Does Northwest England Get Poor Coverage From BBC National (UK) tv Weather Forecasts?

[shuggee]

Just an observation from watching so many weather forecasts over the years:

It appears to me that since the change to 3D graphics in BBC UK tv weather forecasts, the northwest of England gets the least coverage. The fly through around the British Isles is a wonderful application of technology, but would anybody agree that with the position that forecasters stand, and the direction of travel of the fly through, it is the area north of Birmingham to the west of the Pennines and south of Dumfies that is least mentioned, is never fully in the picture and is therefore hardest to see and understand what is predicted?

[AderynCoch]

I've noticed exactly the same thing, though I do live here so am probably more cynical, and when we do get mentioned they usually refer to "the Manchester area".

On a similar note I've yet to see a nationwide summary of December 2010 which notes the heavy snowfalls which affected this part of the country on the night of the 17th-18th.

[damianslaw]

Yes, very often they pan through scotland, then down the east side of the country, focus in on London and the SE then zip over to SW England and Wales and finally N Ireland. NW Eng and N/W Midlands rarely gets a look in. Counties such as Cheshire, Staffs, and Lancashire are hardly ever mentioned. Whilst counties such as Cornwall, Kent and Lincolnshire often always get a mention.

The Lake District and Cumbria often gets mentioned when rain bearing fronts move in from the atlantic especially in the winter, conjuring up an image that it is constantly wet here. When we get decent weather it never gets mentioned. Cumbria does get the most coverage in the NW region it has to be said - usually because there is often something to talk about here be it heavy rain, heavy showers, snow, gales, cold or dull cloudy weather.

I do think the region along with N/W Midlands is in the worse position due to its central location being hidden by the presenter.

[Cheshire Freeze]

I've noticed it too......always thought it's because the least interesting weather occurs here

[Geordiesnow]

From my observations, its actually Western Scotland and most particularly the Shetland Isles that seems to be missed out by forecasters or get the least menturn even if there is "weather" occuring.

The Shetland isles is interesting because whenever we get a weather pattern and only Shetland is in the really cold air therefore have a lower minimum temperature it rarely gets menturned, e.g "It should be a largely frostfree tonight" - only for Lerwick to have a temperature of -1!

Regarding NW England, I think it gets quite a bit of menturn really but yes I agree that whenever the flyovers occurs then it does tend to be more hidden than other parts of the UK and therefore less is said than some other regions.

[damianslaw]

From my observations, its actually Western Scotland and most particularly the Shetland Isles that seems to be missed out by forecasters or get the least menturn even if there is "weather" occuring.

The Shetland isles is interesting because whenever we get a weather pattern and only Shetland is in the really cold air therefore have a lower minimum temperature it rarely gets menturned, e.g "It should be a largely frostfree tonight" - only for Lerwick to have a temperature of -1!

Regarding NW England, I think it gets quite a bit of menturn really but yes I agree that whenever the flyovers occurs then it does tend to be more hidden than other parts of the UK and therefore less is said than some other regions.

Yes in terms of Scotland, west scotland and especially SW scotland gets the least mention, Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh and the central belt usually gets mentioned the most.

[Weather-history]

I have never liked the panning across the country, don't see the point of it.

By the way how often does the Isle of Man get mentioned and how often is there a temperature symbol for Douglas?

Edited April 30, 2012 by Mr_Data

[Osbourne One-Nil]

It's not just the telly - on the Radio 4 forecasts they often miss the north west out altogether. I say often....I've heard them do it a few times recently and being the tedious little sod that I am, I actually go onto iplayer to see if I can verify this. My dad's noticed it too, so I don't think it's just my radio.

[March Blizzard]

To the London-centric media Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester are a suburb of Wales and Lancashire and Cumbria are a suburb of Scotland...ie they don't matter

[Weather-history]

By the way how often does the Isle of Man get mentioned and how often is there a temperature symbol for Douglas?

The Isle of Man gets the worst coverage for me, its in the middle of the Irish Sea and yet it gets coverage by the local networks (Granada and BBC NW), virtually never by the national network.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Mr_Data

[SP1986]

Isn't that because the Met-office doesn't actually serve the isle of Man, so therefore the BBC forecasts reflect that given BBC forecast data is from the Met-office?

[Interitus]

This subject was in a thread a couple of months ago -

http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/72532-rate-your-regional-bbc-forecasts/

At the time I mentioned that the northwest was ignored but almost straight afterwards I noticed they started to add temperature symbols for the area.

A London-centric focus to the BBC doesn't make sense now that they've moved much of their operation and programming to Salford.

[Weather-history]

Isn't that because the Met-office doesn't actually serve the isle of Man, so therefore the BBC forecasts reflect that given BBC forecast data is from the Met-office?

But BBC NW does, so how do you explain this though?

[damianslaw]

From a personal point of view it is very pleasing to see the BBC show Kendal regularly on the maps, especially as it isn't a major town or city. In the winter nightime minima temps are often coldest in Kendal compared to any of the other places shown in England and unfortunately coldest maxima in the summer as well.

The BBC on occasion mentions Manchester and 'Liverpool' bay area, but hardly ever Cheshire or Lancashire or N Cumbria, but not once do you here them never mention London.

I do think southern scotland gets the rawest deal as well as the northwest midlands i.e. Staffordshire and Peak District area which often doesn't neatly fit into NW Eng, NE Eng or midlands, usually when they say midlands they mean Birmingham. There is too strong an emphasis on the major cities where conditions are rarely reflective of the region they are located in as a whole.

[Aaron]

Most people live in cities and towns though, so it's to be expected. The general populous probably don't care how cold it has gotten in a frost hollow.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Aaron

[Interitus]

Having said that the BBC forecasts started to include temperatures in this area I noticed today that Laura Tobin didn't so it depends on the forecaster. The temperatures only tend to be a general guide but that's millions of viewers which can include parts of West + South Yorkshire and the north Midlands who have to guesstimate their temperatures as an average of Birmingham, Anglesey, Kendal and Hull.

As for areas that don't get mentioned, the Channel Islands might as well be a part of France.

The forecasts on BBC radio 4 seem to convey more information than the TV broadcasts by voice alone.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Most people live in cities and towns though, so it's to be expected. The general populous probably don't care how cold it has gotten in a frost hollow.

Well, yes and no- most people live in urban areas but only a comparitively small number live in the centres of large cities. Particularly on the national broadcasts, projected values are based on city centres, whereas suburban areas and centres of towns and small cities tend not to get the same magnitude of urban heat island effect. It is also worth noting that those living in rural areas still make up about 20% of the population (about 12 million people).

I suspect it may be part of trying to provide a positive slant on the weather forecast, i.e. if we must show a broad guesstimate of temperatures that will be experienced across a region, err on the side of the highest values.

The "southeast bias" has always been a problem on media forecasts but I know from having done my own forecasts how difficult it is to give all regions a fair share of the coverage- if you are used to living in London you will naturally tend to see more of your own weather than the weather of the Scottish Lowlands. This is one downside of reducing the number of regional weather centres.

[Norrance]

Has anyone else noticed that since this thread was started the BBC breakfast forecast has mentioned NW England specifically every day?