Kiwi firm pitches for British weather job

British people may soon get their nightly weather forecasts from a New Zealand company in an efficiency drive and after a series of bloopers by British forecasters.

Metra, the commercial arm of New Zealand state-owned national weather forecaster MetService, is said to be negotiating with the BBC to provide weather forecasts in addition to the 3D weather graphics it supplies.

The BBC says it has put the contract out for tender to ensure the "best value for money".

But the news comes as the British Met Office faces a storm of criticism over inaccurate forecasts.

After forecasting a mild winter, temperatures fell as low as -22C and heavy snow caused havoc.

Last year it predicted a "barbecue summer" ahead of a damp and drizzly few months.

British media say the BBC is looking to sever its almost century-long association with the Met Office in April, and replace it with Metra.

Yesterday MetService spokesman Mark Ottaway would not comment on reports that Metra was in the running. However a spokesman for the Minister for State Owned Enterprises, Simon Power, told nzherald.co.nz that Metra was negotiating with the BBC.

He would not elaborate further, saying it was an "operational matter" for Metra.

Metra has offices in London, Australia and Dubai and provides graphics for most of the major Australian news channels, some British and European channels and New Zealand broadcasters TVNZ and TV3.

In New Zealand it also makes the forecasts behind the graphics.

A private forecasting company half-owned by Metra, Weather Commerce, provides weather forecasts to British supermarkets Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer.

Mr Ottaway said Metra could tap into a shared network of raw data from weather stations around the world to make forecasts in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

British media have criticised the Met Office for getting its winter forecast wrong when many of its commercial rivals got it right.

Unlike the Met Office, MetService buys data from several overseas sources then chooses the best.

In New Zealand, MetService has copped its share of criticism from frustrated weather-watchers, most famously in 2008, when Far North Mayor Wayne Brown demanded an apology because he claimed television predictions of a "Noah-like storm" based on MetService forecasts kept thousands of holiday-makers home on Labour Weekend.

The storm never came, but the MetService said its forecasts always played down the significance of any wild weather.

Last July MetService was criticised for predicting gale-force winds for Auckland that never arrived and a spate of tornadoes that also failed to appear.

The MetService annual report says it successfully predicted heavy rain, snow and severe gales more than 90 per cent of the time in 2009.

Twelve per cent of its heavy rain warnings, 25 per cent of heavy snow warnings and 20 per cent of severe gale warnings were false alarms. Its goal is to keep missed events and false alarms below 20 per cent.

BRITISH METOFFICE BLOOPERS

Last week: Failed to predict heavy snowfall in southeast England that brought traffic to a standstill.

Late 2009: Forecast a mild winter for Britain while rival forecasters correctly predicted colder than normal weather.

July 2009: Forecast a "barbecue summer" which was sodden.