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Social media laughs after UK weather app glitch warned of 14,000 mph winds and 404C temperatures

BBC Weather app falsely predicts Hurricane force winds across the country.
BBC Weather app falsely predicts Hurricane force winds across the country. Copyright  BBC Weather
Copyright BBC Weather
By Jutalla Coulibaly-Willis
Published on
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A glitch in the BBC weather app led to absurd forecasts, such as 14,408 mph winds in Maidenhead and 404C in Nottingham. The BBC apologised, citing a third-party error.

People across the UK awoke to wildly inaccurate weather forecasts from the BBC as a "bit of a glitch" resulted in extreme winds and temperatures being reported.

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"Hurricane-force winds" of 14,408mph were predicted in Maidenhead, and those living in Nottingham received reports that temperatures would reach a fiery 404C. 

This wasn’t much improved across the pond, where US users received temperatures of 384C in New York. In fact, users all over the world have shared issues with the app.

London's famous retail heart, Oxford Street, was also said to have winds of nearly 15,000mph.

The BBC has since apologised live on air Thursday morning, with weather presenter Carol Kirkwood citing a technical glitch from a third party. 

But that hasn’t stopped people joking about the wildly exaggerated figures. 

Working to fix the issues, a BBC spokesperson said: “We’re aware of an issue with our third-party supplier, which means our Weather app and website are wrongly predicting hurricane wind speeds everywhere. That is incorrect and we apologise. We’re working with our supplier to fix this as soon as possible.”

Of course, the timing could not be more alarming, as Hurricane Milton batters the southeastern United States.

Making landfall on Thursday morning CET the category 3 storm has prompted mass evacuations in Florida and the surrounding area.

Some 2.6 million people were reported to be without power as the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, spawning deadly tornadoes in its wake.

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