Weather - changes Jan 2005

The BBC are about toi change over to a New Zealand style of forecasting in the New Year throught the organisation including News24.

Has anyone seen any of the UK graphics yet?

It's not a 'New Zealand style' there's nothing New Zealandish about it, just new graphics from new software.

I've seen a couple of basic images from it (no symbols or graphics, just a globe/map) Looked quite smart

BBC News on 23-Aug-2004

indicates that a version of 3D software Weatherscape XT has been developed by New Zealand firm Metra and the BBC.

- that's where the NZ reference came from.

Well, there's a programme about 50 years of the weather on tv on BBC One around the new year - so if you want to parade the graphics for the next 50 years...

..I'd choose that programme to reveal them.

The graphics look very much like those used by scottish tv and grampian tv's weather forecasts. If you haven't seen them, basically the camera zooms over the 3D country (a little like channel five's but better) It's called the 'fly-through forecast'. Pretty slick. Only downer is there isn't a weather presenter, just a voice-over. There are also temperatures and weather symbols which almost hit you. Very cool

I don't think it'll look *too* much like that at all - sounds too much like presentation over content.

I doubt they will be anything like the ITV weather graphics, they will be more like 3d satellite images with real time isobars etc.

see this page http://www.metra.co.nz/metra/weatherscape/

Will these graphics be used only by national network BBC, or will the regions be getting them too?

If you go to www.keyhole.com you can download a really great flyover generator.

That is the sort of flyover thing you will see on the weather.

Plus, it's really cool. I spent hours on it.

Maybe I just need to get out more.

Thanks for sending that link it looks brilliant - the sort of innovative product you would expect google to want in their family of apps and sites.

If the regions have it I doubt it will be at the same time as the national weather forecast - probably not for a couple of years after.

But then it was co built by the BBC so maybe.

I imagine that the regions will adopt the same look for there weather forcasts at the same time, because when the current look was adopted it was launched across the BBC on the same day.

In a previous thread, I remember someone saying that the software for this new look runs on a high-spec PC so it should be fairly easy to implement in the regions.

It probably also means that it'll crash lots!