Metcheck or BBC?

Gazzaputt

Compare the the two forecasts for my area. I want to believe Metcheck and for the most that are usually more accurate than the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2574?area=Bexley

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/7da ... ode=london

So what do you use?

DIESELDOG

Gazzaputt wrote:

Compare the the two forecasts for my area. I want to believe Metcheck and for the most that are usually more accurate than the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2574?area=Bexley

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/7da ... ode=london

So what do you use?

My weather stone.

if I can see it it's sunny.
If I can't it's foggy or night.
If it's wet it's raining.
If it's white it's snowing.
If it's moving it's windy.
If it's gone, it's very, very, very windy.

Job done really.

Love n hugs

DD

The Prodigy

I tend to use Metcheck but I take any weather forecast with a pinch of salt.

In the winter Metcheck will always have snow somewhere in the two week forecast. They also sometimes predict 300mph winds. I think they sometimes misplace their decimal points.

bompington

Have you tried the met office? By no means infallible, but they do actually try and work it out rather than guess...

Slapshot

My head....its my job.......

Doesn't really matter which you use the websites are predominantly fed by a autotext system direct from model data. They come up with some wierd and wonderful forecasts sometimes, snowstorms in july, 25 degrees C in january........ none of them are particularly good to be honest.

Try the Met Office's own site, at least you'll get a reasonable regional forecast on there

sampras38

Couple of times recently I've tried using Metcheck to plan a couple of long rides and both times it got it horribly wrong. I think I'll guess from now on..;-)

daviesee

I liked Billy Connoly's view on finding out the current weather.

Don't look at the TV, look out the window. Much more accurate. But he made it fiunny.

As for forecasting. Your guess (immediate couple of hours) is as likely to be as correct as any website.

MattC59

DIESELDOG wrote:

Gazzaputt wrote:

Compare the the two forecasts for my area. I want to believe Metcheck and for the most that are usually more accurate than the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2574?area=Bexley

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/7da ... ode=london

So what do you use?

My weather stone.

if I can see it it's sunny.
If I can't it's foggy or night.
If it's wet it's raining.
If it's white it's snowing.
If it's moving it's windy.
If it's gone, it's very, very, very windy.

Job done really.

Love n hugs

DD

I've got one of those !!!!

But I also use the BBC weather pages, they're taken from the Met Office, so one would assume that they're ok.

OffTheBackAdam

If it's tomorrow's weather you're looking for, then there's a good chance that any forecaster will get it just about right. Further out than that, then it makes no odds which you use, they're as likely as each other to be wrong!
DD's method works best!

warpcow

I've been using this for years:

http://www.yr.no/

It seems more accurate than the Met. Office whenever I'm back in the UK (I use it to know what to pack), and is infinitely better than most mainland European meteorological services.

nickwill

Metcheck is often way out. I use the Met Office because it is updated much more regularly. My assumption is that the online BBC forecast uses the same data with a pretty interface, but only updates about twice a day.

Crapaud

bompington wrote:

Have you tried the met office? By no means infallible, but they do actually try and work it out rather than guess...

I've been using it for over a year, but have now given up.

One week the prediction for the next day was heavy rain and strong winds, as it was for the rest of the week. The next day turned out sunny and mild, with forcasts for heavy rain etc for the rest of the week. Same thing the next day, and the next, etc.

Now I just look out the window and take waterproofs, as standard, just in case.

thecrofter

I don't use Metcheck since I found out about the owner.

I use the Met Off and weather.com

ben16v

http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

i find this good but generally look at all three

Steveorow

I use the following

http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

Mainly for wind direction and strength . Its user friendly and its relatively accurate up to 48 hours . For actual weather the front window I have found to be the most reliable .

freehub

I use MetOffice, it's the best, although the older BBC Weather was much better before they turned it crap with a pretty interface.

deptfordmarmoset

I think the BBC's weather forecast is more worried about people being caught out in a shower without an umbrella than finding themselves carrying an umbrella in brilliant sunshine - they can be overly ''defensive'' in their predictions. I've got a met office widget (though it may be a gadget, I'm not sure...) installed in my browser and use xcweather most of the time. Wind direction/air pressure seems to tell me more about what kind of weather I'm going to experience than anything else.

rolf_f

Put it this way - it is the Metoffice that the emergency services use for info about storms, tidal surges etc.

Doesn't stop Metro continually quoting the opinion of companies that rely on a PC and a bucket of seaweed though.........

Met Office invest a lot of money in what they do and they are the best. The webpage would be better with more explanation of what is happening and the degree of uncertainty; but the public don't like that.

Dunkindiver

THe Met office is good as you can look at the last six hours data from local weather sites to help with your predictions!

ColinJ

thecrofter wrote:

I don't use Metcheck since I found out about the owner.

Ditto!

COVEC

To get good accurate weather you should utilise the aviation weather reports for your local airifelds. You get 2 types of report;

METAR--These are the current observations at the airfield

TAF--These are the forecast for the airfield and are fairly accurate

Have a look at the link below and just click on the dots that represent your local airfields

http://en.allmetsat.com/metar-taf/unite ... reland.php

If you have a smart phone you can download apps that will do the same, a good one is AeroWeather for the iphone


Cheers COVEC

Slapshot

COVEC wrote:

To get good accurate weather you should utilise the aviation weather reports for your local airifelds. You get 2 types of report;

METAR--These are the current observations at the airfield

TAF--These are the forecast for the airfield and are fairly accurate

Have a look at the link below and just click on the dots that represent your local airfields

http://en.allmetsat.com/metar-taf/unite ... reland.php

If you have a smart phone you can download apps that will do the same, a good one is AeroWeather for the iphone


Cheers COVEC

Awfy glad they Have things in plain text...not many folk know METAR code

AndyF16

Being a bit of a tart with an iPhone I use the Met Office ap, pretty accurate upto 24 hours in advance so far but they're all a bit hit n' miss further than that aren't they?

DIESELDOG

In all seriousness I use none of the big names, I actually use the local area web site, the forecaster had 20 years plus with the Met Office/military before retiring and he's usually pretty spot on.

Couple that with some good typo's it's an entertaining and yet educational read...

Love n hugs

DD

TuckerUK

Out of Metcheck, BBC (= Met Office?), and Met Office, I find Metcheck is the one that is usually least wrong.

rolf_f

DIESELDOG wrote:

In all seriousness I use none of the big names, I actually use the local area web site, the forecaster had 20 years plus with the Met Office/military before retiring and he's usually pretty spot on.

Most of what he'll be using is the Met Office output. The only alternatives that have any value at all have no option but to use Met Office.

DIESELDOG

Rolf F wrote:

DIESELDOG wrote:

In all seriousness I use none of the big names, I actually use the local area web site, the forecaster had 20 years plus with the Met Office/military before retiring and he's usually pretty spot on.

Most of what he'll be using is the Met Office output. The only alternatives that have any value at all have no option but to use Met Office.

That and going by what berries are growing for the long range forecast...

Love n hugs

DD

Stewie Griffin

Metcheck usually. Tried accuweather but found the website annoying to use on my phone.

antfly

I use weather watcher on my desktop {free version}, I think it gets the weather from local airfields and it's very useful if you want to know the current and predicted local wind speed and direction.