POLITICS: BBC’s Weather Map Colours

By Paul Homewood

Further to the debate about the weather map colours used by the BBC, this was their “justification” of the changes last year:

We have lots of visual tools we can use to illustrate the weather forecast.

The graphics we choose depend on the forecast and the story about the weather we are trying to tell. One of the most common graphics we use is something called a temperature contour map, as seen in the image above.

The colours on the map match this temperature scale, below.

We use this scale all year around because it is a good way of showing audiences broad temperature differences. You can also see the colour scale reflected in a line at the bottom of the temperature box with the number in it.

The darker the blues or reds the colder or hotter it is. Those colours are an accepted way of expressing heat and cold. They are also easy to see for most audiences.

Have you changed the map colours for greater impact?

No – there have been no changes since 2017, when amendments were made to our graphics because of improvements in forecasting and technology. The quality of weather data has changed dramatically in the last 20 years as has the digital technology we use in the BBC Weather Centre to make our forecasts. At that time we also made the graphics clearer for people who have visual impairments and who see colour differently.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/66293839

The colour chart is difficult to read, but runs from –22C to 41C.

But here’s the problem.

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The colour maps are nearly always used just to illustrate daily high temperatures. (To be fair, they are sometimes used for night temperatures in winter).

And the annual daily max is around 13 to 14C. Yet the mid point of that chart is the yellow 11 to 12C band. Logically the mid point should therefore also be 13 to 14C.

Yellow, of course, is subconsciously associated with sunshine, and therefore warm weather.

And while daytime temperatures can occasionally reach the mid 30s, they would rarely go much below freezing outside of mountainous or other extreme regions.

Daytime temperatures in England average about 14C in autumn and spring, which most people would correctly assume is also about average for the year. Yet this appears a band above the yellow one.

Surely then it is the 13 to 14C band which should appear in the middle of the chart?