THE BBC has apologised for its weather app and website incorrectly forecasting “hurricane force winds” to hit the UK – including parts of Scotland.
Graphics showed Edinburgh was set to experience winds of more than 17,000mph on Thursday while Glasgow was set to be hit with 14,800mph winds.
BBC broadcast meteorologist Matt Taylor assured the public that Hurricane Milton, the category three storm that made landfall in Florida overnight, was not on its way to the UK.
“Don’t be alarmed folks – Hurricane Milton hasn’t made it to us here in the UK!”, he wrote on X alongside a screenshot of an extreme prediction on the weather app.
Don’t be alarmed folks - Hurricane Milton hasn’t made it to us here in the UK! There’s been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue. No need to panic buy plywood and candles pic.twitter.com/3tYWm9lyx7
— Matt Taylor (@MetMattTaylor) October 10, 2024
“There’s been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue.
“No need to panic buy plywood and candles.”
Lead BBC weather presenter and meteorologist, Simon King, also assured users of the website and app that there will not be “14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404C” in a social media post.
Meanwhile, BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood told BBC Breakfast viewers that the weather centre was experiencing a “technical glitch” that they were trying to fix “right now”.
A statement from BBC weather on social media said: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly.
“Sorry – please bear with us.”
It added that the accurate weather headlines for Thursday included colder, clearer air moving in, rain and drizzle in the south and blustery showers near the east coast.
A BBC spokesperson added that the issue was with a third-party supplier which they were working with to fix the issue “as soon as possible.”
