Stupid legal action over inaccurate weather forecasts.

D

dam099

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Tourism chief considers legal action over inaccurate weather forecasts (registration required).

What kind of crap is this, talking about suing Met Eireann for getting the forecast wrong. It's a "forecast" hence inherently somewhat uncertain.

Also the article (somewhat sloppily in my opinion) only refers to Mr McEniff as the head of NW Tourism, I bet thats not why he wants to sue. I would hazard a guess that the hotel in question might just be one of the many owned by him.
 
Re: Stupid legal actions

He hasnt a leg to stand on.

It may not have been snowy and icy in the balmy North West. But the weather severly impacted on thousands of people in the Midlands and East on Friday.

Of course the organisers had to cancel!
 
Re: Stupid legal actions

Didn't the Russian government threathen to take the russian met office to court for incorrect weather forecasts last year? I work in Co Monaghan and the snow was 5 inches deep in places last Friday. Carrickmacross and Castleblayney were very badly hit but not Monaghan town. Kingscourt was bad but not Kells. Newry was bad but not Dundalk. But I do sympathise with the hoteliers in Donegal. I know a girl who intended to go to Donegal. and thinking that Donegal had to be worse the Monaghan duly cancelled on the strength of met office warnings about 'not travelling unless you absolutely have to'. Turns out the first few miles would have been her worst bit, not the end which she was led to believe. The counry isn't so big that the met office might be a little bit more accurate when it comes stating what actually happened as opposed to what they forcast 24 hours earlier. On Friday they were still peddling the 'north west is worst' bit when it clearly wasn't.
 
Re: Stupid legal actions

There is only one weather forecast I would trust

.

Put in Ireland and the area you live in.

D
 
Re: Stupid legal actions

cuchulainn said:
The counry isn't so big that the met office might be a little bit more accurate when it comes stating what actually happened as opposed to what they forcast 24 hours earlier. On Friday they were still peddling the 'north west is worst' bit when it clearly wasn't.
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I would have thought the small size of the country would account for some of the difficulties with accurately forecasting for the regions. The distance between Monaghan and Donegal would seem pretty minor compared to the size of many weather systems.
 
There is a widely-held belief out there that the Met Office sometimes exaggerate the effects of negative weather forecasts so that people won't blame them if the actual weather turns out worse than forecast. If this is their policy, it is wrong as leads to people panicking and generating a "cry wolf" effect.

If the Met Office, as a public service, are deliberately distorting weather forecasts to cover themselves, then they should be accountable for the consequences, as are any other service provider.
 
Perhaps the McEniffs would consider ensuring that they comply with the law in their own hotels before they go suing other arms of the state - see [broken link removed]
 
that the Met Office sometimes exaggerate the effects of negative weather forecasts...........are deliberately distorting weather forecasts
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Ubi,

Do you have any evidence for this assertion?

aj
 
Well done, Rainyday.

That explains it, doesn't it? He's a FF Councillor so he probably thinks he owns the Met office and there's a chance he can get some sort of compensation from them. There is no end to the arrogance of FF.
 
Hi ajapale.

I did not make any assertion. That's why I used the words "There is a widely-held belief out there..." and "if"...
 
Hi Rainyday

I understand that the Brian McEniff Hotels group are separately owned and operated from Sean McEniff's hotels, so your 'smoking ban' breach reference is probably irrelevant.


Hi Slash,

He's a FF Councillor so he probably thinks he owns the Met office and there's a chance he can get some sort of compensation from them. There is no end to the arrogance of FF.
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I presume this is an attempt at irony, right?
 
Ubi,

I don't think there is a 'widely held belief' that the Met Office sometimes exaggerate the effects of negative weather forecasts.

I do think that newspapers and broadcasters sometimes exaggerate the effects of negative weather forecasts in order to make better copy.

I was caught for three and a half hours on Friday morning in what can only be described as an ice storm. I regret not having heeded the Met Eireann Severe Weather Warning.

I use the services of Met Eireann in my profession and can state that their forecasts and analysis are always of the utmost professionalism and integrity.

ajapale
 
Hi Aj,

I know a number of people who believe that this is true. Whether or not this translates into "a widely held belief" is a matter of opinion. Again, whether or not they are correct is another story. If they had the same level of dealings with Met Eireann as you do, perhaps they would have a different opinion.
 
If any one has a complaint about the professionalism or integrity of the Meteoroligists of the Met Office then I suggest that they take it up with the with the organisation involved (or the professional body which represents them) in the first instance.

