UKC

With conflicting long-range weather reports, will this winter be a wash-out or a big freeze?

With the first Scottish winter routes already having been climbed, now is the time to start sharpening those crampons, or buying that umbrella...

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=69311

In reply to UKC News:

FFS UKC. Stop giving these monkeys any publicity.

The Express runs a hundred bollox weather stories a year.

Madden is an established charlatan.

Further reading http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/weather-wars-at-the-met-o...

In reply to UKC News:

Wait, wait, did you just quote the *daily express* on winter forecasting? Seriously? A swift bit of googling reveals:

2013: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/443462/Winter-2013-expected-to-be-worst-si...
2012: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/358717/Coldest-winter-in-100-years-on-way
2011: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/281196/Big-Siberian-freeze-to-hit-Britain
2010: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/208012/Winter-to-be-mild-predicts-Met-Offi...
(which is about the express mocking the met office for its terrible forecasting)
2009: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/130909/Winter-will-be-mild-say-Met-Office-...
(again, mocking the met office)
2008: can't find one for this year
2007: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/20365/Britons-facing-colder-winter

So, yeah. They just say the same crap every year, regardless.

In reply to UKC News:

Are you really that stupid?

In reply to UKC News:

Slow news day? The only accurate thing written is the winter is on its way.

In reply to UKC News:

I didn't realise it was April the 1st! What next, articles on too many immigrants taking over our crags and "chalk causes cancer" citing the Daily Mail?

In reply to UKC News:

Madden is a quack. If he could really do what he claims to be able to do - make long range forecasts with any degree of accuracy - he would be an exceptionally rich man, instead of having to sell his reports to the Daily Express.

According to the Met Office, generally a more trustworthy source of weather information, this kind of thing is currently scientifically impossible - even with the resources that the Met Office has at its disposal. Their blog is very informative. http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/category/met-office-in-the-media/

In reply to UKC News:


On a website for people who venture out in the winter months and rely on accurate forecasting it is dangerously irresponsible to give any credibility to the Express/Exacta predictions. They have become a joke for making the same apocalyptic claims every year, yet you give them more paragraphs than the Met Office in your report and don't mention their history of inaccurate 'coldest winter ever' drivel.

In reply to UKC News:

Down with this sort of thing.

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

Careful now....

In reply to GrantM:


I can't tell if this was supposed to be a bit of lightweight filler, but gman2012 is bang on. Exacta and its various incarnations are totally without merit. I appreciate this isn't an immediate forecast, and no-one will be risking their life base on it, but PLEASE don't mention this idiocy again.

In reply to UKC News:
I agree with the above. Seasonal outlooks aren't designed to tell you what the weather is going to be like. Their utility comes in allowing, say, energy firms to bet on future prices of gas/oil etc based on the expected demand over a few months. For these purposes it doesnt matter when its hot or cold, only the "total amount" of hot or cold over an extended period.

In reply to UKC News:

So basically the best story you canfind to lead the page is 'We don't know what the weather will be like'

Clearly got a top class news operation there, Jack

In reply to UKC News:

Piers Corbyn of Weather Action says it will be mild and wet until the end of November, cold in December and February with a mild spell in between.

In reply to UKC News:

How about an article praising the Ben Nevis Weather Forecasting Stone? It's never been known to be wrong:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2487/3752334649_d945b47ee0_n.jpg

In reply to UKC News:

I think this passage in the 'about' section of the Exacta website convinces me:

'No meteorological or climate models have been used in the production of the following long-range weather forecasts. All forecasts are produced on a number of personal observations and calculations, that also include; solar activity, ocean behaviour, and historical weather patterns from my own unique collective data. This method of forecasting allows me to make a long term judgement on the factors that I consider to be the most important, and what I also consider to be the most reliable in the future for long term weather forecasting.'

So at least he's not just making it up then...

In reply to UKC News:

Here's what the Met Office has to say on the matter, but what do they know?

http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/wet-wet-wet-this-winter/

In reply to UKC News:

Have a look at this:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2012/jan/26/weather-fo...

In reply to 5eamuz: You have to remember that the primary purpose of papers like the DM is to sell papers. Truth and credibility or something akin to them are just concepts that get in the way of this primary purpose