Change of season at BBC Weather website

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Sorry - what's all the fuss about?

In the East Midlands, in common with some other bits of UK I suspect, we still don't have any weather at weekends! Our weather forecasts from the BBC are only 'Monday to Friday'.

What it is to live 'in the provinces'!

The local summary pages used to show information for 24hrs and for 5 days ahead. It was beautifully simple. The new summary tabs show some information twice and nothing logically, with the previous clear colour coding and familiar TV symbols replaced by black and white as if colour was at a premium on the web. It's change for change's sake.
I recognise it's a tiny aspect of the site but it was the only thing I used and has led to me downloading a weather app for the first time.

Exactly as alistair said. Great site, pointlessly ruined. Just atrocious. Please try to understand if at alll possible that this isn't just 'people fearing change', and please try not to wearily start the engine on your stock response along the lines of, 'we appreciate some changes take a bit of getting used to, but we feel the new etc. etc. etc.' Just please, don't do that. This really is awful. Really.

hideous layout.

in no way "beta".

Don't understand how anybody could have given positive feedback to this "beta" version.

I agree, new site is much worse, symbols poorer muddled day and 5 day info,. Local map too small etc etc. Why change for the worse?

I hate it. I used to use the old BBC weather page all the time because it was so clear and simple. This new effort is a right dogs breakfast.

The feedback to the betas /was/ pretty positive - where the hell were you lot when it was still in test and you were asked to help out? Nowhere. Now it's too late, and you've got no-one to blame but yourselves.

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I'm finding this new weather website a vast improvement over the old one. It's clearer, better laid out, and more usable. Information is more easily available. Map-loading is a bit frustrating at the moment but it's good to hear you're looking into that, - and even so, it's still preferable to the last Flash-based map which was always sluggish.

Curious to read the comments above. My verdict on this upgrade is in line with the majority of the other feedback I read during the beta phase - excellent.

Horrible! The site did not recognise my local village, so I tried another, and found I lived in Cardiganshire. It has not been called Cardiganshire for many, many years -its Ceredigion!
I wanted to see my local weather and also the weather 30 miles away - I had to reload the map with a new town to get 30 miles away, as it did not cover this. The old site did.
I cannot see what the weather is going to be on the TV as the presenters stand pointing to various bits of Britain, covering up West Wales. I relied on the site for information, which I now cannot get. Brilliant move BBC!

_Ewan_, I have to say I find your tone pretty offensive. Surely it's the BBC's responsiblity adequately to draw attention to their plans before implementing irrevocable changes, as distinct from the onus being on me minutely to trawl every site I visit on the assumption there *might* be things afoot I soon won't be able to do anything about? I certainly didn't have any sense of being 'asked to help out' with anything, and I'm clearly far from alone. You're obviously a very angry man, but please try a bit harder to distinguish between your own personal narrative and the possible experiences of people who aren't you.

@14: With due respect the BBC did draw attention to the proposed changes. On the (now old) weather site there was a coloured bar at the top of the pages pointing you towards the beta website. It was also mentioned in an article on this blog http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2011/10/new_look_bbc_weather_online.html.

@13: Prehaps worth sending them an email to WeatherWebsiteFeedback@bbc.co.uk to inform them of the correct name/spelling. They managed to fix a place name problem I had during the beta phase.

I am afraid to disagree that the new weather format is better. It is not. The previous version was perfectly fine, easy to use and understand, so why change it? A classic case of change for change's sake. don't fix it if it ain't broke. Well, you have broken it now. This one is difficult to see and read, and IT CONTAINS ERRORS! Since when has Abergavenny been in Blaenau Gwent? Never. It always has been and still is and probably always will be in MONMOUTHSHIRE.
I am looking for a better weather site. Ok, so I might not find it, but if I can't I will try and resurrect the old version.

# 12 dotconnect is simply wrong. The new layout is confusing, totally unclear and not as informative as the old brilliant genius layout. a classic case of change for change's sake, to give some underemployed web designers "something meaningful" to do. Rubbish. I am looking for a better weather map. Probably from a continental supplier. SPIEGEL is brilliant.

