Met Office boss says winter forecasts have been 'very good indeed'

The head of the Met Office yesterday insisted that its recent forecasts had been "very good indeed", and blamed the public for not heeding snow warnings.

John Hirst also defended his £200,000-a-year salary as chief executive of the national forecaster, saying that his pay reflected the success of the organisation.

Mr Hirst dismissed complaints that the Met Office failed to alert the public about the extent of this week's snowfall as not "based in fact", and accused people of ignoring its warnings.

"When the snow came on cue, bringing a great deal of disruption with it, our advice seemed to have been forgotten," he wrote in an article for The Times.

"While we didn’t get the quantities of snow right everywhere, particularly over London and the South East, the forecast for snow and the areas that could be affected was correct.

"Indeed, if you look at our forecasts since this severe cold snap began in mid-December, the performance of the dedicated staff at the Met Office has really been very good indeed."

Mr Hirst did concede that there were problems with the Met Office's new long-term seasonal forecasts, which mistakenly predicted a mild winter and the "barbecue summer" that never was last year.

But he maintained that the Met Office was admired across the world for its short-term forecasts, which are now more accurate than ever.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed earlier this month that Mr Hirst received a 25 per cent pay rise last year for his role as chief executive, taking his remuneration including bonuses to between £195,000 and £200,000.

In the article he claimed that his package was justified because it was conditional on the Met Office hitting targets for accuracy and satisfaction. Mr Hirst added that the Met Office did not receive a direct subsidy from the taxpayer, although it does receive money from the Government for providing forecasts to departments.

Snow brought renewed chaos to much of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday, disrupting transport networks and public services after two days of thaw.

Afterwards a Met Office spokesman admitted they were taken by surprise by the amount of snow in the South East, and said that the system for issuing bad weather advisories and warnings would be reviewed.

The wintry weather is forecast to continue until April, although the main threat for the next few days comes from rising temperatures. The Environment Agency has warned of an increased risk of flooding in some areas as ice and snow continues to melt, with weekend rain expected to exacerbate the problem.

Black ice was blamed for a 10 car pile-up on the near Oldham yesterday which left seven people injured, and icy road warnings were in place across the country for Saturday.