The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has announced it will restore the previous colour scheme on its rain radar and weather map following a wave of complaints about its new $4.1 million website.
The change went live on Friday, with the BOM saying other “ongoing changes and improvements” would be coming “via a planned schedule of regular releases”.
“We’ve listened to your feedback, and have restored the previous radar colour scheme,” acting chief executive Peter Stone said.
“We will continue to assess options for further updates and improvements at the same time as pushing on with our efforts to help the community become more familiar with the website.
“So, more changes are in the pipeline.”
The new BOM website has not been well received. (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)
The BOM described the new website as “modern and sleek” when it went live last week during wild weather in Victoria and extreme heat across Australia.
But it has received a torrent of complaints from Australians, including farmers who said they were finding it difficult to use.
The federal government also weighed in, with Energy Minister Chris Bowen telling ABC Radio National Breakfast earlier this week that the changes missed the mark.
“The bureau clearly has work to do in that it has lost community confidence in the new website,” Mr Bowen said.
Nationals leader David Littleproud also called for a review after locals in his Queensland electorate of Maranoa struggled to find information they needed after a recent rain event.
The bureau website receives about 1.8 million visits every day, and those numbers can increase to 5.7 million during extreme weather.
When the new website went live, a BOM spokesperson said it was the “most complex technological transformation ever undertaken by the bureau”.
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