The UK Meteorological Office: Slightly Less Reliable Than Tea Leaves or Cock Entrails

One of my personal favourite Comedy Moments of 2009 came in the unlikely context of a BBC Radio 5 Live debate on climate change. The female presenter, as we’ve come to expect of the BBC, was quite shamelessly biased towards the Warmist camp, but this apparently wasn’t enough for the show’s resident weatherman. When his turn came to read the weather, he instead chose to deliver an impromptu homily on the seriousness of Anthropogenic Global Warming. I forget the exact words but his speech began something like: “Well I work for the Met Office and I’d just like to say….”

Dear, oh dear. The poor chap. I fear the time will soon come – if it hasn’t already – when the phrase “I work for the Met Office” will command about as much respect as “I was in charge of the New Orleans levee defences in the run-up to Katrina” or “I’m head of security at Lagos International Airport.” The UK Meteorological Office – established in 1854 – is supposed to be Britain’s greatest authority on forecasting the weather. So how come these days its predictions are so risibly inaccurate you’d probably be better off consulting tea leaves or cock entrails?'

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Two Years, £500,000 and 178 Pages to Tell us That we Want our Trains to be On Time and Uncrowded

It was the biggest-ever study of overcrowding on Britain’s railways, taking two years and costing the taxpayer £500,000 as commuters were secretly filmed as they struggled in to work.

But last night the 178-page report for the Rail Safety and Standards Board was condemned as ‘an astonishing exercise in rehashing the blindingly obvious’ – for revealing people are happiest when trains are on time and they can sit down.

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