Hi, Keith! I didn't say the BBC didn't call attention to it - I said they didn't call attention to it adequately, which is an interpretation borne out by the torrent of confusion and negative feedback now being provoked by the implementation of the change.

I should not worry the BBC always do as they like/intended anyway, they never care about complaints. Their careers come first, managers have to be seen to have 'done' something, made changes etc. They go for new gizmos at the drop of a hat to look 'cutting edge'. Largely a make work job justification system for all the BBC it seems. How about not changing anything for five years and not paying for the people that would have done it all and thought of it or managed it. Then cutting the TV tax. I know unthinkable!

#17, Sebastian-Fettles-Teacher wrote:

"dotconnect is simply wrong."

LOL, oh well, that's me put right! Next...! Seriously Seb, go read the preceding editors blog on this topic. Plenty of people praising the new layout - more than have posted here. That's in addition to what we're being told is the overwhelming feedback received by Liz (and Peter over on the Internet Blog). Unless you're accusing Peter and Liz of lying and/or everyone else of being wrong simply by virtue of not agreeing with you?

#18, Blink000 wrote:

borne out by the torrent of confusion and negative feedback

Torrent? Excluding you and I (and excluding off-topic posts like #1), the only negative feedback concerning the redesign are comments 3, 5-7 (HATE-NEW-WEATHER's posts should really count as one - go look at them), 8, 9, 13, 16, 17. That's SEVEN posts. And even some of those are of the "Where's my village?" variety. Seven might represent a "torrent" to the permanently peeved. To the rest of us, it's nothing of the sort. Believe me I've seen torrents of negative feedback following redesigns over the years, not only on bbc.co.uk but other websites - the Times, the Guardian and the Mail spring to mind. This latest BBC weather redesign most certainly hasn't elicited anything remotely resembling that - in fact it appears to be notable by the weight of its positive reaction. So... torrent? I suggest you take your own advice and try a bit harder to distinguish between your own personal narrative and the possible experiences of people who aren't you.

Heh! Well, in that case I bow to your superior experience as a more seasoned frequenter of the 'comments' feeds of BBC websites. However, you're incorrect in one thing. You're the one who has the problem being disagreed with, not me. If other people like the new layout, I think that's brilliant. I simply reserve the right not to. Sorry if that upsets you as much as it evidently does.

Dreadful.
I stare at the screen for 60 secs then realise I still don't know what the weather is.
The previous version was so easy and attractive; it was clear with good use of colour.

Rubbish!!!
The new site is terrible!!! Totally useless!
Please go back to the old site!
If the new site stays, I will be looking for a new weather source! This one is just aweful!
Not sure how this one is more 'American'?? I am from the US and this looks like nothing I've seen before. Please bring back the old site!

#22, Blink000

You're the one who has the problem being disagreed with, not me [...] Sorry if that upsets you as much as it evidently does.

No offence Blink000 but if you're going to make what some would consider a ludicrous claim using fairly emotive language, you shouldn't be too surprised if you're called on it. And when you are, you shouldn't just dismiss that person as someone who can't handle disagreement when all they're really doing is disagreeing back (even if they're choosing to match your level of emotive language in the process!)

Personally I think the weather site is a huge improvement. If you don't, that's perfectly fine by me - it's not like I played any part in its design or development or have any close personal investment in it :)

Btw, yes I'm something of a long-time frequenter of these blogs - I can clearly recall all the negative feedback that accompanied the change to the previous weather site - all the irate remarks about it being difficult to use, a waste of the licence fee, "if it aint broke..." and so on. The exact same site that today's irate commenters are insisting was... so easy and attractive and just worked!

If people "hate" a weather forecast page on a website then it does make you wonder what emotions and behaviours they reserve for important things. Every once in a while, it is easy to see how the Daily Mail sells 2m copies a day. And it's scary.

Back on topic, the new design is much better with much more information and its useful to be able to switch between the main "WEATHER" and "WEATHER London" page.

It's a pity the clouds have stopped moving though - I thought that was pretty cool and it would have been even better if it changed with the weather conditions and from day to night.

But there you go. Into each life a little rain must fall, as it were. One for the future perhaps.

