http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37109605?SThisFB

Apparently Nathan Rao's bid failed after he promised the hottest summer on record, cataclysmic floods and snow every day for a year.

If he did indeed make those predictions, then it's no wonder his bid went belly-up!

Key points:

1) Some weather presenters look set to lose their jobs as MeteoGroup is named as the company to replace the Met Office as the BBC's weather forecaster.

2) In Mr Charters' blog he said he was "extremely pleased" about the announcement, and that it would save the corporation "millions of pounds".

3)The company PA Group, the parent company of the Press Association news agency, acquired a majority share in the MeteoGroup in 2005 and it was sold to global growth equity firm General Atlantic in 2014.

My view
Standard outsourcing operation. Very much in keeping with the times. Did somebody mention the weather? 

And where do MeteoGroup get their data from? Oh, the Met Office (and ECMWF).

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

At least the data for the forecasters will still be coming from a decent source. A bit embarrassing though that it's cheaper to get the same data via a reseller!

Data will be a small percentage of the total cost of the package I think.

ECM / MetO data costs circa £100k per annum (or it did when I last got quotes) for website use. I'm not sure how they price up for broadcast purposes.

I hope they keep the great accuracy of the BBC Weather App. Nothing on the market touches it IMHO.

EDIT: I appreciate there are other apps out there that give you more information but I'm referring to the weather forecast by location and the hourly updates..

Just hope the BBC presenters don't lose their jobs, especially my favourite Peter Gibbs who I think actually works for the Met Office.

The move represents a good example of strengthening international (including European) partnerships.

Is there any update on the loss of BBC presenters?

I see it as another version of selling the family silver

This ought to be in UIA

I'd like this thread left here but feel free to start another discussion in the UIA if you like.

I'll be interested to see what new graphics they come up with, but otherwise all this really means is that we have someone different to wind up every time the forecast is wrong



Of course, it may also lead the great unlearned to ask why we have a Met Office   So expect a few more moans by those who think it's cool to display their ignorance in public.  

Agree. Also whether they'll use probability like in some other countries and tack on multi model analysis for comparison, postage stamp plots etc.

I have two Meteogroup apps on my android phone, and both are fantastic and reasonably accurate. Great visuals and animations too

I wonder will the BBC forecasts use ECMWF data rather UKMO once MG takes over?? This is what our own met service uses here in Ireland for medium range with the Harmone/Hirlam hi resolution data for short ranges.