The weather! My favourite topic...
Have you seen the 'secret' forecast which was sent to the Cabinet Office by the Met Office?
The Met Office forecast for the winter on their web site indicated that it was going to be mild, but after the freezing start the BBC announced that the Met Office had really anticipated the freezing weather in a secret forecast to the Government. Why it should have been secret has never been explained, and some bloggers have chased this document up under the 'Freedom of Infomation' Act. It reads like this:
Met Office Initial Assessment of Risk for Winter 2010/11
This covers the months of November, December and January 2010/11, this will be updated monthly through the winter and so probabilities will change.
Temperature
3 in 10 chance of a mild start
3 in 10 chance of an average start
4 in 10 chance of a cold start
Precipitation
3 in 10 chance of a wet start
3 in 10 chance of an average start
4 in 10 chance of a dry start
Summary: There is an increased risk for a cold and wintry start to the winter season.
Looking further ahead beyond this assessment there are some indications of an increased risk of a mild end to the winter season.
We paid £30m for a computer to provide this rubbish. I particularly like the warning of an increased RISK of a "mild end to the winter season". Round here, we call that 'Spring'...
