A senior risk meteorologist has hit back at the Chancellor of the Exchequer for blaming the part the weather has played in stalling Britain’s economic revival.
British Weather Services holds a daily historic database of UK weather for over 250 UK and Irish weather stations, providing details on all aspects of weather, from air temperature and wind speeds through to snow depths and sunshine.
Founder Jim Dale explained: “For every drop of rain or flake of snow, for every fall and rise in temperature there is a commensurate rise and fall in the demand and supply of the UK’s good and services. It’s our job to provide to companies big and small the very telling figures that link the weather numbers with what actually went on re performance.”
“It is far too convenient for George Osborne to lump everything on to the back of weather and not to take into consideration the many nuances of weather impact”
And he says George Osborne has overplayed the impact that bad weather has had on the economy.
He commented: “Where there is a weather loser there tends to be a weather winner on the opposite end of the fence, so construction and high street shops may have had it bad for example, but retailers selling cold weather items such as winter clothing, motor factors and comfort foods would have done well out of the ice and snow, not to mention warm and inviting indoor shopping centres, many of which boasted record footfall figures during the period.
“It is far too convenient for George Osborne to lump everything on to the back of weather and not to take into consideration the many nuances of weather impact.
“George Osborne is guessing, he doesn’t really know and he’s using the poor weather as a shield – very much akin to companies who year in year out do nothing about weather mitigation and use the same excuse. He should know better but sadly doesn’t.”
