BBC apologises for weather app forecasting ‘hurricane force winds’ for UK

The BBC has apologised for its weather app and website incorrectly forecasting “hurricane force winds” to hit the UK as it works to fix data issues.

Graphics showed London was set to experience winds of more than 13,000mph on Thursday while Nottingham would have overnight temperatures of 404C.

BBC broadcast meteorologist Matt Taylor assured the public that Hurricane Milton, the category three storm that made landfall in Florida overnight, was not on its way to the UK.

“Don’t be alarmed folks – Hurricane Milton hasn’t made it to us here in the UK!”, he wrote on X alongside a screenshot of an extreme prediction on the weather app.

“There’s been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue.

“No need to panic buy plywood and candles.”

Lead BBC weather presenter and meteorologist, Simon King, also assured users of the website and app that there will not be “14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404C” in a social media post.

Meanwhile, BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood told BBC Breakfast viewers that the weather centre was experiencing a “technical glitch” that they were trying to fix “right now”.

A statement from BBC weather on social media said: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly.

“Sorry – please bear with us.”

It added that the accurate weather headlines for Thursday included colder, clearer air moving in, rain and drizzle in the south and blustery showers near the east coast.

A BBC spokesperson added that the issue was with a third-party supplier which they were working with to fix the issue “as soon as possible.”

DTN, which supplies the forecast for the BBC app, confirmed it was aware of the issue but said it had “no exact time” when it would be fixed.

A spokesperson for the US-based company said: “There has been a problem, but at this moment we have no exact time when it will be working again.”

The firm provides subscription services for the analysis and delivery of real-time weather, agricultural, energy and commodity market information.

It became the BBC app’s weather data supplier in 2018 when it acquired previous provider MeteoGroup.