'27. At 10:12 17th Nov 2011, Ivan wrote:
If people "hate" a weather forecast page on a website then it does make you wonder what emotions and behaviours they reserve for important things. Every once in a while, it is easy to see how the Daily Mail sells 2m copies a day. And it's scary.

The first is a fair point.

But would it be better if instead of 'hate' (indeed an emotive term) 'dislike' was used?

I just ask, because on many blogs not so far removed, such extremes, especially the negative one, are promoted, even with 'Editors' Picks' in complement.

And it's not just the Daily Mail doing it. Which, given the compulsion and ubiquity that only £4Bpa can buy off a 25M base, is scary.

Returning to topic, as can be indulged on a variable basis apparently, as what is now seems as tangibly useful as what went before, I shall accord the latest navel-gazing exercise the accolade of 'fine', but always with the chance of improvements later.

#28. LOL, yes, a country where the default weather is miserable - persistent drizzle or the threat of rain, with periodic stormy outbreaks, and always the promise of sunshine to come. Doesn't that just sum up the national mood!

For the first 30 seconds it does look beautifully s*xed up. Then you actually start trying to use it at which point disappointment rapidly sets in. For some bizarre reason 'this evening and tonight' includes a pollution index, but no frost warnings. You have to mouse over all the text to discover the clickable links. Coastal locations don't show the coastal forecast - choose Falmouth for example. Choosing Shanghai PRC shows the sunset time, but it's absent for any UK location. But worst of all it, just so slooooooooooooooooow even on a VM 30Mb broadband connection.

Have you stopped doing the weather photo gallery then? I liked looking at that over lunch

I agree wholeheartedly with comments such as that of Blink000 and James St George. Yet another example, and it isn't confined to the BBC, of 'fixing' something, which was functioning as near perfectly as made no difference, for very little real reason.
As far as the 'beta' preview is concerned, does anyone really believe that any amount of criticism would have prevented the implementation of the new version?

I cannot believe that anybody thinks the new format is better than the old format. The new site is less informative, less clear, has removed the home site concept, and has moved form clear graphics to long winded statements. The introduction to this blog is self-delusional in claiming widespread appreciation for the new format. I do not believe a word of it. This is just another example of ther BBC wasting our money by giving somebody a job to do which does not need doing. I would ask the BBC to restore the old version, but that is politically unacceptable as it would admit the institutionalised profligacy of the organisation.

If it ain't broke don't fix it. There was nothing wrong with the old version and frankly it was easy to understand at a glance. More money wasted in times when we are told the BBC can't afford to make new programmes. Shame on you.

I don't mind the crisper look of the website but it looks awful when printed out.

As a guest house owner I like to print out the 5 day forecast, and only this, for my notice board but the new format just does not work.

Come on weather techs lets get back to basics!

I tried the beta only to check that the link to the only page I used - the Atlantic Pressure Charts - was still there. I live on the West of Scotland, so that was my weather homepage showing the next 5 days. Now the site is up and running, there is a link to it on the Coast and Sea page - but IT DOESN'T WORK! -it takes you back to the weather homepage. I've emailed the suggested link (WeatherWebsiteFeedback@bbc.co.uk) three times, but haven't even had the courtesy of a response. Like others, I will be forced to use another site.

@35: On the location pages there is a print icon which gives a printer friendly version, though the icon could be made much more obvious than it currently is. Add ?view=print to the end of the URL to get the printer friendly version.

Is it only 2009 that the classic weather symbols were replaced by a set of animated images? Normally, I dislike such changes, and I find animation offputting. Everything against it, and yet amazingly, it was a vast improvement and a joy to look at. So why go back?

While I appreciate the functionality of the new 2011 weather page once I have fought my way in, it leaves me feeling a little ill, anxious and disorientated. It is no longer a pleasant experience. It does not leave me with a quick and thorough at-a-glance knowledge of the weather over 5 days or 24 hours as the 2009 site did, and it verges on the unusable sadly.

