Cancelled trips and missed appointments among complaints received by Met Éireann
Ken Foxe
Cancelled trips, missed appointments, and a misspelling of County ‘Loais’ were among the complaints made to Met Éireann in the first half of the year.
One angry viewer said they had seen nothing in the forecast about “biblical rain” which had fallen across Cork in the spring.
Their complaint said: “It is still dreadful outside. The forecast was full of snow warnings but nothing for torrential rain. My important appointment is now lost.
“I, at least, would have had a choice to change my appointment had this been forewarned. With your expertise and technology surely this event was obvious.”
Another wrote that they had cancelled a trip because freezing temperatures and snow had been forecast, however, they wrote: “Woke up this morning to a beautiful day. Well done.”
One person complained of how difficult it was to make plans due to a succession of forecasts which had proved incorrect.
“Yet another inaccurate forecast,” an email said. “Today was promised to be dry all day in Sutton, Co Dublin on the Met Éireann app. After a sunny morning, there have been thundery downpours since lunchtime.”
Another said a rainfall alert should have been given ahead of torrential rain in Co Clare in March. “[A] warning was definitely required,” they said.
One viewer said they found the RTÉ forecast “unbelievably bad”, insisting Met Éireann should do much better.
They wrote: “It races through the different days, settles on Friday while talking about Tuesday, [the] picture bears no relation to what presenter is talking about.”
An incorrect county spelling also spurred one viewer into writing: “I've just watched the 9pm news and the weather forecast which followed.
“I was surprised to see my county listed in the weather warning with an unusual spelling of Loais instead of Laois! Just bringing this to your notice.”
App issues
The increasing reliance of people on their phones for weather information is also highlighted in the records, with the majority of complaints now relating to the app rather than TV or radio broadcasts.
One person wrote about how the app was telling them it was 5 degrees, when it was actually below zero.
They wrote: “It was exactly the same during the last very cold snap. The app stated day after day that the temperature was 5 or 6 [degrees] when it was actually way below freezing.”
Another complained about how the app consistently forecasts clear skies for Co Dublin, three to four days in advance.
“These forecasts differ from other providers and from the real weather once it arrives,” the message said. “Understanding that it's a forecast, but it has consistently had this pattern for about two months now making it very unreliable.”
One person also queried why the app constantly defaulted to the wrong location.“Even though I have never been to Trim, County Meath, the app defaults my location to that location regularly and there is no way to delete it from the list nor to stop this happening.
“I have tried deleting the app and reinstalling it, to no avail.”
Asked about the complaint records, Met Éireann said they had nothing further to add.
