The BBC has announced a huge change to news programming as they revealed a new partnership will be put in place after almost a decade
The BBC has struck a deal with the Met Office once again after losing the contract a decade ago(Image: BBC)
The BBC is reuniting with the Met Office for its weather broadcasts.
The broadcaster cut ties with United Kingdom’s national weather and climate service in 2017 and turned to Dutch MeteoGroup, which was the acquired by the US weather services company DTN, for their meteorological output, But now, a new deal has been put in place which will allow them to join forces with the Met Office once again, and the result will reports across news programmes such as BBC Breakfast.
Declaring that the weather is the the UK’s favourite conversation, BBC director general Tim Davie said: “The BBC’s world-renowned journalism will be working together with the Met Office’s weather and climate intelligence to turn science into stories and help everyone in the UK to make informed decisions about the weather.” The BBC confirmed that no jobs have been created or cut amid the new deal. However, it comes just days after a staple presenter let slip her plans to quit the BBC.
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The BBC boss also spoke of the rise of misinformation as he insisted: “There has never been more need for trusted and impartial information to help people understand today’s weather.”
Penny Endersby, CEO of the Met Office said of the new deal: “As the UK’s national weather service, we are excited to be back working closely with the BBC again. Together we can reach even more people with essential weather information, helping them to plan their days, stay safe when it matters and keep well-informed in our changing climate”, adding that they have a desire to “help more people stay safe, thrive and understand the wonder of weather.”
However, is expected that the BBC’s current deal with DTN will remain in place for the foreseeable future, and the new partnership will kick in at some point “later this year.”
Broadcaster Scott Bryan was one of the first to comment on the news, and he took to X to say: “The BBC have reunited with the Met Office for its weather forecasts. The BBC ditched Met Office in 2015 and had partnered with Meteogroup (with Met Office for weather warnings.) It now appears the partnership is back.”
In a second tweet, he insisted that the new deal is “big news for all the people who keep saying that the weather is always wrong.”
The BBC first lost the contract with the Met Office a decade ago, and in an online blog, the Project Director for BBC Weather procurement, Nigel Charters, confirmed some jobs would go.
Charters insisted at the time that ‘the weather may be changeable in the UK, but BBC Weather will continue to provide the best possible weather information service across television, radio and digital based on timely and accurate forecast information.’
Charters said: “Some things won’t change though. We know how fond people are of our weather presenters. We have taken steps so the vast majority of our well known and much loved presenters will continue to front BBC Weather.
“We’ll still work closely with the Met Office on severe weather warnings; the national agencies for flood warnings and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on shipping forecasts and coastal information.”
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