I find this 'new site so difficult to use. The old one used to show the UK in regions and I could call up the full range if I was going crosscountry for a few days. Now I can only see around my own post code or else I need to know all the post codes of every area in the Uk which I shall be travelling over - well I'm sorry BBC but I shall start looking for another site immediately. Even the whole UK map is poor as the temperature block for Belfast keeps obscuring where I live and as the maps change to show cloud sequences they clear to a blank map first and then reload the cloud...??? previously the whole time frame ran in a continuous sequence in 3 hour burst with no blanks, as a former Geography teacher who has used and recommended your weather sites for over 20 years, I am so disappointed with something that was supposed to be an improvement. Before I just clicked on an arrow beside the Lake District and went straight to Southern Scotland or N. Ireland , now I need post codes, which I don't find helpful or even necessary... Madness in the name of improvement

BBc weather on bbc channel and bbc weather on website is my favourite. The old bbc weather website which used to give different colours for different temperatures was simply superb. Also the showing of rain snow. I do not like the present bbc weather. please revert back to the old one. I would not see the weather website in its present version

Having announced the DA VINCI exhibition the web site says NO advance bookings as we live a couple of hundred miles away how do we get tickets. PLEASE

I don't mind change but I don't think this is a change for the better. I did try out the beta BBC site and gave my feedback, that doesn't mean the BBC has to listen, it obviously thought more people liked it than disliked it. It could be that they don't care what we think, I hope that is not the case.
What will I do? simple, find a site that I do like.

As usual both time and money wasted by the BBC on the new weather webpage mess which the licence fee paying public neither wanted or requested. Time some of the highly paid BBC senior management felt the draught of the real world rather than the feather bedded ivory towers in which they currently exist.

I loved the way the old site worked and found it so easy to use. By contrast I find the new one complicated and lacking many of the features which made the last one so user friendly. Please please reinstate the old site. If not, I too will be inclined to find a different site that is easier to use and presents the information in a clearer way.

I too am very disappointed with the new weather website. I was aware that there was a beta version, prior to launch, but could not see any way of commenting. I have persevered for a while to see if I would get used to it but I find myself getting more and more disenchanted. As many others have said before me, this another example of the BBC making a change for change sake. The layout of the new site is illogical, the limited use of colour is a major detraction and I find the horizontal rather than vertical format much less comprehensible. Many of my location names have disappeared; where is Avery Hill and Sacramento Mather?

Is there any point in commenting about this in the blog? Despite the very high level of negative complaints, I don't see any response from the BBC.

I once again request that the old weather version be put up i am as other people are sorely missing it.

Pardon me for being somewhat offtrack, but at the same time I could think of no site more capable of performing a watchdog function. Perhaps, you have even planning to look into such situations as I outline below. In addition to Your improvements, I would really like to know that someone knowledgeable is on top these occurrences:
Michael Murphy, Co-Producer of “What in the World are They Spraying?” has determined a connection between Chemtrails as weather modification & profits from derivative trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
Followed by a trip to Chicago where he discovered that the weather – including consequences of violent weather, flooding & storms – are traded as derivatives on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This investigation links weather control to chemtrail/geoengineering programs & illustrates how governments and corporations can profit by controlling our weather & making Wall Street WAGERS on the outcomes.
In February, 2011 E.L. Rothschild LLC, a private investment company led by Chairman Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and CEO Lynn Forester de Rothschild acquired a 70% interest in Weather Central LP - the world’s leading provider of interactive weather graphics & data services.
So, please advise: Will you also be on top of this type of situation (which appears fairly well documented, & very frightening)?

Very poor new design. Difficult to find the information you want. Still no wind speed on the main page which along with the rain or sun and temperature information is essential for those of us who work outside. Too much white space which hurts the eyes as each section is not clearly defined. It would also appear that there are no 'inhabitants' above Edinburgh. Map is also grey and bland.

Glad the distracting and annoying moving background is gone from the beta version, the only improvement from the Beta. The BBC needs to seriously change their web design team. Looks like the same poor design as the recently 'downgraded' news pages.

Much improvement needed....

Design Improvement tip: The blue picture background should extend down the page but be modified to be less bold so you can make out the text clearly. Each section on the page should be clearly defined and not all running together on a white background, should have a semi transparent background which you can see the main background through.

Just add, when I type in Alva for my weather forecast, I expect to see the weather forecast for Alva and not Grangemouth. Grangemouth has entirley different weather as it is miles away on the other side of the River Forth.

