Fri, May 08, 2009 page6

• BBC causes storm clouds to gather over village

  • THE GUARDIAN
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  The sun may be out, but storm clouds are gathering over the tiny Scottish Highland community of Carrbridge. For come rain or shine, the BBC’s weather forecast invariably predicts showers, infuriating the village’s 700 residents.

  Now they have declared war on the corporation, complaining its forecasts are putting a dampener on tourism and threatening livelihoods. They are urging other UK communities who feel equally aggrieved to follow their lead.

  Villagers claim that despite its name — Carr is Gaelic for boggy — they live in one of the driest areas of Scotland. Protected by mountains and nestling in the Cairngorms National Park near Aviemore, it has its own enviable microclimate. Damp mists, so redolent of the Highlands, are virtually unknown and rainfall is as low as in the south of England.

  But if you punch the Carrbridge postcode into the BBC’s weather Web site, more often than not the black-and-grey graphics of cloud and downpours pop up.

  “We have sun. It says rain and it’s driving the visitors away,” said Danny Fullerton, who runs the Landmark forest adventure park, just outside the village.

  Backed by Carrbridge’s business community, he has now raised the matter with the BBC.

  “It’s a reasoned complaint,” said Andrew Kirk, chairman of the local business association, who runs the Cairn Hotel. “We are just trying to explain to a very large organization what effect they are having on a very small community.”

  Local traders say most people turn to the BBC Web site before planning their days out. But, while the Web site was showing rain almost every day for the past fortnight, the local woods were declared a fire risk because it was so dry.

  “That’s how bad it is,” local sculptor Alice Buttress said.

  The five-day forecasts change almost by the hour — and take no account of Carrbridge’s unique position, residents argue.

  “They try to be so sophisticated with their Web site. They are offering very local forecasts for specific postcodes,” Fullerton said. “Meanwhile, the accuracy of those forecasts is getting worse. They are not sophisticated enough to actually get it right, and if they can’t get it right, they shouldn’t do it. Because people trust the BBC Web site and are inclined to believe what is on it.”

  Even more irritating is the terminology, he said.

  “If there is even a chance of light precipitation, they use ‘showers’ or ‘showery.’ What is ‘showers’ supposed to mean? To me, it implies mainly wet. If that is the case, say ‘mainly wet.’ Otherwise why not say ‘mainly dry,’ which is what it usually is in this area.”

  Buttresssaid the misleading forecasts translated into bed-and-breakfast and hotel cancelations.

  “E-mails have been flying round the village on this. The effect for us is quite drastic, because we rely on tourism. But I am sure we are not alone. If everyone started to complain, perhaps the BBC might take notice,” Buttress said.

  Carrbridge has about 130,000 visitors a year, drawn by the scenery and prolific wildlife. Fullerton, who checks the BBC site daily, said he needed an accurate forecast to plan staff rotas and stock levels.

  The BBC said in a statement: “Our aim at BBC Weather is to present the forecast as clearly as possible and to increase the speed and frequency with which we can update it. We are confident we are using the best source of forecast data, which we obtain from the [UK] Met Office. However, the nature of our climate is such there are times when the weather behaves in unpredictable ways. Our terminology aims to be as clear as possible and we constantly review it following our audience comments and feedback.”
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