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September 26th, 2007

Open letter to the BBC Weather Forecasters

Dear the BBC Weather Forecasters,

It would be really helpful if you could include a ‘washing forecast’ as part of your weather forecast updates.

I have devised a system that you could use to show us whether it is worth putting washing outside on the line to dry or not. First of all you will need to show us a map looking a bit like this:

washing drying map

The numbering system works as follows:

10 is a perfect washing day. Washing hung out on the line will be dry almost as soon as you put it out. It’s a good day to wash thick duvets and winter coats!

5 means that washing placed first thing outside will dry by the end of the day. There may be a little bit of mild dampness around the seams and pockets, but essentially it is a good day to do washing.

0 is the point at which washing will not really be any drier when you take it in than it was when you put it out. This could be because there is no sun or wind or because there are light showers. You could say that there is no point in putting your washing out when a ’0′ is forecasted. Even a ’2′ or a ’3′ would make it worth putting the washing out for a bit, but not a ’0′.

-5 is washing that gets a lot wetter when hung out because it has been raining. Better to put it over a radiator!

-10. A -10 scenario would be when there is so much rain that the washing is absolutely soaked through and dripping. Frankly, if your washing is outside in ‘-10′ conditions you might as well put it back into the machine and give it another spin.

I am aware that adding a washing forecast to the weather forecast will use precious weather forecast time. I therefore propose that the following items could be cut out:

  1. Idle banter with the news presenter
  2. News about forthcoming sports events. No-one watches the weather forecast hoping to hear about forthcoming sports events. In particular on the BBC London Weather we do not need to hear Peter Cockroft telling us from his rooftop position which football games we can hear on BBC London 94.9. It is not really of any interest to us.

Yours faithfully,

Dave Walker

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25 Responses to “Open letter to the BBC Weather Forecasters”


  1. Dave says:

    By the way I have not sent this to the BBC weather people because I cannot find out how to do so. I kept on being taken in circles around the website.

    September 26th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
  2. James says:

    Great stuff. Is there a petition I can sign?

    September 26th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
  3. Suzy says:

    Could it include another level if your washing is at risk of freezing solid on the line? I would find that useful :)

    September 26th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
  4. Chris says:

    The most intriguing thing about Peter Cockroft is that on the 10pm BBC1 local forecast at 10:30 he used to begin by saying “Thanks very much” to the newsreader.

    He stopped that a few months ago.

    I’ve been wondering whether he’s begun a feud with all the newsreaders or perhaps there has been a fiat from on high that thanks are not required from weather forecasters to newsreaders no matter what the newsreaders have done for the forecasters.

    I anticipate tense times at the BBC canteen when the newsreader passes Peter the salt and pepper.

    September 26th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
  5. joe says:

    Dave, I suspect the email you’re looking for is weather at bbc.co.uk

    There should also be washing warnings. As in: WARNING, YOU NEED TO PUT THE WASHING ON THE LINE BY LUNCHTIME IF IT IS TO BE DRY BEFORE WIFE GETS HOME.

    September 26th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
  6. Erika says:

    Great! Love it, I tend to glaze over and the waffle and start on icibars on the like, then before I realise its finished and I still dont know if its going rain or not…. At last a sensible watchable system!

    September 26th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
  7. David K says:

    Wales scoring 5 points? Shurely shome mishtake!

    September 26th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
  8. Anne says:

    Brilliant – that’s just the information I need! (Although a brief indication of whether or not I need to wrangle the children into coats before leaving the house would be good too.)

    September 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
  9. St says:

    10x = dry but bright colours will have faded.

    The BBC weather forecast down here is always corrected in the light of reality. So if they say it is going to be sunny and it is actually wet, when you look later on they will have changed the forecast to wet. Sort of aftercast or postcast.

    I think, for what difference it makes to my behaviour, all weather forecasts should be done after the weather has happened.

    September 26th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
  10. Jack the Lass says:

    I’m with Erika on this one. I have been known to actively switch on the TV simply in order to watch the weather forecast, but there’s something about it which triggers “wandering mind syndrome”, and usually about 10 seconds after it’s finished I suddenly realise I still have no idea what they said about the weather.

    September 27th, 2007 at 9:39 am
  11. Jenny says:

    Thanks for this post. It reminded me that I had left the wet washing mouldering on the settee. It’s now hanging on the line to dry. I would say it’s 3 in west London today.

    September 27th, 2007 at 10:29 am
  12. Heather says:

    Oh yes please, this is what we’ve been waiting for! Why has no-one suggested this before? And what about a weather channel, there’s lots of news channels, a whole channel devoted to weather forecasts, and washing forecasts. Inspired!!