Truely awful site now that is slow and counter-intuitive. Has less useful information on it too or at less you have to page around now to find it. Awful!! Bring back the old site as soon as possible please.

There's no point in complaining - no-one is reading your e-mails. I've sent mine with read -receipts, but I have received no message indicating they have been read. I will have to delete the page from my toolbar.

This has gone from the best weather site to the worst one I have ever encountered.
PUT THE OLD SITE BACK ON NOW !!!!!
The person responsible for this rubish should be sacked .

Once again the weather site has been pointlessly redesigned for no obvious reason, and with the usual eye for style over substance (and usability). There's a disturbing group of people who love change for the sake of change and will always go leap at new and shiny and will be disparaging of anything that isn't (how often have I heard that being old is a reason to get rid of something?), completely ignoring any other consideration.

I would say please go back to the old site, if it wasn't for the fact that the one before that was better. It was usable and had a good amount of information, which surely must be more important than looking like it meets the latest random fashions.

Some of the comments on here about 'bringing back the old site' are rather familiar to comments made when that version of the site was launched back in 2009...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/02/new_bbc_weather_site_launched.html

The labelling is appaling.
The words LONDON and CARDIFF just about completely obliterate what is known
as the M4 corridor, as does the word EDINBURGH obliterate the Central Lowlands.
What we want to see is the Weather, not the identification of five very well known
U.K. cities.

Hi there
I am not convinced that anyone will read this ,as I wish to complain about the NEW IMPROVED BBC weather page.
You say that the initial response to the new format was good!!! Well i suggest you just take a quick look at the blog!
Most people HATE IT!
Quite simply the new format is cluttered, lacks clarity, the days run from left to right, (instead of the more logical top to bottom).
How about a survey to ask who wants to go back to the previous version.
Who asked us if we wanted 'change for change's sake' any way?
Yours annoyed
Dorset

#56

How about a survey to ask who wants to go back to the previous version.

All these calls to return to the previous version!! Now where have we heard that before? Oh yes, at the launch of.... the previous version!

#40, amittabha5

please revert back to the old one.

"Please fix it / revert to the old page design."
- tricky567 (2009)


#34, ziggyboy

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it."
- cyclewatch (2009)

The old saying 'if it 'aint broke, why fix it'? I'm seriously struggling to understand how the BBC can describe this as an improvement of the previous, very popular web page?

in my opinion the UK wether page is far less detailed and difficult to see current weather conditions. My 'home' town falls under the 'o' of London and therefore it's impossible to see what the weather is doing as a large 'black block' has been taken out of the map? Why have the town names in black blocks?

When navigating on your home town/county there is again far less detail - you cannot navigate left,ruight,up or down in this mode - where has this feature gone?

Atlantic/European Weather feature - this has now been left off the current update - why when this provided very useful information for looking ahead for weather fronts etc ?

To be honest, I felt the previous version was far more user friendly and useable content? Why change for the sake of change - I wonder if the fewer features on the current version are in some way a cost saving measure?

It would be interesting to know how much the redesigned web page has cost the tax payer?

We already know which way the wind is blowing as you have provided a
DIRECT LINK to a labour party "petition" site.
I though you were a supposedly unbiased .
It is not even a real petition but a scam by
a labour party consultant

The new weather site is awful. Unpleasing to the eye. Poor layout. Illogical. Requires more mouse clicks to get what you used to ie radar picture. The color scheme is monotonous and drab. Once again the BBC gets something that should be very simple, totally wrong. Have deleted the site from my favourites.

Such a shame

Db

in spite of dotconnect's laudable efforts to 'big up' the new weather page, methinks that those who argue if it ain't broke don't fix it have a point because the introduction of the new format has led to a reduction in usability. I do hope the BBC will listen to its owners, a majority of whom seem to prefer clarity, correctness and usability over style and gizmos.

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Like others here I used the old site daily. It was simple and it worked. This 'new improved' site is poorly designed, requires far more 'clicks', and is an irritating disappointment.
Those responsible should be ashamed of their shoddy work. Anyone know of a decent weather site?

