On 25/05/2013 16:40, Graham P Davis wrote:
On Sat, 25 May 2013 15:28:34 +0100
Adam Lea wrote:

On 25/05/13 10:45, Graham P Davis wrote:


Which is why I wish they'd return to the strict usage of 'cold,'
'cool,' 'rather warm,' etc., of a few decades ago.

Isn't that subjective as well?

Not at all, they were defined by temperature anomalies. Each word or
phrase was assigned to a range of anomalies.

The following is from the Radio Times, probably somewhen in the 1950s.
The terms and changed before I started work in '62 but give the general
idea. Temperatures are in Fahrenheit.

================================================== =====================
The heat-wave sizzles on as we go to press and a reader asks us to
explain just what is meant by the descriptive terms used in BBC
weather forecasts at this time of the year. We, in turn, asked the
meteorological back-room boys for enlightenment, and they have provided
us with the following table:

Very hot - More than 20 above normal
Hot - 16-20 above normal
Very warm - 11-15 above normal
Warm - 6-10 above normal
Rather warm - 3-5 above normal
Rather cool - 3-5 below normal
Cool - 6-9 below normal
Very cool - 10-15 below normal
Cold - More than 15 below normal

Words such as 'cooler,' 'colder,' 'milder,' 'warmer' are used when a
comparison is made between the temperature conditions expected and
those recently experienced. We should add that 'normal' at the present
time varies between a maximum of approximately 70 in the southern, and
65 in the northern, regions of the United Kingdom.
================================================== =====================


I've been looking in my various Forecaster's Reference books et al for
this, but couldn't find it. I think that in the 70s and 80s these were
changed, as I remember being told that you never used hot in the winter
or cold in the summer. Certainly nothing about 'bitterly cold' etc.
These are useful because we aren't very good at judging temperatures -
12 C in the winter and we think it's warm; in the summer we think it's cold!