Bbc Weather Milton Keynes (2024)

FAQs

How reliable is the BBC weather forecast? ›

BBC is usually accurate for conditions but a few hours adrift on time. Anything more then 24 hours in advance is generally pretty unreliable too.

BBC Weather is the department of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) responsible for both the preparation and the broadcasting of weather forecasts. On 6 February 2018, BBC Weather changed supplier from the government Met Office to MeteoGroup after an open competition.

On 6 February 2018 BBC Weather changed supplier from the government Met Office to MeteoGroup, after being required to put its weather services out to tender. Some have claimed there has been a reduction in accuracy of BBC forecasts as a result.

Our data supplier MeteoGroup uses the probability of precipitation (% chance), and this ranges from 0% (no chance at all) to 100% (it will be wet). So what does a 20% chance of rain actually mean? It means that out of 100 situations with similar weather, it should rain on 20 of those, and not rain on 80.

Somewhat less intuitive than the BBC's easily navigable, at-a-glance site, the government-run The Met Office is nonetheless generally viewed as the most reliable weather forecast there is in the UK.

Even now five-day weather forecasts are about 90% accurate, but 10-day forecasts are more like 50%. Anything beyond that becomes speculative. The Met Office and others do now issue long-term forecasts, but these give probabilities rather than making exact predictions.

ForecastWatch is the only globally recognized measure of forecast accuracy. Of all commercial weather providers, The Weather Company is the most open about what goes into our forecast, how we create it, and how that is measured.

The Short Answer:

A seven-day forecast can accurately predict the weather about 80 percent of the time and a five-day forecast can accurately predict the weather approximately 90 percent of the time. However, a 10-day—or longer—forecast is only right about half the time.

#OTD1992 The BBC Weather Centre stops converting temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit, which it had done on forecasts since 1961.

What does a 35% chance of rain mean? ›

The percent chance of rain (or snow or thunderstorms) is called the “Probability of Precipitation,” or PoP. The figure refers to the chance that the forecast area will see at least 0.01 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

A forecast of a 20 percent chance of rain means the forecaster believes there is a one in five chance (20 percent) that measurable rain will occur in the time period covered by the forecast.

The % chance of rain is a probability that it will rain and not a percentage of time it will rain. So a 20% probability of it raining also means there is an 80% chance it will not rain in the area associated with the forecast.

It becomes a chance for precipitation when the value is 30%, 40% or 50%, which represents scattered showers. When a value is listed as 60% or 70%, the precipitation is categorized as likely with numerous areas of precipitation being forecasted.

7: white medium level cloud. 8: black low level cloud.

Every site is never 100% right in the weather forecast but the BBC is more accurate than most others.

AccuWeather gathers the best and most comprehensive weather data to deliver forecasts with Superior Accuracy. Forecasts are pinpointed for every location on Earth and extend further ahead than any other source.