Weather forecast websites (1 Viewer)

MattR

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We are planning to spend 2 weeks in Scotland and will be touring; our route will be dependent on the weather. Our Scotland tour this time last year was forecasted mediocre weather - we had sunshine for most of the time.

I've looked at a number of websites and the forecast is generally pretty poor for next week apart from one site that has good weather shown. I've also had several experiences where the forecasts have been completely wrong for days at a time but I don't want to be sitting in our MH on one side of the country watching the rain and mist when the other is basking in sunshine.

Can anyone recommend a reliable internet-based weather site?

The ones that I have seen are:
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2648579
Met Office: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/...t-renfrewshire#?tab=fiveDay&fcTime=1396825200
Weather whereever: http://www.weather-wherever.co.uk/united-kingdom/glasgow-airport--abbotsinch_v22570/12-day-weather/
Accuweather: http://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/glasgow/g3-8/daily-weather-forecast/328226?day=6
 

mikebeaches

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I know the problem exactly concerning the accuracy - or otherwise - of forecasts!

My brother-in-law is a farmer in his seventies and reckons Accuweather is about the most reliable.

Not exactly objective I realise, but just the personal opinion of somebody who has spent his whole life following the weather closely.

Mike
 
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Jul 23, 2013
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I would use the bbc weather map from the house can show you a few day ahead when out and about I use the met office app which has the map for 24 hour forecast. Using the maps is better I think because you can see which way the rain is heading.

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Nethernut

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Just looked at all the weather sites listed plus Met Office, only the BBC and Met Office sites were accurate for Macduff (our nearest weather recording station) as of now (09.55). Biggest problem you have in Scotland, especially in the north, is that many non UK sites just use information from the airports - doesn't exactly give could coverage of the country!!!

Best weather is from Radio Scotland, especially on Friday evenings if you are going hill walking.
 
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MattR

MattR

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Last year, we looked at the weather before our departure and bought snow chains in anticipation - Arran was under several feet of snow and we struggled to get to my cousin's house in Sheffield on the way up to Scotland because of the drifts. We arrived in Skye to learn that they had had weeks of sunshine and were at risk of drought with several moorland and forest fires seen.

This year, our aim is to get to Mull and I will try and report back on which website has provided the best results


So far, I'll take week one's weather from: http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/03040.html

And week 2's forecast from:


The Met Office has generally been the least reliable one for me in the past - and with a poor forecast predicted for early next week, I hope that they haven't improved their prediction accuracy recently ....
 

DBK

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Bizarre as it may sound the best long range forecasting site I have found is Norwegian. I used it last year for a 14 day cycle trip up the west coast of France and it was virtually spot on every day.

Don't know where in Scotland you are going but their long range forecast for Fort William is this: Broken Link Removed

If it is in Norwegian click the English button in the top right. You can enter other places you want to look at in the search field at the top.

What I like about this site is it give detailed information for each part of the day and for rain it estimates how much rain is going to fall. For example, for 12 April it is showing rain but only 0.5mm which is next to nothing compared to the 4.7mm of rain it predicts will fall this Sunday.

Edit: Just read you want to go to Mull: Broken Link Removed Monday afternoon/evening looks horrible!
 
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MattR

MattR

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The Norweigan site looks a bit more optimistic for the middle of the week ... fingers crossed it gets better.

Thanks for all of the the ideas so far :)

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Oct 1, 2013
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All weather forecasters get their data from the Met Office.

They may interpret it and dress it up differently.
 
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MattR

MattR

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All weather forecasters get their data from the Met Office.

They may interpret it and dress it up differently.

That is what I had understood originally but I've had several occasions when the Met Office have been very wrong and other sites have been correct. Unfortunately, the other sites have not been consistent or have deteriorated in accuracy over the last few years :(
 

163phil

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All the forecasting tools you'd ever need:thumb:
 

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