Countryfile / Country Tracks / Landward Forecast Thread

[snowingtequila]

Once again, not a very exciting forecast. For Thursday and Friday at least it is cool-average at best with wintry showers along the east coast.

same graphics for the week including snow in the SW with temps of 8C, another weak forecast I think, maybe they can't be bothered anymore

[Geordiesnow]

Once again, not a very exciting forecast. For Thursday and Friday at least it is cool-average at best with wintry showers along the east coast.

I noticed the temps were slightly lower for Friday on this forecast than the previous one. The Thursday temps will depend how far west any northerly flow will get so i expect some temps changes in the upcoming forecasts.

Having saying that, it would be nice to get the northerly nailed in for certain before getting excited/depressed about BBC weather forecasts.

I think some have to be careful when viewing the graphics. The snow graphic can be mistaken for sleet in frontal set ups and hail in convective set ups(my one main criticism of the graphics is that they don't have a hail graphic). Plus if it is sleet, is it showing on higher ground mainly or in low lying locations.

I don't think its the fault of the presenters but those who designed the graphics, they can be mis-leading and this where the good old symbols work best.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Geordiesnow

[J10]

I noticed the temps were slightly lower for Friday on this forecast than the previous one. The Thursday temps will depend how far west any northerly flow will get so i expect some temps changes in the upcoming forecasts.

Having saying that, it would be nice to get the northerly nailed in for certain before getting excited/depressed about BBC weather forecasts.

I think some have to be careful when viewing the graphics. The snow graphic can be mistaken for sleet in frontal set ups and hail in convective set ups(my one main criticism of the graphics is that they don't have a hail graphic). Plus if it is sleet, is it showing on higher ground mainly or in low lying locations.

I don't think its the fault of the presenters but those who designed the graphics, they can be mis-leading and this where the good old symbols work best.

I prefer the new graphics, and it did appear to be snow however, they are better for shorter term, where is there is a greater and clearer difference in the hi resolution between rain sleet and snow. I do think the temps though are overdone by several degrees for Friday.

[Geordiesnow]

I prefer the new graphics, and it did appear to be snow however, they are better for shorter term, where is there is a greater and clearer difference in the hi resolution between rain sleet and snow. I do think the temps though are overdone by several degrees for Friday.

I agree that the graphics are fairly useful for the short term and give more specific detail but for the longer term when it involves the snow graphic, it leads to quite a bit of confusion hence some posts in this thread commenting on snow at high temps.

Anyways, it will be interesting as we go along this week what the temps will actually be and whether the snow graphic will upgrade or not. Like the GFS, UKMO tends to underestimate PPN in easterly sets ups whilst in Northerlies, they both do alot better. So i will be very surprised if we see very little of the snow graphic for Friday if the current charts stay the same.

[Dom W]

Maybe the BBC Weather graphics should go along with what Channel 4 weather does, but perhaps be presented better than Channel 4, they can do what BBC do currently for shoter forecasts such as Today, Tonight and Tomorrow scenarios, but then use symbols (even animated symbols) for forecasts covering the next few days.

Edited January 24, 2010 by open-arms

[I remember Atlantic 252]

cant beat the old bbc graphics, they are bad now

[nick sussex]

I do wonder whether someone at the UKMO has shares in Metra and is determined to lose the weather contract with the BBC. Who allows such rubbish to go on air, there was the BBC talking up the cold easterly which was never going to happen and now their headline is milder for the week when theres just one milder day, surely the UKMO tell them what to highlight and so the last few days by the UKMO has been utterly useless, it's a total misrepresentation of the models. I had been one of those hoping the BBC would renew the contract with the UKMO but really they just seem determined to lose this.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Again I'm pretty sure it's mainly a BBC problem rather than a Met Office problem. The MetO provides the BBC with the data and then the BBC decides what to do with it.

The Met Office's website here forecasts maxima of 4-6C in most central and northern areas with 7s, 8s and 9s reserved for the south-western third of the country. That's a good couple of degrees down on what the BBC were showing for Thursday.

[Methuselah]

Could it be one of those situations in-which maxima occur early in the morning??

[PB22]

Forecast for the week ahead just now has conditions gradually turning milder as we go through the week and increasingly unsettled with bands of wind and rain sweeping in from the southwest. Never particularly mild, but certainly milder than recently.

[Ian Fergusson]

Forecast for the week ahead just now has conditions gradually turning milder as we go through the week and increasingly unsettled with bands of wind and rain sweeping in from the southwest. Never particularly mild, but certainly milder than recently.

