The Gathering Storm

I

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The second 'leader' in Today's Sunday Telegraph highlights the public's critisism of the new graphics employed for the BBC's weather forecasts. The lack of clairty of the signs and the dull colours used are causing uncertanty and deep confusion amongst the very weather conscious British public.

As The Sunday Telegraph (ST) comments:

'' A few years ago Dr. John Thornes, a reader in applied meteorology at Birmingham University, spent two months compairing Radio Four's forecast with what actually happened. Whilst his findings seemed at first to suggest that the forcasts were accurate 85 per cent of the time, he realised that he could achieve nearly the same result simply by using today's weather report as tomorrow's forecast.''

The ST leader goes on to suggest that the new graphics are deliberately vague, since it is possible to read virtually anything into the mass of blue-grey smudges.

Perhaps the BBC weather forecasters should seek the opinion of a focus group of new politicians. It was that greatest of Britian's politicians, Sir Winston Churchill, who when asked what was the most desirable qualification for any young man who wishes to become a politician responded:-

'' It is the ability to forecast what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And have the ability afterward to explain convincingly why it did not happen.''

Looking out of the window of my study I predict:

A gathering of storm clouds from the continent with silverlinings, followed by intermittent rays of sunshine from the blogosphere. The normal accumilation of hot air over Westminster will contiune for sometime causing the depression mid Atlantic to effect shipping. The warmest area in the British Isles will be Jersey which, as always, benefits from the Americas (good old gulf stream) rather than the prevailing constant uncertanties from it's close neighbour, France.