I do not understand how this is an improvement? The weather site before had nothing wrong with it. What has happened to the weather news stories? It seems that we only have the weather forecast, which is much slower to upload than the previous one, and you don't have the option on viewing the forecasts from around the world. I regularly used the weather site to look up news stories about climate change and enjoyed viewing weather from around the world because I am a bit of an extreme weather nut! But sadly I think I may now have to find a new site to get my weather news from. Not good BBC!

I am making a complaint, again! Hopefully somebody at the BBC will read this. I am going to spell it out to you, okay, not only is the site now lacking in weather news stories, climate change stories, being able to view the weather from around the world, including the Atlantic so you could see weather fronts that were coming our way, but also little things like nice photographs people send in of landscapes and and cool weather pics. And on top of that, the site now looks untidy. There is no flow, it is slow and it also looks like something from the 1990s. But to be honest, I know you guys won't change it. In time people will forget about the old site and when this site is 'improved' again people will probably complain. But to be honest you cannot call this an improvement, if it was an improvement you wouldnt be getting complaints, you would be getting praise. Oh well, you have lost a loyal customer, I am going to find a new site now. Bye!

right, okay, I am sad to complain AGAIN, but there were a few things not quite right with the old site. One vital thing was that with the weather forecasts you had to click 'more UK weather' or something to see the forecast for the next few days. That annoyed me, why couldn't it just instantaneously show me, it wastes my valuable clicking time lol. Also it was always tricky to get on to the actual main weather site, there was no clear button to press that took you to all the main news stories. Surely that page should of been classed as 'Homepage' or something. So i would guess that most people didnt even realise there was a main weather site. Because at the top of the main BBC site, you press 'weather' and then it takes you to the forecast of your location, not to the actual main page. I always ended up clicking on one of those 'streaming' headlines that run at the top of the page, to get to the main site, if you get me? it was just awkward and annoying. Anyways, thats just a bit of feedback to the previous webpage, as of the new one, yeh it is crap.

hideous layout.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Although it appears the site is improving its image, I hope that listening to the audience will help improve the website further. There is a danger of having too much information on one page, please keep it as simple as possible. Will there be an iphone app for BBC weather? If so, please keep it simple.

Further to my previous comment 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' I have looked at the new weather website on more than one occassion each day and can honestly say I still don't like it.

Please, please can we have something easier on the eye as this is just a jumble of information.

I wonder how many people don't like the new site but like everything these days have just given up as nobody listens.

Well...

I have looked at the BBC weather page several times a day, for years until this week - It seems that we are now to be treated like ITV viewers needing child-like images instead of decent weather icons. The main problem I have is the weather map no longer shows moving images.....starting and stopping graphics, is of no use to me; I live in the countryside and need to see what is happening. This does not show that. I am at a loss as to why the weather people believe this is an improvement...

#71, ziggyboy

I wonder how many people don't like the new site but like everything these days have just given up as nobody listens.

I wonder how many people who like a website, simply choose not to post a comment on an editors blog?


#72, Janet - Lincoln UK

The main problem I have is the weather map no longer shows moving images.....starting and stopping graphics, is of no use to me; I live in the countryside and need to see what is happening. This does not show that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the previous weather site's map didn't show "moving images" either. It was a series of frames, with a slider at the bottom that you could drag left and right to get an idea of the movement of the weather. This site does much the same, albeit using different (more widely accessible) technology. I wonder if you've not yet clicked on a location to find that map (whether that location is Lincoln, or the UK)? After all, the map on the homepage is just the static UK map.

#72, Janet - Lincoln UK

It seems that we are now to be treated like ITV viewers needing child-like images instead of decent weather icons.

The weather icons on the new site are what people were crying out for following the last redesign. They are the classic weather icons that will be familiar to most viewers, and have been used for decades. What is it about them that you find child-like? Their simplicity?

'we want to hear your views on the new site'

Evidently some feel there was a tacit requirement in this invitation that many missed.

You lot are a bunch of moaners, If you don't like it don't use it and leave the site for these that like it

Worth repeating, as there is evidently a secret aspect to 'views' that some cannot grasp, namely they can be 'pro' and 'con', which often represents valuable feedback.

Hence...

