The Weather Forecast Thread

Well the maps have changed on BBCi on Telewest, they've gone from green to brown, but they still use the old symbols. Like I said once you see them you know what the weather is going to be, don't think the new graphics will be practical on static displays like on BBCi.

So there we go... the final forecast in the old format has just gone out...

Not really a proper send off for them, although the forecaster did mention "a change in the weather"...

The DTT and DSat BBCi maps have been brown for a few months now.

And they're here. The forecaster spent more time talking about the graphics than the weather though .

EDIT: Look North NE&C haven't upgraded the graphics yet.

I saw the 0745 forecast, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the weather's going to be like. The perspective makes it pretty hard to make out where exactly Glasgow is, and anything in the north of Scotland is just tiny. I thought one of the benefits of the system was that it would be easier to see what the weather's like near you?

A few emails followed, asking about people watching on black and white tellys ("hopefully you'll still be able to see the rain and the temperatures"), and for the "tens of thousands of aviators who watch the weather" - what about the wind? (apparently it's built into the system, and we'll see it when the weather warrants it)

The BBC Scotland weather summary slide remained the same as always, though

The BBC Weather website has had a bit of a makeover - and the symbols remain! Some have had a bit of an update, though...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/images/symbols/fiveday_sym/1.gifhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/images/symbols/fiveday_sym/14.gifhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/images/symbols/fiveday_sym/28.gifhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/images/symbols/fiveday_sym/31.gif

This is a giant step backwards. The graphics may be "21st Century" however in terms of getting across detailed information clearly it just doe not work. For those who need the detail -the isobars and wind speeds and directions - they've completely gone. The snow in Scotland was barely noticable. The different shades of brown to show sun or cloud really does not work (especially on the colour portable in the kitchen at breakfast time). It's very difficult to tell exactly where you are on the map so having "precise" rain and sun/shade is pointless anyway.

I saw a couple of new bullitens this morning. No sign of isobars, or the very useful radar images of rain.



Getting ready for global warming ''

Actually one step back in my opinion was made in 2000 when countors showing the sea depth were introduced, I think the maps before then were the clearest and best presented. BBC Weather's 'golden age' !



That's the best analogy I've read.

Well I've watched the first forecast on the telly and I think it's fine. Much clearer than the old symbols were. Weather does not just happen in set lumps here and there, it happens continuously across the country and the new system reflects this.

Just a couple of problems...

1) It would have been better if they'd been able to keep the green
2) Where's the wind?
3) They need to tilt the map so Scotland gets a look in - it's impossible for those up North to see what's going on on the full picture
4) When they went 'under the clouds' they said "imagine it's like looking up at the sky". Well it's not, it's like looking down on the ground. They should say "imagine flying in a plane under the clouds" - the lighter areas are where the sun is shining, the darker areas are where the cloud is obscuring the sun and the blue represents rain.

I think the best thing will be that its easier for local forecasts to use, and easier to update between forecasts on N24. They also say that there will be more consistency across the platforms. Before you'd watch the forecast on telly and online it'd say something completely different.

Well I watched the 0930 on 24...

I did look rather better fullscreen than all the clips we've seen thus far, though I think I'd have had trouble on a small telly or one watching analogue BBC1/2.

We got the swirly globe, the full screen summary (which was quite nice with a webcam image in the background, although there was no caption to confirm this or say where it was), then a flyover of each region at 1pm today, an animation from about 1pm to 6pm and then some temperatures.

Question is - is that normally how much information you'd get at this time of day, or have they had to cut it down? There was nothing about the outlook for tomorrow etc.

I must say I like the way everything animates on and off (ie. the sweeping effect between slides) - looks very slick. However, I still have all the reservations we've all made about the colour of the land/sea, loss of isobars and so on..

Looking forward to seeing how they manage with our regional forecast. (I am hoping its forced South East Today to go back to full-frame chromakey for the weather, always looked a bit washed out to me when they started back projecting it on the screen).

It certainly works much better as a full frame CSO than as an DVE move (as on Breakfast) or on a back projector. Breakfast forecasts never use the Atlantic pressure map, so I wouldn't expect to see isobars on there but I've not yet seen any mention of wind at all.

Well it's OK. But it doesn't work and I found is laughable that Helen Willets (not her fault personally though...) kept saying to all questions "Well we're keeping it simple today...it'll all be revealed as time goes on. There are isobars and wind charts." - Well where are they!?

As I understand it, the forecasters have been practicising with these for months - it's hardly a trial by fire using them this morning so I expected to see all the isobars and wind charts. But no...but then again it was Breakfast so what do you expect!


Other annoying things I just can't help but mention - Helen said "I can put any city on the map - it really is a great new system" - erm well you could put any city on the old map too...

She also said "We'll be able to zoom in to a particular part of the UK" - yes just like the old system too. Hmmmm.


I have absolutely no doubt that it's a much more accurate system but I find it very hard to keep up with the time of day whilst trying to look at the rain patterns and the light and shade. But I understand it will take time to get used to it.

It seems to work very well at a regional level - and it appears to be much clearer too. Biggest niggle though - the London map is so zoomed out we're getting more of the screen dedicated to the Midlands (not that I'm complaining... ) and South of England. It seems a bit backward that the map is so zoomed out that it's hard to make out way you are (it's difficult enough at the angle it is, anyway) - good I SUPPOSE that you no longer have to rely on a symbol and if you live outside the coverage area then you've got a good idea of what the weather will be (if you can work out where you are.)


Oh and perhaps the biggest niggle for me - what's with the new BBC Weather symbols? So we've got rid of the symbols back on TV but they're still around on the website captioned as "xxxday's predominant weather is forecast to be xxx". The wind arrows look nothing like what I've seen on TV or anywhere else for that matter.

Also WHY have they changed the sun and air index!? It's now "low", "high", "moderate". WHY!? The old system was far superior and I don't think it was that difficult for people to understand a 1-10 system and was much more accurate.

Oh and to top it all off - on the front page of the BBC Weather page - they have the new style summary symbols. How silly.

Blimey, that's my rant over - no doubt I'll be singing the praises in about 3 days time.

Well at least one thing hasn't changed - it's bucketing down here, but the map showed no rain near here whatsoever.