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People aren’t happy with the BBC’s big weather redesign
Today, the BBC is launching a major redesign of its popular weather forecast services — and some Brits are furious. It all started in 2015 when the broadcaster announced it was ditching the Met Office and looking for a new provider of accurate weather data. MeteoGroup was eventually crowned the winner and work began to overhaul the technical architecture underpinning the BBC's much-loved TV bulletins, mobile apps and website. The new web and mobile designs were rolled out to "some users" last month and the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. On a blog post written by the BBC's Michael Burnett, one user commented: "You seemed to have ruined what was a superb site with a wealth of information."
2016 was the hottest year on record (again)
According to a joint report from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016 was officially the hottest year on record. If that statistic sounds familiar, it's because 2015 was also the hottest year on record. As was 2014 before that. And those three years of rising temperatures mean the planet is about two degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) warmer than it was in the late 19th century.
BBC picks new weather partner after 93 years with the Met Office
Although it's been almost a year since the BBC announced its 93-year partnership with the Met Office was coming to an end, the broadcaster didn't have replacement lined up at the time. During those months, it has considered bids from various new providers and ran what it calls "an open competition" to select a supplier who would appease licence payers by delivering high-quality services while keeping costs low. Today, the BBC confirmed that Netherlands-based Meteogroup was able to meet those requirements, allowing it to take over from the Met Office from spring 2017.
Social media users give UK storms the most British names ever
Last month, the Met Office announced it would begin naming the storms that batter the UK and Ireland and asked social media users to put their suggestions in the hat. By giving them a moniker, the weather service hopes that people will track storms when they hit our rainy isles and raise awareness of their impact. That list has now been finalised, and as expected, we've done ourselves proud.
The Met Office wants you to name UK storms on social media
Thankfully, Britain has never experienced weather conditions on the level of Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy. Even so, the island nation is prone to the occasional storm, and to raise awareness the Met Office and Met Eireann, the Irish Meterological Service, is letting the public name some of them. At any point, you can make a suggestion by tweeting the @metoffice Twitter account with the hashtag #nameourstorms or by leaving a post on the Met Office Facebook page. If social media isn't your jam, you can also email pressoffice@metoffice.gov.uk with the subject name "nameourstorms." The suggestions will then be compiled into a master list, presumably with a little bit of curation, and then used in alphabetical order, alternating between male and female names. The system is coming into effect this autumn, but it won't be used for just any storm -- only those with "medium" and "high" wind impacts will qualify. Does anyone else like the name "Sue Storm?"
BBC to stop using Met Office weather data after 93 years
For almost a century, the Met Office has supplied the BBC with weather data for its daily forecasts. Its predictions aren't always correct, and they're often a depressing end to TV news bulletins, but they hold an important role in British culture. Until now, that is. The BBC says it's looking for an alternative provider "to make sure we secure both the best possible service and value for money." The Met Office, an executive agency under the UK's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has called the news "disappointing."
UK's new space weather center will help people prepare for solar storms
Met Office, the UK's weather forecast agency, has just launched a new division that monitors out-of-this-world weather conditions -- literally. Thanks to a £4.6 ($7.5) million funding from the government, the agency built a Space Weather Center right out of its Exeter headquarters to keep a close eye on solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CME) and geomagnetic storms. Seeing as the UK's National Risk Register lists space weather as the fourth most dangerous threat to the region's infrastructures, it's not so odd that the government will fund the center's operations. After all, it'll be in charge of issuing early warning signals, so the world can prepare for the the usual effects of solar storms, like GPS or radio signal interruption, satellite damage or even power grid outages and heightened radiation in worst case scenarios.
