As BBC weather producer Andrew Lane explained, the demand for weather forecasting has increased dramatically over the past few years, especially with the introduction of the BBC Prime and BBC World satellite networks. Collecting data P roducing weather forecasts is a slick operation. Every 12 hours weather data is despatched from the UK Meteorological Office Headquarters, based in Bracknell, via a system of high speed megastream connections. The files which arrive at the Weather Centre contain information regarding temperature, rainfall charts, cloud precipitation and isobaric maps. Armed with these data, and the years of experience each forecaster has gained, a weather forecast for almost anywhere in the world can be created.
P redicting the weather is very much an ongoing process.
As soon as the new data arrives from the Met Office the old forecast is updated. Using a network of powerful computers, the raw data from Bracknell is displayed on screen and transformed into the weather charts we see during a broadcast. Gone are the days when magnetic symbols were stuck on by hand during the broadcast, and occasionally lost their grip and slid down the map resulting in snow, rain and sunny spells simultaneously in Eastbourne. Broadcast Meteorologist David Lee demonstrated how the system works. David can choose what he needs to illustrate today's weather.