'we want to hear your views on the new site'

Otherwise one might presume it would be 'we want you to tell us how much these like it. Otherwise, don't use it'.

Not perhaps the most customer service oriented approach, which is why it was not adopted.

The BBC is one of Britains greatest institutions.
Sack those responsible for sabotaging the BBC online weather.
They are wasting my license fee.

I never normally leave comments for anything, but I'm SO angry and disappointed with the new BBC weather format! I'm sure a lot of time,money and effort has gone in to this change over but it's really not good. Reactions went as follows:-
"what?"
"this is terrible, can't make sense of it!"
"hate!'
"give it a chance"
"keep giving it a chance"
"no, I just really hate this site now"
"I'm swapping to yahoo for weather!"

I don’t think it is good practice to redesign the site and then ask your customers what they think – it gives the impression that you don’t really care what the users of the site think and you are just going through the motions. The Met Office is also going through a similar redesign process on their new site but at least they are running the new site in parallel and asking for detailed feed-back.
My specific criticisms are:
1. The site is very difficult to navigate. I don’t know what information you have on the site because there are very few links or toolbars etc. To find anything you have to use the search box which is unsatisfactory.
2. You no longer display the temperature maps on the forecasts which I found interesting and useful.
3. The graphics on the weather maps showing rainfall/cloud/fog/frost etc are bad- try looking at Russia and you see what I mean. It is very difficult to work out what the colours represent as similar colours are used for different parameters.

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I cannot find weaher review section for yesterday's highs & lows. Any ideas?

Personally I find the new Weather web site a major step backwards in terms of "ease of use" and "accessability".
Reading the current feedback there appears to be a strong negative vote from many other users (or are they ex-users?).
My observation is that the strong positive vote on the Beta site may not reflect your "average" user.
Maybe those who use a Beta test site are less "technically challenged" than your average user, who only starts to comment after the Beta phase, when in this case they have no alternative to the new format Weather site.
Never the less, I suggest that a change back to the previous format would appear to be a very popular move for your "average user" if the current feedback reflects your total audience.

The previous weather website was poor but the new one is just awful.
Bring back the previous site or if you want a good simple to read forecast use an alternative site such as Accuweather. Having paid my licence I feel I have been ripped off ...just how much time and money has been wasted on this new website?

Not as good as the old version. World Temperature/precipitation maps have disappeared. Why mend what is not broken?

Awful new site design. BBC has been my default news sight for many years, and I visit several times a day. No longer. Going to Guardian or Telegraph. Good luck with justifying your expenditure of licence fee income on this in face of collapse in web hits that's gonna follow.

It is an absolute abomination

I'll comment only on the ease of access to the important information (that's what the majority use it for).

Far better. All people want is their local temperature and general outlook. Over-cooking the technical side of the weather in the past had me looking at other sites. The 'humidity, visibility and pressure' are still available for those who need such things, which is great. Less clutter for the layman, and the experts can see what they want on demand.

I would suggest a permanent cookie setting for location, rather than giving the non-Londoners 'London' with the option to look in 'my locations'. The Beeb is still London-centric. Sorry, but the LBC has to decline for the BBC to flourish.

Other suggestions:

Nationwide Weather cams (either volunteer, or weather station, or BBC building)
Past 1-7 days weather data (min/max temps, rainfall).
Local and/or regional weather warnings, including road / bridge alerts where applicable.

Hmmm, design aside, there are still no percentage chance for precipitation (mostly rain in these isles!).

Well, that only makes the new website about 30 years behind the rest of the world of weather forecasting.

Or perhaps they think that the "Viewers are sophisticated enough" for such refinement, which I believe was the position a few years ago.

New site is much worse than the old version. Graphics are poor and it's unclear how to find a weather forecast for anywhere outside the UK - the old site had a box to choose between UK locations or worldwide - why was this removed?
Why was the previous site changed in the first place? If it aint broke etc etc.

Ah ha, I've just found out that the new site doesn't recognise "Prague" as a place - but it does recognise the Czech spelling "Praha". But Rome does exist even though the Italians would write Roma. Some work still needed I'd say.

