From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

Storm Agnes is yet another one that failed to live up to the hyperbole beforehand, with the media publishing all sorts of bloodcurdling nonsense, fanned by the Met Office warnings. The Express, for instance:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/1816375/storm-agnes-live-warning-met-office-forecast

The media, of course, loves all of this, because it attracts readers’ attention, but you cannot blame them when the Met Office has been equally guilty of fanning the flames:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2023/autumnal-weather

As usual, the Met Office found its 80 mph gust, this time at Capel Curig, half way up a mountain in Snowdonia:

https://earth.google.com/web/search/53.094+-3.94/@53.09566603,-3.94197926,200.60420227a,0d,80.54690393y,199.82224702h,83.3622888t,0r/data=CigiJgokCfFEnBF95UNAEYOwrj0o5UNAGU4Hsp6lNyNAIfbMI1r5NSNAIhoKFjY1NXVIMWRkQjFYaGF0dnVRUk5URUEQAg

Capel Curig is only a few miles from Conwy on the coast. There sustained winds were only a breezy 14 mph:

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/@2652426/historic

At nearby Rhyl, the Met Office could only find maximum gusts of 34 kts, (39 mph):

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/observations/gcmr0gu3s

Once again, the Met Office prefers spin to responsible weather forecasting.