What's the forecast.

[Mike Thompson]

Good afternoon everyone, or is it ?
I don't mind it raining when I'm fishing, but like to have an idea what is forecast before choosing when to go. I have apps for BBC weather and The Met Office. On every day this week they have been completely different. One would say only 10% chance of rain whilst the other 50-70% chance, even wind strength and directions have been at odds. Both are local forecasts for York.
Do you find the same variance and any idea why ?

 

[Neil Lumby]

No idea why, but yes definitely this week the forecast has been all over the place. 3 apps all saying different then changing at the last minute!
I hope meteorologists aren’t paid well

 

[Paul Whiteing]

I find a great variation even on the one (BBC) app

Planned trip for Tues next week, have looked daily

1. Rain morning and thundery showers afternoon / evening
2. Rain morning and cloudy afternoon / evening
3. Cloudy but no rain morning / afternoon / evening
4. Rain morning and cloudy afternoon / evening

I reckon they need a new bit of seaweed and a new pine cone. It'll be what it'll be, I'll go anyway as the arrangement is made.


I have, in the past, looked at four forecasts for a single day, and chosen the one I preferred. None were right. It's why I always fish under a brolly and so I don't care, or have to rush.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

I use the BBC app almost exclusively and find it pretty good, as good as I could reasonably expect. I reckon it's improved since moving away from Met Office feeds to Meteo Group.

I never put much store in any forecast beyind a couple of days ahead, but I find the BBC app very good for up to 6-8 hrs ahead. Many of my farming clients use the BBC app, or other apps based on the same data feed.

 

[David Rogers]

My local forecast is usually far more benign when I look at the BBC app as compared to the Met Office. They're often both wrong, though...

 

[Ben Marr]

I generally look at the Met Office.
Sometimes it can change completely from one hour to the next.

 

[Simon Archer]

Working outside I check the weather forecast on the BBC every morning, but there's not much point as it often changes hourly. I suppose that's the internet for you, instant information.

 

[Huanzhou Zhu]

Look at the sky before I go out, and always prepare for the worst…

 

[Mark Kingston]

I use the weather app on my Samsung phone as it has hourly forecasts and a radar option which is bang on

 

[Keith Humphreys]

Good afternoon everyone, or is it ?
I don't mind it raining when I'm fishing, but like to have an idea what is forecast before choosing when to go. I have apps for BBC weather and The Met Office. On every day this week they have been completely different. One would say only 10% chance of rain whilst the other 50-70% chance, even wind strength and directions have been at odds. Both are local forecasts for York.
Do you find the same variance and any idea why ?

Hi Mike

Most, if not all weather apps use the Met Office for their forecasts but in my experience (and my job depends on it) XCWeather is by far the best and most comprehensive available.

 

[Dave Quinn]

We’ve got it good here compared to some places. In Croatia on holiday the second week the local forecast got everyday completely wrong, heavy rain every day when it was clear blue skies. When I asked the hotel reception they shrugged their shoulders and smiled.

I’ve also noticed the bbc forecast is always for nicer weather than the met office. I generally use the bbc as it makes me feel better

 

[Mark Pevy]

They only seem to get it right when its boiling hot,reckon if their forecasts were performance related they would all be out of a job

 

[Mike Thompson]

We’ve got it good here compared to some places. In Croatia on holiday the second week the local forecast got everyday completely wrong, heavy rain every day when it was clear blue skies. When I asked the hotel reception they shrugged their shoulders and smiled.

I’ve also noticed the bbc forecast is always for nicer weather than the met office. I generally use the bbc as it makes me feel better

Dead right Dave, the BBC are saying 20% chance of light rain, the met office 50%. And it's 100% raining as I type thus.

 

[David Clewer]

Agree that XC weather is good while Weather and Radar provides a very comprehensive service. Also recommend Rain Today for immediate forecasts with excellent predictions of rain in the next hour. As for the BBC and Met Office, the Met is probably more reliable but neither is particularly good, with the BBC prone to predict rain when there is a very low probability, sometimes only 10%!


Dave

 

[Anthony James]

For me Dark Sky is the best, incredibly accurate to the hour.

 

[Mike Berridge]

BBC weather app is terrible and has been for a long time. I was fishing on Thursday and forecast was thunderstorms from 3pm to 8pm never changed all day. One 10min shower at 2.45 and nothing else up to packing up at 11pm. I use this now!

 

[Mark Kingston]

For me Dark Sky is the best, incredibly accurate to the hour.

Just downloaded that looks like it covers all bases. I like it

 

[Paul Collins]

Another vote for XCWeather.
Can't trust the BBC not to follow their agenda.

 

[Cliff Turner]

agree the BBC are crap, I fished twice this week specifically where i could be near the car as it forecast thunder and lightning and it didn't either day, yesterday it said a few showers and of course I had thunder and lightning !!

 

[Joe Winstanley]

Another vote for XCWeather.
Can't trust the BBC not to follow their agenda.

Like all weather apps, the BBC app is just a shell for the data feeds provided by professional meteorological companies. There must be 100's of apps out there, most of the share the same data feeds.