I have mixed feelings about the new weather site. Great to expand the to include the charts and items such as wind. No good to have done away with animated radar, particularly on an area basis. I don't know about other people, but I want to know the weather broader than just my home town! Particularly when planning a journey inputting places along the way is tiresome. Also when you do pick a location, the name with a black bacgground should be removable as it blanks out the actual place you have chosen!!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Why so many Weathermen/women? everyone else getting sacked or on short time.
And after all the forecasts will still take what comes.
I find it far easier to look outside and make my own mind up.

New site is awful. Chronically slow on the map view ... pointless trying to scroll through the timeline. The map is either zoomed in too far, or zoomed out to the whole UK with a large label obscuring my location. HUGE fonts on the daily summary (what gives?), I leaned back from my screen when I first saw them. Default to London (of course), but since I do not store cookies on my PC I have to enter my location every time. Come on Auntie, you can do better than this. I'll stick with the met office site, until they roll out their new one ... then I shall just look out the window to see what the weather is. I suppose the one good change is that the shape of the UK is now correct, with millions of people no longer being lied to with a distorted map!

Liz, I think the new layout of the BBC weather site is great - In my opinion it gives everything one needs in an easily accessible layout which is more than I can say for much of the main BBC news pages.. in fact I've used it as an example in a news website design basics article.

One of the valid comments above though is that the page is well suited to web browsers on PCs but not necessarily for devices like smartphones etc on which there is limited screen real-estate. In such cases, the content looks cramped and navigation is difficult.

Craig

I hate the new BBC weather site. The old site was so simple and straight forward. The old radar was so accurate. I want the old radar back it was wonderful. I use to go to the old site 10 times a day . Now I have found another weather site to frequent.

I am / was a frequent user of the bbc weather site. I had gripes with it before, following the previous revamp a few years back:
- lost the windspeed indication on the maps, very useful if you a cyclist (to me the major aspects of weather are temperature, rainfall, wind speed and losing wind speed seems completely daft to me)
- the often complete mismatch between what is displayed on the maps and the 5 day forecast icons
On the new site:
- They say there is no loss of content but I cannot, no matter how much I look, see how to get a precipitation or pressure map of Europe or the atlantic any more. Please help me someone. Am I just thick?
- the maps no longer work on my work version of internet explorer. I have emailed the error message but no response yet.

At least the video forecast is still on the new weather page, if that goes there shall be no reason to visit as the rest is of no interest with current poor design. You can't hang around on the page either as the glaring contrast with the excessive white space gives you a headache and eye strain. :-(

I filled out the give us your view poll and castigated the BBC for what was a simple logical layout to what is now an information overload best described as 'blingy'. If it takes longer to access the information you require then you've done a poor job. Adding comments like we've had a great response just covers up the true feedback you've received. Publish the results of the poll and let us decide if it's just us.

I don't often post to BBC websites but feel compelled to do so now. The new weather pages are poor, very poor. There has been so much functionality lost that it is difficult to understand what the BBC was trying to achieve other than increase their outreach to a larger audience by simplifying the product - otherwise known as dumbing down.

1) There is no longer an indication of when the pages were last updated.
2) The maps zoom in too far - it is not possible (yet) to forecast with a level of accuracy which can justify this. We need to see the regional picture and how it develops over time. The only alternative is the UK map.
3) The labels on the UK map get in the way. Why are they there? I know where the cities of the UK are. Another example of dumbing down. I have to load the forecast for somewhere I don't want to know about so I can see the forecast on the UK map for somewhere I do what to know about without the labels getting in the way.
4) The maps are slow to load. It is impossible to run the time bar and see the weather changing with time. I have to run it once to force the maps to load to cache and then run it again to see what I want to see. The old maps did not have this problem.

I could live with the louder in-your-face style for the new site if the functionality of the old one had been retained. I would love to sit down with the Head of BBC Weather and have two computers in front of us - one with the old site on it and one with the new site. She could explain why the new site is better and I could tell her why it isn't. It is massively worse.

Staff at the BBC will on course say that there are always complaints when things change but the audience will get used to the new site and the complaints will die down. Indeed they will die down but only because one cannot go on complaining indefinitely. This is now a weather site for those who do not have much interest in knowing what the weather will be. Poor effort BBC.