Chester Zoo to host Met Office and tourism leaders for weather summit
The Met Office, government officials and the heads of 16 of the UK's biggest visitor attractions are meeting to discuss misleading weather app forecast icons, and their impact on visitation.
The Met Office, government officials and the heads of 16 of the UK's biggest visitor attractions will gather at Chester Zoo on Monday (13 July) for talks aimed at fixing how weather forecasts are shown to the public.
The weather summit follows our warning in March that misleading rain icons on weather apps could be costing some attractions up to £137,000 in a single day - a call backed at the time by more than 80 attractions including the Eden Project, RHS Gardens, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Blenheim Palace.
The group argued the problem isn't forecast accuracy, but how it's displayed, with a brief overnight shower sometimes shown as an all-day washout.
Chaired by Visit Britain board member Nigel Wilkinson MBE, the summit will bring together around 30 delegates including:
- The Head of Domestic Tourism from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
- Senior Met Office figures, including the Head of the Public Weather Service and the Head of Science
- Representatives from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
- CEOs and directors from 16 of the UK's leading visitor attractions, including Chester Zoo, Zoological Society of London, the Treasure Houses Group, Bletchley Park and Go Ape
New research from Chester Zoo and tourism consultancy Navigate, surveying UK visitor attractions, found more than 60% experience a drop in visitors of over 40% following a poorly displayed weather forecast, with some reporting declines of more than 50%.
Attractions are proposing fixes including splitting each day into shorter time slots – as used by Norwegian forecaster YR, which breaks a 24-hour period into four six-hour windows so a brief early-morning shower doesn’t skew the picture for the rest of the day. Other suggestions include clearer written summaries and a "dry hours" indicator. Navigate’s survey found more than 80% of attractions saw this kind of approach as a useful solution. Organisers say the summit is designed to produce a set of jointly agreed recommendations, rather than conversation alone.
Since the original call in March, support has spread well beyond the visitor attractions sector, with organisations including the National Association of British Market Authorities, the National Market Traders Federation and UK Events all adding their backing - a sign, organisers say, of how widely weather-dependent trading affects the UK economy.
“In March we said the problem wasn't the forecast, it was the single icon depicting the forecast for an entire day. Getting the Met Office, government and 16 of the country's biggest attractions round the same table shows people are taking that seriously.
“We're not looking for a nice chat. We want to leave this room with recommendations we can actually put into practice.”
Dom Strange, Chief Operating Officer of Chester Zoo
"Our latest data shows this issue hasn't gone away, it's become more significant. In March we were talking about a 30% drop in visitors from a misleading rain icon. Today, some attractions are reporting losses of more than 50%.
“The difference now is that the people who can influence what happens next are in the room. That's the point where a campaign becomes change.”
Olly Reed, Marketing Director at Navigate
