*Save Rob McElwee!*

[Coast]

I think it is worth considering that it may not be the MetO who are calling the shots here. In this tough climate the BBC are duty bound to negotiate the best deal they can for their outsourced services and I believe this may have been recently re-negotiated, which could be part of the reason behind these changes.

I think to be positive and if you really feel passionate about Rob and the other forecasters who are being re-deployed, then perhaps you should write directly to the BBC or as suggested above, start a Facebook page (not sure how to go about that myself!!).

Printing out the Save Rob posters is of course great, but 'direct action' via the web seems to get noticed a lot more these days

[sniffermark]

Since the Met Office is government owned, perhaps we could start a 10 Downing Street e-Petition?

[West Sussex Kate]

I think we've got to do something..... before we know it, Rob will be gone and it will be to late!

[Coast]

I think we've got to do something..... before we know it, Rob will be gone and it will be to late!

Get e-mailing and writing to the BBC WS1!!!!

[West Sussex Kate]

yep im making a youtube video

[tinybill]

rob the best of the lot when hes on at lest to take notice and listern

[Coast]

Never underestimate the power of the web. Type 'save Rob McElwee' into Google and see what pops up at the top!

Perhaps you could start the next Rickrolling sensation!

[West Sussex Kate]

Ok,Ive made a YOUTUBE film in support of Rob,

Please view it here.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB--wRuJWHY

:):)

[stewfox]

Ok,Ive made a YOUTUBE film in support of Rob,

:):)

Excellent

Any e-mail address ?

[BLAST FROM THE PAST]

He'll be snapped up. BBC want warmist non meteorologists, who watches them anymore?

BFTP

[Crepuscular Ray]

He'll be snapped up. BBC want warmist non meteorologists, who watches them anymore?

BFTP

I wish I could believe you, but how many jobs are there for meteorologists at the mo?

[Paul]

This thread has made the newspapers!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/oct/16/bbc-weathermen-being-moved-off-screen

[johnholmes]

This thread has made the newspapers!

http://www.guardian....oved-off-screen

fame!

the piece is pretty well written in my view and the bloke who used to be in charge at the BBC did know his job

[cyclonic happiness]

Why have they said he's going to be axed? Waht is the excact reason?

To me Rob is an icon, and he's also a cold ramper as well so MUST be saved!

Dan Corbett would be more for the axe imo as he's a 'warmie' and seems to hate forecasting snow lol!

And as for shaveknacker .......

[Frozen Lands]

Typical!!!

The only presenter they have that is both accurate and funny. Rob is also pretty much the only one who does not treat you like an idiot and gives "proper" information about the forcast.

Most of the ones they have give the most mundane forecasts. You now the ones... "a bit of rain here" "some wind there" "a patronising smile coming in from the west with no explaination at all". And Rob is also one of the few that will actually explain why we have the weather we have and "shock of shocks" actually give you the bigger picture outside of the UK.

For me, they (BBC) can get rid of anybody else except Rob. He's the only thing my partner and I look foward to after the usual doom-and-gloom and over dramatized news the BBC seem to be intent on dishing out.

Bl**dy BBC!

Does this mean I can now "axe" my license fee as a cost saving measure against idiots?

[picog]

He's the only one worth listening too — he's just so humorous and witty, and superb at telling the forecast

[seabreeze86]

Such a shame if Rob goes he is the only forcaster that doesnot not treat snow like it is the end of the world,also he provides substance in his forecasts and has a real passion for weather which is shared by us all on netweather. Hope the beeb have a rethink

[Ian Fergusson]

For me, they (BBC) can get rid of anybody else except Rob. He's the only thing my partner and I look foward to after the usual doom-and-gloom and over dramatized news the BBC seem to be intent on dishing out.

Bl**dy BBC!

Does this mean I can now "axe" my license fee as a cost saving measure against idiots?

[Thundery wintry showers]

"I think the BBC has dumbed down weather forecasting," says Teather. "Half the broadcast goes on telling you what's going on at the moment – well, I can look out the bloody window for that, what I want is the forecast."

I've heard a lot of comparitive non-enthusiasts from Joe Public say that same thing. If half the broadcast goes on telling you what's going on at the moment, then it's no better than having half of it go on a synoptic analysis- at least the latter was interesting for weather enthusiasts!

