The Met Office is promising -1C minimum for Tuesday here
http://www.metoffice.com/weather/eur...heltenham.html
and BBC reckons -3C

Frost isn't usual until early October. Since I'm well into town, I
wonder if I'll escape frost tonight?

Anyway, in the garden, should this be a cue to DO SOMETHING with this
list of plants and if so, what?

Tomatoes
Courgettes
Tomatillos
Runner Beans
French Beans
Raspberries
Lettuce

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

: The Met Office is promising -1C minimum for Tuesday here
: http://www.metoffice.com/weather/eur...heltenham.html
: and BBC reckons -3C
:
: Frost isn't usual until early October. Since I'm well into town, I
: wonder if I'll escape frost tonight?
:
: Anyway, in the garden, should this be a cue to DO SOMETHING with this
: list of plants and if so, what?
:
: Tomatoes - Pick them, they'll go soon enough in the cold
: Courgettes - pick what you have ready and hope for the best but they will
die with a frost
: Tomatillos ?
: Runner Beans - Just picked another couple lbs, expect the wind and cold to
finish them off
: French Beans ?
: Raspberries - no problem, presume you are cutting out old wood if they are
not autumn fruiting
: Lettuce - cover with cloches to prolong
:
: Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

Well, on bbc.co.uk/weather it says min temp for Bedford is 2C (where I
live), but on metoffice it says -1C.

Do I take an average of the two? You're right though it looks like some of
us may get a light frost.

"Steve Harris" wrote in message
...
The Met Office is promising -1C minimum for Tuesday here
http://www.metoffice.com/weather/eur...heltenham.html
and BBC reckons -3C

Frost isn't usual until early October. Since I'm well into town, I
wonder if I'll escape frost tonight?

Anyway, in the garden, should this be a cue to DO SOMETHING with this
list of plants and if so, what?

Tomatoes
Courgettes
Tomatillos
Runner Beans
French Beans
Raspberries
Lettuce

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

In article , nomail@please (Mark
Allison) wrote:

Do I take an average of the two?

The small print on the BBC page says:

"The maximum temperature is the highest temperature forecast between
0600 and 1800, whereas the minimum temperature is the lowest temperature
expected from 1800 on the day in question to 0600 the following day."

This suggests my frost will arrive Tuesday night

Maybe the Met Office use a different period.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

"Mark Allison" nomail@please wrote in message
...
Well, on bbc.co.uk/weather it says min temp for Bedford is 2C (where I
live), but on metoffice it says -1C.

Do I take an average of the two?
This is one area where I never trust the beeb!
I prefer to get my weather forecast from Yahoo - their local forecasts are
invariably right.
For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away) Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html

"Mark Allison" nomail@please wrote in message
...
Well, on bbc.co.uk/weather it says min temp for Bedford is 2C (where I
live), but on metoffice it says -1C.

Do I take an average of the two?
This is one area where I never trust the beeb!
I prefer to get my weather forecast from Yahoo - their local forecasts are
invariably right.
For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away) Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html

"Sad Sid" . wrote in message
...

For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away)
Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's
exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html

Thank you for that. I am amazed, it even shows my tiny town)

Ophelia

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm
"Sad Sid" . wrote in message
...
This is one area where I never trust the beeb!
I prefer to get my weather forecast from Yahoo - their local forecasts are
invariably right.
For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away)
Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's
exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html



This site is usually pretty good too and it gives a full 10-day forecast:
http://uk.weather.com/weather/local

--
Martin & Anna Sykes

Martin Sykes wrote in message
...
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm
"Sad Sid" . wrote in message
...
This is one area where I never trust the beeb!
I prefer to get my weather forecast from Yahoo - their local forecasts
are
invariably right.
For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away)
Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's
exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html



This site is usually pretty good too and it gives a full 10-day forecast:
http://uk.weather.com/weather/local

--
Martin & Anna Sykes



The following is true (I'm a sad soul). At the beginning of the year I did a
small experiment noting forecasts and noting what actually happened for my
city over 3 weeks (I got bored after 3 weeks). I collected each forecast for
the following day only, no long range stuff. The three sites were Yahooo,
UK Weather.com and the Met Office. Yahoo had something like a 30% accuracy,
UK Weather.com were about 40% I think and the Met Office came out tops with
60 something %. I wish I'd kept the figures now. My conclusion was, it's
best to look out of the window :-) And... my goodness are they getting paid
for this??!

anne wrote in message
...

Martin Sykes wrote in message
...
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm
"Sad Sid" . wrote in message
...
This is one area where I never trust the beeb!
I prefer to get my weather forecast from Yahoo - their local forecasts
are
invariably right.
For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away)
Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's
exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would
have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html



This site is usually pretty good too and it gives a full 10-day
forecast:
http://uk.weather.com/weather/local

--
Martin & Anna Sykes



The following is true (I'm a sad soul). At the beginning of the year I did
a
small experiment noting forecasts and noting what actually happened for my
city over 3 weeks (I got bored after 3 weeks). I collected each forecast
for
the following day only, no long range stuff. The three sites were Yahooo,
UK Weather.com and the Met Office. Yahoo had something like a 30%
accuracy,
UK Weather.com were about 40% I think and the Met Office came out tops
with
60 something %. I wish I'd kept the figures now. My conclusion was, it's
best to look out of the window :-) And... my goodness are they getting
paid
for this??!