In my opinion running to the law courts without having first exhausted the procedures is indeed stupid.

Met Eireann publish forecast accruacy charts in their annual report and also have a feed back mechanism as outlined in their customer charter which I reproduce here.

Met Éireann Customer Charter
Met Éireann, Ireland’s National Meteorological Service, is part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Our mission is to monitor, analyse and predict Ireland’s weather and climate, and to provide a range of high quality meteorological and related information to our customers.

We supply weather forecasts, warnings, climatological and environmental services to the general public, to aviation and to all sectors of the Irish economy.

Products and Services
Met Éireann will produce high quality weather observations, forecasts and warnings, along with a range of climatological and environmental services. Every effort will be made to match output style – whether for text, tabular or graphical products – with customers’ requirements.

Customer Liaison
Met Éireann will maintain liaison with customers to help ensure that products and services match their needs. Customer
satisfaction will be monitored through routine communications (telephone, letter, e-mail and fax), sector-specific surveys and face-to-face meetings at events and exhibitions.

Contact with Customers
Correspondence will normally be processed within 5 working days. An acknowledgement will be issued if it appears likely
that more than 5 working days will be required for a substantive response.
Telephone calls will be answered courteously and promptly. Calls to operational offices may encounter some delays
during periods of adverse weather, when call volumes increase substantially.
Personal callers - while Met Éireann has no public offices, many personal callers visit us in a business or professional
capacity. In all cases we will try to arrange such visits at mutually convenient times and provide appropriate meeting
facilities.

Publications
A regular schedule of routine publications will be maintained - Monthly Press Statement (first working day following the end of the month), Monthly Weather Bulletin (within 12 weeks of the end of each month) and Annual Report (3rd quarter of the year).

Web Site www.met.ie
All forecasts, warnings, observational and climatological data displayed on the site will be updated regularly. The design and content of the site will be monitored and enhanced on an on-going basis.

Forecast Accuracy
Met Éireann will include in its Annual Reports a range of verification scores showing the level of forecast accuracy.

Feedback
Met Éireann welcomes comments and suggestions on all aspects of its services. The Customer Liaison Officer (customer.liaison@met.ie) is the central contact point for managing customer feedback.

Equality/Diversity
Met Éireann is committed to treating all customers equally, while at the same time respecting individual distinctiveness and requirements.

Irish Language
Every effort will be made to facilitate customers who wish to conduct their business with Met Éireann through Irish. All
correspondence received in Irish will be responded to in Irish.

Freedom of Information
Requests under the Freedom of Information Act may be directed to Met Éireann’s FOI Officer at Glasnevin Hill, Dublin 9
(foi@met.ie).
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aj
 
I don't think that there is or was ever any serious suggestion that Mr McEniff would be "running to the law courts without having first exhausted the procedures". Surely he is entitled to take legal advice on any grievance he has with a third party, the gist of which would presumably be for him to exhaust all applicable complaint procedures before formally initiating any legal action?
 
It is impossible to predict weather which is ultimately local and is the end-result of the interaction of dozens of contributory forces. Meterological services offer an approximation of what is likely to occur given past and current contributory forces. There are different microclimates every few miles (as anyone who drives into a cloud-burst out of a sunny afternoon knows..........10 minutes later you drive 'out' the other side into sunshine again.

Compo culture gone mad!
 
.........Sean McEniff said today he is considering taking legal action against Met Eireann over what he claimed to be inaccurate weather forecasts..........
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Perhaps when Sean has completed considering whether to take legal action against Met Eireann he will let the 'Irish Independant' know what his course of action will be.

In my opinion he would indeed be a stupid man to proceed whith such a legal action.

Met Eireann issued a severe weather warning on Wedensday 23rd of November. On Friday 25th of November parts of the country notably the Midlands and East experienced severe snow and ice storms.

Had the conference proceeded in Donegal then some people travelling through or from the affected areas would have experienced severe problems.

In my opinion Met Eireann were correct to issue the Severe Weather Warning and the conference organisers were corrrect to cancel the event. Anything else would have been dangerously negligent. The fact that the weather in the North West was not quite as severe as anticipated is, in my opinion, irrelevant.

aj
 
Wise up folks!

McEniff is a politician.........there's an election in the offing.........which part of "there's no such thing as bad publicity" don't you understand?
 
it does exactly what it says on the tin......a weather FORECAST.......not a weather guarantee. Cannot see where he has a case!
 
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