ‘BBC weather go to bed you’re drunk’, with another adding: ‘Are you serious BBC? New Ice Age?’
A third quipped: ‘Maybe June 2023 won’t be the warmest June on record after all if tomorrow’s BBC forecast is true’.
A fourth said: ‘Cold snap on the way @bbcweather?!’
And another added: ‘@bbcweather Someone is having a laugh! A constant 7 degrees for the next week?!’
One user joked that BBC Weather was ‘drunk’ amid the glaring technical error on Thursday night
With the UK actually bracing itself for temperatures of up to 18C today, according to the Met Office, it’s no surprise Britons are seeing the funny side.
Meanwhile, countries in Europe such as France and Germany are predicted to have soaring temperatures of 24C.
Some cities, such as Madrid, have been given a more generous forecast of 15C by the BBC – but it is still some way off the 34C heatwave predicted in the Spanish capital this weekend.
Amid the 7C prediction in the UK, provisional figures suggest the average temperature for the month is already set to beat the previous record of 14.9C, reached in both June 1940 and June 1976.
Four of the current top 10 warmest June have occurred this century: 14.8 C in 2018, 14.5C in 2003, 14.5C in 2006 and 14.4C in 2017. Met Office temperature data begins in 1884.
Sevens above: The forecast in the UK was no more accurate with chilly temperatures predicted
BBC Weather were forced to apologise for the incorrect temperatures appearing on their site
However, it also emerged that it wasn’t just the website that was suffering from technical issues.
Footage from BBC News showed forecasters presenting the weather with what appeared to be an incorrect map displayed behind them.
One frustrated viewer at home tweeted: ‘Not just the website and the app [which is wrong]. These things happen but it was the lack of acknowledgment [sic] from the presenters that disappointed.’
Again, there were multiple 7C forecasts shown on the map, while separate footage showed another presenter speaking with day-by-day predictions of 8C from Monday to Thursday across the UK next week.
Social media users also pointed out that the BBC appeared to be showing the wrong forecasts on TV too
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk