Tony Blair's government embarks on a campaign against meteorological defeatism (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1811808,00.html): It is goodbye to those miserable showers and isolated storms. Prolonged sunshine is expected under new “positive” forecast guidelines issued by the Meteorological Office. ...

There is no need to dwell on a “small chance of showers” when “mainly dry” tells a better story. If there are “localised storms” then it must be “dry for most”. Clouds over Manchester mean generally clear visibility for motorway drivers. ...

In some cases forecasters should simply reverse the order of events, placing a “small chance of showers” at the end of the sentence if Britain is expected to be “mostly dry”.

This is based on research suggesting that viewers with short attention spans are more likely to absorb the good news, if it is relevant to them, and filter out the bad. ...Congratulations dear British neighbours, from now on you can expect more sunshine :shake: doesn't that rain feel dryer already? :shake:

If there's one thing I've always learned to rely on Ragusa, it's the Great British sense of cynicism. All newspapers lie; the politicians are even worse; never leave home without an umbrella... :shake:

Seriously, people have been whinging about inaccurate weather reports for donkey's years. If some new "Government Directive" rocks up and makes them seem even more inaccurate, then people will just whinge more. Whole thing seems thoroughly counter-productive to me.

But I would say that, wouldn't I? :lol:

Moving to AoDA...

They already do that here in the U.S. Instead of saying it will be "mostly cloudy", they say it will be "partially sunny". Granted what is proposed here goes to a further extreme, but it's just extending the same practice.

It like saying the glass is half full instead of saying half empty. The fact remains the same.
But what is most alarming is the obvious effort to manipulate the way one sees events. A constant, and as years pass more intense and sophisticated effort of manipulation from goverments around the world to keep population at a golden cage that everything, and if not everything at least the big part, is fine.

I love it when they work in percentages too. I recall somewhat two years ago the weatherforecast predicted a 100% chance of heavy rainfall, which was quite unique, because it's usually around 80% tops, which leaves some room for a miscalculation. But with 100% they must have been very convinced of what was to come the next day.

It was sunny all day long, not a cloud in the sky. :shake: