The Met Office has been widely mocked after it announced on social media that it would be scaling back its forecasts following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The weather forecaster sid it would ‘only be posting daily forecasts and warnings’ as ‘a mark of respect’
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In a tweet the forecaster said: ‘We are saddened by the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.Our thoughts are with her family and all those affected by this news. As a mark of respect during this time of national mourning we will only be posting daily forecasts and warnings.’
Followers were quick to question why the sharing of more detailed weather forecasts could be seen as ‘disrespectful’ and branded the decision ‘nonsense’ and ‘nuts’.
The Mail Online reports: Former BBC broadcaster Jon Sopel also waded in on the row, writing: ‘I am totally bewildered. Why is it a mark of respect to give us the weather forecast for today, but not tomorrow?
‘Or to put it another way, why is it disrespectful to give us tomorrow’s weather?’
But the Met Office said people had misunderstood its intentions.
One Twitter user asked the Met Office: ‘Can you confirm though that there will still be weather?’
Others suggested the Met Office should stop any sun or warm weather from appearing during the 10 days of national mourning.
Meanwhile some raised serious concerns that as storms have been forecast this week, limiting social media output could be damaging.
There was also worries that those wishing to travel and pay tribute to the royal family or see the new King Charles III could struggle to find correct and up-to-date information.
The Met Office later clarified its initial tweet: ‘The use of the word ‘daily’ in our earlier Tweet may have given the false impression that we’ll only be posting once a day.
‘It was always our intention to continue to provide forecasts and warnings for the days ahead, through Twitter, multiple times a day.
Niamh Harris
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