Why does the BBC & the Met office say it is raining here - when it isn't & it quite obviously isn't going to rain for some time?

[KatyMac]

Because my DH didn't put the washing out at 7am because of the forecast & it was wrong it would have been dry by now

& then it came at about 1pm

The towels would have been dry & the next load at least blown out

Why didn't he put it out if it was dry and sunny though?!

BBC never get the forecast right IMO. On their website you get one forecast at the top of the page, then a slightly different one at the bottom! Top that with a different-again forecast on the national news and you're none the wiser. I've given up watching forecasts altogether after going camping on 2 days which were supposed to be bright sunshine and which were blowing a gale and pouring with rain.

He got up at 7 looked at the forecast & went back to bed

Rainfall (in fact all precipitation) is the hardest thing to get right in weather forecasting and there are lots of reasons for this. To be fair to the met office they were only 4 hours wrong...! Given the complexity of the models it ain't bad.

This thread has some more details on just one aspect of why it's so difficult, there are also several other reasons.

If you're looking to check if it's going to rain at very short notice why not check their radar pages? You can see exactly where it is raining in more or less real time and by looking at the animations you can see what is heading your way...

I am not sure what the official term is but there are points through out the country where they check the current weather conditions and give forecasts for. Your postcode is then tagged to your nearest point and you will be given the weather for that. They arn't as close together as you would would think. If you are quite far away from your nearest point or in a particularly shelters/exposed spot then your weather can be quite different from what is going on there even if only a few miles away. This happens to us and to our parents all the time and we both live in different areas.

The people at the met office are Very Important Scientists, and I am sure that if they said it was raining where you live this morning, they were right. What you saw out of your window is purely anecdotal data, and does not carry the same weight as their Scientifical Facts, I am afraid.

Your husband was quite right to act based on the Scientifical Facts from the Very Important Scientists.

Mind you as long as he does the washing (& ironing) I don't really care

& now we have rain & ORANGE sky

Not sure I have seen orange sky before

Have you not heard the old saying

Orange sky at night - Tango factory's on fire!

It didn't rain for you because the rain has been stalking me round the country and pissing on me instead

Actually I have been rained on every day for a week and still managed to dry my washing on the line. Here's a tip: get a clothes horse

The heavens opened and we have a bit (a very little bit) of flooding

You need the met office invent map to see if rain may be coming your way. zoom in on your location, click through the day on rainfall and there you go. Tis a forecast so not always accurate but not too bad short term.

Both of the sites say it's raining now - but your map says it isn't......until it's proved wrong I'm using that one BadKitten

I'm not too fussed about forecasting, but I would like them to get the weather 'now' right iyswim