    September 27th, 2007 at 10:38 am
  13. Jaded for Jesus says:

    I’m with Anne. Baseline indications of the need for vests – or socks of a certain density – would be really useful for seasonally-challenged parents of school-aged children. This is precisely the public service type of info we pay licence fees for!

    And yes, Dave, those of us who indulge in idle chit-chat most of the time (on the web and otherwise) just don’t need it between anchor and weather-person.

    Ooh, do make sure the weather people get this! Look forward to their reply.

    September 27th, 2007 at 10:42 am
  14. Gavin White says:

    Great Idea!

    September 27th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
  15. andy says:

    It’s not very good drying weather today in Nuneaton, so this chart is already 2 days out of date.

    Please could you give us an update as I’m trying to decide whether to put a load in this afternoon?

    September 27th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
  16. Karin says:

    I think this is an excellent idea, Dave. However, how far ahead would you be able to plan? I can’t see how it would be any more accurate than current forecasts, which seem to change as the day progresses as well as from day to day.

    How do they forecast the weather? Could we have a cartoon to explain, please.

    September 27th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
  17. Cosmo says:

    To Erika and Jack the Lass:

    A while ago the Met Office did an experiment where they phoned people directly after the evening weather forecast had been broadcast to ask them if they knew what the weather would be like for the next few days. Almost everyone didn’t have a clue despite watching it minutes earlier. (Perhaps we just like the ritual).

    Dave:

    Thanks for including the Republic of Ireland in your forecast. The BBC are happy to state the weather for Northern Ireland (as part of the UK), but seem to not recognise any weather systems in ROI.

    September 27th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
  18. Richard Hall says:

    You’re on to something important here Dave. May I suggest a refinement?
    You could manage with fewer numbers if you used “iso-driables” – lines which join the points of equal likeliness to get your wasing dry. Then, instead of using numbers, you actually hang washing on those lines according to a scientifically agreed scale. Socks or smalls perhaps for the lower parts of the scale, shirts in the middle, towels at the top. If it caught on, it might generate a lot of work for a jobbing cartoonist.
    Also, I’d like to pick up something another commenter said. It would be really useful if the forecaster could give us a time that washing needs to be put out if it’s to be dry before the missus gets home. Regular reminders during the morning would be dead handy.

    September 28th, 2007 at 8:26 am
  19. Arti says:

    Thei has made me smile every time I thought of it since I first read it yesterday! It’s a brilliant idea. I’d say it was a 3 or 4 in Greater Manchester yesterday! Please please please do email the weather people with this idea (and then let us know what they say!)

    September 28th, 2007 at 9:21 am
  20. ee says:

    Genuis.
    I’ve got a friend who works for the Met Office, I’ll send it to him. Maybe he can have a word.

    David K – you know, I think Wales might be up to a 10 today. I’m not even expecting damp lines around the seams with the load I just hung up.

    September 28th, 2007 at 10:11 am
  21. SarahW says:

    Could there also be an indication of the no of pegs needed to stop clothes flying off the line?
    Yesterday I was washing my sheets and I used 8 pegs for the duvet cover. When I checked on the washing at lunch time two of the pegs had already lost their grip, if I had used less I don’t know where my duvet cover would have ended up!!

    September 28th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
  22. Dave says:

    Sarah – I think you must be using budget pegs. 8 should really be adequate for a duvet cover.

    This is the initial e-mail I got back from the BBC (I’ve shortened the bit about technical problems because it was boring):

    Hello

    Thank you for contacting the BBC Weather Centre. Your feedback and comments are both welcome and important.

    We read every e-mail, but in order to ensure we remain as cost-effective as possible our small team do not reply to every communication.

    If you have a complaint about any aspect of the BBC, please submit it via the BBC Complaints site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/.

    If your enquiry is about a technical problem…. blah blah blah

    If your concern is about the accuracy of the forecast we will normally forward your e-mail to the data supplier, in most cases the Met Office (enquiries at metoffice.gov.uk), and they will respond direct.

    If your concern or enquiry isn’t answered to your complete satisfaction by any of these means please do contact us again.

    Thank you

    BBC Weather

    September 28th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
  23. joe says:

    OK, hands up who is satisfied.

    September 28th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
  24. Aaron Orear says:

    This forecasting scheme would go down well in Newfoundland where you commonly hear the comment, “Some day on the clothes, wha?” Meaning, “It’s a nice, sunny day, eh?”

    September 30th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
  25. Tiffer says:

    Please please please get this done. I don’t give a poo how sunny it is going to be or whether to bring my umbrella – I need to know how to dry my clothes whilst a)saving the planet (ie not using drier) b) not wasting money (ie by using drier in day and not night) and c)without causing serious damp problems in my house and breaking my rental agreement (ie hanging wet things up in house)

    October 5th, 2007 at 9:42 am