I've taken on board the point that it was a Met Office selection process rather than a BBC one, though if anything that makes the decision even more baffling.

[West Sussex Kate]

I have just found out this isn't a BBC issue This is a met office issue,

So if you have some time please send a message to,

[email protected]

and show your support for Rob, before its to late!

[Harry]

I'm not getting embroiled in this thread but this cannot pass without refutation. Perhaps before launching such ill-informed diatribe against three friends of mine, whose combined and individual expertise I and others greatly value as colleagues, perhaps you might read - for sake of one example - John's biography and then come back here and re-attest that he (or Matt, or Liam) "...haven't got a bloody clue". Do you really think that a 2 minute TV weathercast is a full, academic symposia-style reflection of the (outstanding) professional scientific expertise of someone like John (et al.)?

One additional broader point of clarification: those of you who have actually read the quotes cited in various newsmedia sources on this story today will, I am sure, have already deduced how there is a clear and important distinction to draw between a Met Office internal HR process, versus any undertaken directly by the BBC.

Ian.

For clarity, Ian, and apologies for not being clearer earlier, my comment "this mob haven't got a clue" was regarding the BBC/MetOffice decision to take Rob McElwee, Phil Avery and Tomasz Schafernaker from our screens...I'm not for a second suggesting Dutton, Taylor and Hammond or not qualified - I simply maintain that their forecast delivery is comparitively dull compared with the three who are (according to media sources and apparently true) being axed - something which I frankly, fail to understand!

Presenters are there to communicate - put the weather across to the public, to be engaging, to be informative and as a bonus, make you enjoy the weather forecast wherever possible - I find it astounding that any group of HR professionals (or whoever may be at the helm of this LUDICROUS decision) could come to the conclusion that Rob McElwee, Phil Avery and Schafernaker are better OFF SCREEN!!!

Whichever way it may try to be justified, when you take arguably two of the most experienced and in the case of McElwee in particular (and incredibly rare talent for a weather presenter) entertaining presenters and place them into a 'behind the scenes' role, while other presenters who are as engaging as a religious preachers in a moshpit remain on screen, there is something very wrong!!

Whichever way it's justified, there is no rhyme or reason for taking Tomasz Schafernaker, Phil Avery and ESPECIALLY Rob McElwee from our screens while we are left with dull, boring and uninspirational!

[Fitz]

The question is why. The Guardian story does not make it clear whether these are Met Office cuts or at the BBC's request. I suspect cuts as Met Office had to re tender for the BBC contract recently. Anything that takes a qualified meteorologist off the screen in favour of cheap eye candy or Sky style unseen voice overs is a retrograde step. Shame about Francis Wilson who is a meteorologist. As an educator I wish all this dumbing down would stop - oh for isobars and fronts. Even in the US they are allowed to refer to jet streams!

[Harry]

I have just found out this isn't a BBC issue This is a met office issue,

So if you have some time please send a message to,

[email protected]

and show your support for Rob, before its to late!

Thanks WS1 - I've sent an email, though not holding out for any miracles.

[Snowangel-MK]

Well to quote Jim Kosek (remember him - the Baltimore Snowpocalypse forecaster)

"You can get weather just about anywhere nowadays -- you don't have to pay for this stuff, so I think you've gotta add a little uh-umph, some panache to it."

maybe that's what the BBC/Met Office should be thinking !!

Jim Kosek is a senior meteorologist and is quite possibly the most insane weatherman in the US. Love him or hate him, he makes the weather interesting. One day, he wore a hat and gloves and leaned up against a snow shovel. The next day, he added a little dance to his routine. Despite the foolishness, Kosek says he spends most of his time at work studying weather patterns and preparing graphics for his segments. The outbursts? Those kind of just happen, he says.

　

http://laughingsquid.com/jim-kosek-a-weatherman-gone-wild/

[NorthantsSnow]

I have just found out this isn't a BBC issue This is a met office issue,

So if you have some time please send a message to,

[email protected]

and show your support for Rob, before its to late!

No harm in e-mailing the BBC as well. They might not have made the decision themselves but it's the BBC that Mr. McElwee appears on and if they get a large volume of correspondence on it then they might intervene.