Fish and chip shops are backing a campaign by major tourist attractions calling for changes to the way weather forecasts are displayed on mobile phone apps, arguing that misleading symbols can significantly affect trade.
Attractions including Chester Zoo, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and The Eden Project say rain icons on popular apps can suggest a washout when much of the day is dry. They claim this can lead to a 30% drop in visitor numbers, costing up to £137,000 a day.
Fish and chip operators in seaside destinations say the impact is also being felt on their businesses. Stuart Fusco, who owns several fish and chip shops in the popular tourist destination of Whitby including Royal Fisheries and Quayside, said forecasts showing prolonged bad weather can discourage visitors even when conditions are largely dry.
“We’ve been saying this for a while. It’s almost scaremongering on the apps with the warnings and it does put people off,” he said. “People check the forecast and if it says snow or heavy rain, it’s a no-no – people just won’t come to Whitby, even if we see no snow or rain all day.”
He added that forecasts can vary greatly across short distances along the coast. “Two miles out of Whitby it can be chucking it down, and in town it’s bright sunshine,” he said. “Then you ask why it’s been quiet when it’s sunny all day and it’s because people have already seen the weather on the app.”
Despite his best efforts to plan around the weather, Stuart says often it’s too late with staff rotaed in and fish and potatoes prepped. “It does have an impact. We run tight on staffing and stock because we know it can change quickly, but still we’ve been caught out a few times,” he said.
Welcoming changes to the way information is presented on weather apps, he added: “You want forecasts to be correct, but without being too melodramatic.”
Tiffany Irvin, who owns The Fish Works on the promenade in Largs, North Ayrshire, echoed the concerns, saying inaccurate forecasts can lead to quieter trading days. “We’ve noticed times where the weather says it’s going to be really bad, but it isn’t and we’re still quieter because people have seen the forecast,” she said.
Tiffany added that some customers misunderstand probability figures shown on weather apps. “When it says a 65% chance of rain, people think it will rain 65% of the day,” she said. “But when you click on it, it might be nice, nice, nice up until maybe 5pm and only then is there a 65% chance of rain.”
Even when forecasts improve on the day, Tiffany said plans may already have changed. “If the day before it says it’s going to be bad, people make other plans,” she said. “Even if you wake up and it’s turned good, it’s too late, they’ve decided not to travel. We often have to send staff home early because it’s not as busy as we thought.”
Campaigners are not challenging forecast accuracy, but how the information is presented, and have called for a roundtable with the Met Office, government and major weather app developers to explore practical improvements. These include separate daytime and overnight weather icons, clearer written summaries such as “showers early, brighter later” and indicators showing the proportion of expected dry hours.
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