How BBC Hype Windspeeds
November 13, 2023
By Paul Homewood
How the BBC exaggerate stormy weather, by suddenly switching wind speeds from average speeds to gusts, and then back again:
Meanwhile the Met Office simply report consistently throughout the day on average speeds, which are expected to peak at 22 mph today, a Fresh Breeze on the Beaufort Scale:
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
BBC Weather FAQ
“Why does the wind symbol sometimes jump to over 40mph and turn black?
Why are there no wind speeds in the 30s?
When the forecast predicts gusts of wind over 40mph, the white wind icon – which usually shows the sustained wind speed – will change to a black icon showing the expected wind gust speed.
This black icon will help to inform you in advance of potential hazards that may shape your day, for example severe impacts on transport.
Once sustained winds are above 30mph, it is more likely that the wind gusts will be above 40mph. You may find, therefore, that sustained wind speeds between 30mph and 40mph rarely appear.”
So I don’t see that as BBC being tricky merely to push its Global Warming narrative
Paul’s point is that the BBC could simply cut and paste the Met Office forecast. Listing maximum speeds is cherry picking at best. Gusts are localised and most likely in exposed and/or elevated locations. There is, in my view an alarmist message coming from the BBC. It’s their interpretation.
The BBC cannot simply cut and paste the Met Office forecast.
cos they don’t have a contract with the Met Office
The BBC contractor on Weather is MeteoGroup.
I don’t use BBC but when you are doing events outside, knowing the gust speed at times of gusts is more useful than average windspeed.
It’s the gusts that blows stock off the stalls, blows tents down etc.
Consistency is key.
Reporting average 24/7 or gusts 24/7 fine. Swapping between the two is just, as Paul says, to confuse and done in the hope that as the majority won’t notice either way the big value number is the one that sticks. The BBC don’t employ marketing and advertising geeks for no reason and many are taken in by them.
A better way would be to report both.
I guess they could always use the broadband and EV style advertising… “up to speeds of X”, “up to X miles range”. The “up to” is a standard get-out clause for charging (no pun intended) a lot and delivering a lot less. I’ve just bought a loaf of bread, but who would buy if you only bought “up to a loaf” with no guarantee of how much you would get?
On the winds, it is a bit gusty out, but that’s nature’s way of clearing out the dead wood from trees, etc. Perhaps they’ll be naming individual gusts next?!
Why not show both? Why is there not even a proper indication that the basis has changed? Back in the days of radio, we got the picture by being told of gale force winds, perhaps gusting to storm force or force 8 gusting force 10.
“Severe impacts on transport”. Like when? I’m getting on for 60, have lived in lots of places, have hardly ever experienced severe impacts. It’s shifting the system from reporting from what is normal, everyday weather to a fear-based “its going to be severe” basis. I mean yes, if you are somehow in the 1950s and operating a market stall, you might care, but most of us are not, neither do most of us have or visit tents. The UK has an extremely benign climate with extremely benign weather. We do not need our forecasts to be working off supposed extremes that might blow a duster off a shelf at a church fete.
A severe impact on transport can be when Network Rail insist on checking the tracks for fallen twigs before they will allow the trains to run. I have experienced that in the past when it took until nearly noon for trains to run after a slightly windy night. And yet there were no fallen branches or trees along the route.
The hurricane of January 1968 took a lot of clearing a couple of days before the roads were clear. Many years before the damage wasn’t obvious.
Wind closes bridges, stops ferries.
Well sometimes people in Northern Lincolnshire need to visit people in Castle Hill Hospital Hull.
Occasionally wind gusts mean the Humber Bridge is closed. That is a pain if you have already crossed and need to cross back to get home, cos it’s aong way back via M62
Stew, there’s no reason for the BBC to not be consistent, or, to show both expected gust & average wind speeds.
agree- i would like to see both…. site was indicating 70 at lunchtime and there were some very strong gusts – i was worried about a shed roof… and the forecast should tell me that, but it should make it clear that these were gust speeds and not constant.
Huh, and how many swimming pools is that? How many homes will be… er , em, warmed up ? Oh aye, powered ( by the non-seized windmills )?
Showing gust speed is not a bad idea but it should be clearly stated not buried.
The Met Office full forecast shows both! I shall abandon BBC
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcmv4kn68#?date=2023-11-13
Forecast gust speed which is extremely unreliable anyway, and often extremely localised. You would have to be quite mad to e.g. not go for a walk just in case there was a big gust of wind whilst you were out.
But you might be wise to avoid Striding Edge.
A good spot, Paul. 👍
…and in other BBC Climate news ”Thunberg joined the crowd in chanting “no climate justice on occupied land”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-67399096
Growing up during the storms of the 70s 80s & 90s I can’t remember the BBC ever giving alerts of ‘risks to life’ …now I can’t walk outside my house without the BBC telling me that I’m going to die !
I feel it’s getting worse than that, now we apparently need the BBC to tell you when to switch your heating on.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67197871
And as we all know, the Met Office are now the go to experts on domestic heating systems!
” The Met Office, which measures temperatures and weather for the UK, recommends setting timers to turn the heating on before you get up and off after you’ve gone to bed.”
I wonder if they could give me any advice on how to repair my laptop, clear up my large toenail fungus and rewire the house while there at it.
Other than “spin” , is there a meaningful reason why the BBC can’t show average speed and gust speed ?
Relying on “Joe Public” to readily use colour coding to differentiate between average and gust is a nonsense.
yes the BBC weather service which is the Met Office do play games with switching the data between extremes and averages to exaggerate claims about extreme weather events. This clearly is misinformation.
They do it with temperatures in a sneaky and underhand way. When they forecast night time minimum temperatures they choose to only show the maximum minimums in towns and cities because of course they are higher than the surrounding countryside.
They do this to exaggerate the perception that minimum temperatures across the whole country are actually warmer than reality and thus propagate their catastrophic warming myth.
For instance, typically here in the UK on a clear and calm night around the Spring or Autumn equinoxes one will find that central London minimum temperatures will be 2C to 8C warmer than surrounding countryside. There are even some places in valleys in the south east where temperatures can be 10 centigrade colder than central London under the right conditions. Large variations in minimum temperatures can be found in all urban areas as anyone who rides a motorcycle will know only too well.
Its pure misinformation by the Met Office and BBC to only show maximum minimum night time temperatures and damned dangerous for those who live in the countryside and need to know when there will be an ice risk on the roads the following morning.
The BBC is full of bias and leftwing deceit – it is irrelevant