Tudor Hughes wrote:

If the Met Office didn't issue these forecasts the trashy
tabloids and ther dim-witted readers would scream and shout and ask
what the Met Office is doing "with our money." You can't win. The
best thing would be to quietly discontinue seasonal forecasts for the
public and hope no-one notices, or, if they must persist with them, to
only use the driest scientific terms they can get away with. The
forecasts are of pretty well no use to the man-in-the-street anyway
though they may be of some use to industry and retail.

History tells us you're right. The monthly forecasts started to be published
after questions were asked in the House when the public became aware of the
US forecasts for Europe in the 1962-3 winter - via AFN I think. They were
"always right" - as was persistence in that winter - so the question was
asked why the Met Office couldn't do as well.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks., UK. E-mail: newsman not newsboy
"I wear the cheese. It does not wear me."