BBC weather app and website predicts hurricane force winds in major technical glitch
The BBC has issued an apology after its weather app and website mistakenly displayed forecasts predicting hurricane force winds and temperatures exceeding 400°C in some areas. BBC Weather forecasters promptly addressed the error and clarified that the incorrect graphics were under investigation.
The incorrect reporting may have caused “some confusion”, especially with Hurricane Milton bringing dangerous winds to parts of Florida in the US.
A bar on the top of the weather webpage now states that the data is wrong.
Simon King, the lead BBC weather presenter, wrote on X: ‘Oops, don’t be alarmed by some of our weather data this morning. Be assured there won’t be 14,408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404°C.’
BBC presenter Carol Kirkwood addressed the forecast on air, telling viewers “We’re having a technical glitch at the moment It’s showing wind speeds far too fast – in fact hurricane strength – and of course that is not the case at all so please do not be alarmed by that. We are well aware of that and we are on it. We are trying to fix it right now, so hopefully that will sort itself.”
BBC Weather said it was aware of a data issue with a third-party supplier and it was working hard to fix the problem.
Kerry is a Content Creator at www.systemtek.co.uk she has spent many years working in IT support, her main interests are computing, networking and AI.