Met Éireann ‘helped to create sense of crisis’

Pessimistic forecasting, an urban focus, and too many weather warnings are among the most frequent complaints from members of the public to Met Éireann. Transcripts of complaints sent to the national forecaster released under a freedom of information request show that a wide range of issues was raised by the public throughout 2018.

Some of these related to how the forecasts were delivered, including complaints about the redesign of the Met Éireann website and where forecasters stand during television broadcasts, but the majority were motivated by specific weather events, including Storm Emma in March. Much of the correspondence focused on the frequency of colour-coded weather warnings, with some suggesting that their impact is reduced by issuing warnings too often.