Interestingly, I've just check the forecasts now and Yahoo tells me it
rained this morning. 'Fraid not, clear blue skies since dawn. 0 out of 10.

"anne" wrote in message
...

Martin Sykes wrote in message
...
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm
"Sad Sid" . wrote in message
...
This is one area where I never trust the beeb!
I prefer to get my weather forecast from Yahoo - their local forecasts
are
invariably right.
For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away)
Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's
exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would
have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html



This site is usually pretty good too and it gives a full 10-day
forecast:
http://uk.weather.com/weather/local

--
Martin & Anna Sykes



The following is true (I'm a sad soul). At the beginning of the year I did
a
small experiment noting forecasts and noting what actually happened for my
city over 3 weeks (I got bored after 3 weeks). I collected each forecast
for
the following day only, no long range stuff. The three sites were Yahooo,
UK Weather.com and the Met Office. Yahoo had something like a 30%
accuracy,
UK Weather.com were about 40% I think and the Met Office came out tops
with
60 something %. I wish I'd kept the figures now. My conclusion was, it's
best to look out of the window :-) And... my goodness are they getting
paid
for this??!

That means that Yahoo was far and away the best forecaster. If you
rigorously stuck to the opposite of what they said, you would have had 70%
accuracy.

Franz

In article , Martin Sykes
writes
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm
"Sad Sid" . wrote in message
...
This is one area where I never trust the beeb!
I prefer to get my weather forecast from Yahoo - their local forecasts are
invariably right.
For example, when I planned to go to Royal Welsh Show (60 miles away)
Yahoo
forecast light rain for my home town, sunny bright in Builth. That's
exactly
what happened. (The Beeb said "rain over South Wales", which would have
stopped me going)
Try http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/UKXX1404.html



This site is usually pretty good too and it gives a full 10-day forecast:
http://uk.weather.com/weather/local

It looks like the same selection of locations as the yahoo site, so I
guess they get their data from the same source.

This site is more honest about the accuracy though - eg the Otley data
is 'as reported for Leeds' (a couple of hundred feet lower and in the
next valley) and the Settle (Yorkshire Dales) figures are simple the
Manchester ones.

So although at first sight it looks wonderfully useful for local info,
it is an illusion ;-)

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , anne
writes


The following is true (I'm a sad soul). At the beginning of the year I did a
small experiment noting forecasts and noting what actually happened for my
city over 3 weeks (I got bored after 3 weeks). I collected each forecast for
the following day only, no long range stuff. The three sites were Yahooo,
UK Weather.com and the Met Office. Yahoo had something like a 30% accuracy,
UK Weather.com were about 40% I think and the Met Office came out tops with
60 something %. I wish I'd kept the figures now. My conclusion was, it's
best to look out of the window :-) And... my goodness are they getting paid
for this??!


Apparently the chance of being right if you forecast tomorrow's weather
as being the same as today's is 67%


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 13:10:40 +0100, anne wrote:

Interestingly, I've just check the forecasts now and Yahoo tells me
it rained this morning. 'Fraid not, clear blue skies since dawn. 0
out of 10.

2 out 3 for here. Yahoo have todays max as 8C, it's been around 14C.
The low is pretty close, they had 2C, 0.8C actual with a ground frost.

I'll keep a weather eye on it. B-)

--
Cheers Dave.
Nr Garrigill, Cumbria. 421m ASL. pam is missing e-mail

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
The following is true (I'm a sad soul). At the beginning of the year I
did
a
small experiment noting forecasts and noting what actually happened for
my
city over 3 weeks (I got bored after 3 weeks). I collected each forecast
for
the following day only, no long range stuff. The three sites were
Yahooo,
UK Weather.com and the Met Office. Yahoo had something like a 30%
accuracy,
UK Weather.com were about 40% I think and the Met Office came out tops
with
60 something %. I wish I'd kept the figures now. My conclusion was, it's
best to look out of the window :-) And... my goodness are they getting
paid
for this??!

That means that Yahoo was far and away the best forecaster. If you
rigorously stuck to the opposite of what they said, you would have had 70%
accuracy.

Franz

Er... somewhat flawed logic - just because it's right for 30% of the time,
does not mean that the opposite is true for 70% since there are so many
meteorological variables (i.e. the opposite could be just as wrong). What
this thread tells us is that for all the technology and super computer
models being used, the predictions are fundamentally flawed because they
rely on basic physical principles and ignore chaos theory, quantum mechanics
and the insight of a deity. The suggestion of looking out of one's window
or using the old fashioned techniques (pine cones, 'red sky at night...',
feeling in the bones) may prove just as useful and accurate!

Jason


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