*sigh* How may times is this going to be trotted out.
1. The "hurricane" reference was actually referring to Florida.
2. The storm that hit the UK was not a hurricane.
3. There are a number of reasons for the poor forecast, namely a lack of surface observations due to a strike by the French Met agency, and a ship observer misreading the barometer thus resulting in an underestimate of the developing storm's intensity.
4. That was 25 years ago, numerical weather prediction has advanced somewhat since then.
Honestly, it is like the meteorological equivalent of "road tax pays for the roads so cyclists are sponging freeloaders" argument.
1. So why the reference to the woman from Portsmouth? I, and most others who saw that forecast, were under the impression he was referring to the UK. Even Mr. Fish makes no mention of Florida in
this interview last year.
2. Splitting hairs a bit here are you not? The wind strength was enough to make it a hurricane, but by definition a hurricane is a TROPICAL cyclone and therefore cannot occur outwith the tropics.
3. Then they should let us know the full facts and tell us that they are in effect, guessing.
4. Weather prediction has advanced in the last 25 years?

. So; what about the predicted long hot summer of 2012.........? They get it so wrong, so often, that it is no longer worth paying any attention to.