Yup, that's been our expectation for a little while now (yesterday I explained some of the rationale in the SW Winter forum based on how the Met Office's Global Model handled developments versus GFS etc). UKMO's view on longer mid-range is about to be updated very soon, but as of their detailed midnight briefing it remained one of a colder easterly influence returning into the 10-15 day outlook after this messy, largely wet despite transient (leading edge / hill) snow into northern districts; and for many, certainly somewhat milder spell into the mid-to-late part of the coming week.

[SLEETY]

Yup, that's been our expectation for a little while now (yesterday I explained some of the rationale in the SW Winter forum based on how the Met Office's Global Model handled developments versus GFS etc). UKMO's view on longer mid-range is about to be updated very soon, but as of their detailed midnight briefing it remained one of a colder easterly influence returning into the 10-15 day outlook after this messy, largely wet despite transient (leading edge / hill) snow into northern districts; and for many, certainly somewhat milder spell into the mid-to-late part of the coming week.

What an amaingly accurrate forecast that has turned out to be with the colder easterly influence coming back this week.

[Weather-history]

Is it me or does it seem to be Tomasz Schadenfreude always doing the Country Tracks and before that the old lunchtime Countryfile forecasts?

When was the last time Peter Gibbs, Rob McElwee etc did one?

Infact it seems to be either Laura Tobin or Tomasz who do the lunchtime bulletins.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Mr_Data

[chionomaniac]

Is it me or does it seem to be Tomasz Schadenfreude always doing the Country Tracks and before that the old lunchtime Countryfile forecasts?

He always looks like he has just walked into the building, taken his coat off and got on with presenting the forecast!

Is there a different dress code for the Country Tracks forecast?

Edit I should just say that I don't care what he wears for the forecast as long as he forecasts snow!!!

Edited February 9, 2010 by chionomaniac

[Thundery wintry showers]

Good point. I always thought Peter Gibbs in particular did an excellent job on the Countryfile/tracks forecasts (unfortunately I haven't seen any of Rob McElwee's recently, but I imagine he'd be pretty good too).

[spurious]

He always looks like he has just walked into the building, taken his coat off and got on with presenting the forecast!

Is there a different dress code for the Country Tracks forecast?

Edit I should just say that I don't care what he wears for the forecast as long as he forecasts snow!!!

The idea is for them to have a casual look when doing the forecast for country tracks

Is it me or does it seem to be Tomasz Schadenfreude always doing the Country Tracks and before that the old lunchtime Countryfile forecasts?

When was the last time Peter Gibbs, Rob McElwee etc did one?

Infact it seems to be either Laura Tobin or Tomasz who do the lunchtime bulletins.

I guess they must be the favoured 2 forecasters for this slot but would be good to spread it around the other forecasters in my opinion

[Ben_Cambs]

Latest forecast goes for 5-10cm on Tuesday night in EA and the SE, and between 10-15cm in Northern Scotland. I dont understand this because surely higher ground like the Pennines will see snow aswell? Continuing risk of snow especially in Northern Scotland during the week, but other Northern areas should see snow too.

[galba]

Looks like the front stalls in an arc over the north sea with the SE under the bottom end and Scotland under the top. It shows up pretty well on the GFS UK PPN charts. Much of the UK will be in a dry zone.

[The PIT]

Latest forecast goes for 5-10cm on Tuesday night in EA and the SE, and between 10-15cm in Northern Scotland. I dont understand this because surely higher ground like the Pennines will see snow aswell? Continuing risk of snow especially in Northern Scotland during the week, but other Northern areas should see snow too.

No because the front has passed them and stalls to the east. The rain then turns too snow and hangs around for a while.

[andymusic]

countrytracks - bit of a mess - no real detail in the forecast except possibly for monday and even that couldn't be relied on

[kev238]

Yeah Countrytracks forecast-- an impossible job based on the models and the time she had!

[Cheshire Freeze]

Yeah Countrytracks forecast-- an impossible job based on the models and the time she had!

A mess of a forecast in all honesty. She must have realised that a slight shift in LP tracks would make major differences in the weather being experienced in any given area. I think a week ahead forecast today was pretty pointless TBH and Wednesdays system could be pushed south or north nearer the time. Also the old problem of the graphics was highlighted too...utterly useless

[spurious]

Made a change tonight to see a different presenter doing the countryfile forcast other than Nick Miller or Dan Corbett

[Weather-history]

What struck me about the Countryfile forecast was that Helen Willetts seemed oblivious that it was the Easter weekend at the end of the week. She just had Friday instead of Good Friday for that day's weather and talked about it as though it was just a normal day. Heavy rain for Good Friday is not a great start to the Easter break.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Mr_Data

[MAF]

should imagine there will be a lot of interest in tonights show.

i will be on my way home from work by the time the forecast is shown, could someone please be kind and post the forecast here once its over

regards Mick