The Summer Forecast

[Paul]

Perhaps I'm missing something here, so correct me if I am! But the press release sent out by the met-office contains the bbq reference, it may not have been a direct quote from Ewen Mccallum, but it's still in the release so I think it's more than reasonable that media outlets use that as a quote from the met-office isn't it?

[ANYWEATHER]

A "bbq Summer" imho is a very safe prediction, because lets face it us Brits can, and often bbq in all kinds of weather including rain! I remember the night before the chaos of the 2007 floods we were having a bbq and then we had a thunderstorm half way through ,[not as I mind as I love thunderstorms!] and of course it dampened things down a bit! :lol: :winky: In this country we have to live with the world famous unpredictableness of our weather so we do what ,we do, generally and very well,regardless of the weather [except in extreme circumstances , which we rarely get !] So that forecast to me does not mean sun, sun, sun, just like it does not mean rain, rain, rain...... It means different things to different people, the met office forecast is very vague and If youre expecting "hot bbq" weather all of the time throughout the Summer I think youre gonna be very dissapointed. Its another media spin/hype/ sensationalism. which nowadays is all to common and tiresome. :o The forecast for Summer 2008 by the metoffice, well lets says in fairness was[wide of the mark] as put up by one of the earlier posters, so lets just try to enjoy what the British Summer will bring..whatever weather!!! B)

[Evening thunder]

Piers Corbyn doesn't rate Met Office forecasts

http://www.weatheraction.com/displayarticle.asp?a=29&c=1

Lol that link actually that link made me :lol: as its basically a grossly exaggerated a load of rubbish that is trying to big up WeatherAction and make it look so good!

what a load of twaddle! B) :winky:

As for the summer...only one way to find out really.. wait and see!

But id have as much faith in the MetO forecast as any forecast but i was a little surprised at the 'Barbecue Summer' on the news article on their website

Edited May 4, 2009 by StormMad26

[Thundery wintry showers]

I agree with Paul here- if the MetO do a press release which specifically refers to "barbecue summer" then it's going to get picked up on, regardless of whether or not Ewen originally had anything to do with it. And it is setting the MetO for some criticism, for example, if the summer does turn out to be warmer and drier than average as per the prediction, but many people struggle to get the barbecue out all summer, they'll be criticised for being wrong even if their prediction turns out to be spot on.

It's a statement that also holds true more in the south than in the north. In the sunnier parts of southern England, a spell of weather with above average temperature, below average rainfall and close to average sunshine might suffice for repeated BBQs, but on the Tyne & Wear coast it typically requires a noteworthy hot sunny spell with minimal influence from the North Sea. When I read "barbecue summer" my mind automatically focuses on the extreme cases, like July/August 1995, July 1999, July 2006 etc.

Re. Piers Corbyn, I'd be surprised if the Met Office's accuracy rate wasn't well over twice his, so I don't think his article carries too much weight...

Edited May 4, 2009 by Thundery wintry showers

[Weather-history]

Perhaps I'm missing something here, so correct me if I am! But the press release sent out by the met-office contains the bbq reference, it may not have been a direct quote from Ewen Mccallum, but it's still in the release so I think it's more than reasonable that media outlets use that as a quote from the met-office isn't it?

Yes it does.

It looks as though the Met Office's right hand doesn't know what its left hand is doing.

Either he did say that or the Met Office's press department is working independently of the Met Office which it shouldn't really be.

Edited May 4, 2009 by Mr_Data

[johnholmes]

I said I would not post again but this link may help clear up the apparent confusion

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pres...ice/summer2009/

go to the press briefing release and then scroll down until you get the, I think, Powerpoint presentation with the phrase causing all the posts.

It looks to me, and from chatting inside the Met O, that it was a slide heading, what Ewen or anyone else said to that slide I do not know.

hope that clears things up a litle.

back to exile!

[Phil UK]

Although the Mat Office's last 2 seasonal forecasts have been a bit off the mark,

A bit off the mark?? I'd rather trust Stevie Wonder in a darts tournament after the Summer of 2007 was supposed to be the hottest on record. (Erm, nope, but could try wettest!) Summer 2008 didn't fare much better either.

Just wondering now if they will have made something of a major faux pas as regarding Summer 2009.

Can't be a hat-trick of poor Summers, no!

Can there?

Phil.

[Terminal Moraine]

Have I missed something?. The Met' Office's summer forecast was due to be updated at 11.0 am today but when I looked on their website there was only the origingal forecast from late April with a note at the bottom saying that the forecast would be updated on June 30th.

Does this mean that their thinking on the coming summer is identical to what it was in late April or have they abandoned the update?

[Weather-history]

That BBQ summer comment has really caught on. Heard it on our local radio a few times.

I think the comment was a dangerous one to make though.

[Terminal Moraine]

That BBQ summer comment has really caught on. Heard it on our local radio a few times.

I think the comment was a dangerous one to make though.

I agree. It's no surprise that the 'less weather fanatical than people on this board' general public have picked up on this and many people I've spoken with have mentioned it to me, in fact a good number are expecting around 7 weeks of wall to wall sunshine and virtually no rain to coincide with the school holidays.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I still maintain that it is also dangerous because it is much easier to have a BBQ in even an average summer in Exeter or London than it is in South Shields. It is easy to forget that different parts of the UK have different climates and that as well as the north being cooler than the south, many coastal and upland areas are on average quite windy.

[J07]

Lol that link actually that link made me as its basically a grossly exaggerated a load of rubbish that is trying to big up WeatherAction and make it look so good!

what a load of twaddle!

Yep. "500%". LOL.

Comedy though the Express is, you must have a chuckle at some of the stuff that was reported considering the summer that was to follow!

DIY specialist B&Q has also noted a massive increase in people converting outdoor areas into “flexible living spaces” as less rainfall and more sunshine makes it possible to cook, eat and even work al fresco.

Barbecue sales have more than doubled and sales of decking are up 25 per cent on last year. Supermarkets also noticed a change in Easter trends.

Where previously families would stock up on lamb for a traditional Easter roast, shoppers flocked to buy fish, salads and food more suited to eating outdoors.

Garden centres across the country, and particularly in the drought-stricken south-east, have reported a tenfold rise in sales of more drought-resistant plants more suited to Mediterranean conditions.

Local authorities have already begun replacing traditional bedding plants with more tropical blooms like palm trees which were a rare sight and could only grow on coastlines warmed by the Gulf Stream.

But all this comes at the expense of much-loved British species. Indigenous varieties like oak trees, pansies, roses and delphiniums suffer in extreme heat and especially from a lack of water.