A BBC Breakfast weather presenter was forced to insist a hurricane was not battering Britain after the channel’s app showed 13,508mph winds in London.
Presenter Carol Kirkwood addressed the concerns on the show this morning after anchor Naga Munchetty queried the figure.
The app also showed that Nottingham was going through an extreme heatwave with temperatures of 404C.
Kirkwood said an error within the app had caused the shocking number and that the BBC was trying to fix the issue.
She said: ‘We’re having a technical glitch at the moment.
Presenter Carol Kirkwood (pictured) had to address concerns that hurricane force winds were hitting the UK after the BBC Weather app suffered a glitch
The channel’s app showed 3,500mph winds in London and 404C temperatures in Nottingham
The app showed hurricane force winds across the nation. The BBC said there had been a ‘technical glitch’ on their app
There were weather warnings from London to Edinburgh and Belfast to Cardiff
‘It’s showing wind speeds far too fast – in fact hurricane strength – and of course that is not the case at all so please do not be alarmed by that.
‘We are well aware of that and we are on it. We are trying to fix it right now, so hopefully that will sort itself.’
Fellow Beeb presenter Matt Taylor said in a post on X: ‘Don’t be alarmed folks – Hurricane Milton hasn’t made it to us here in the UK!
‘There’s been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue.’
BBC Weather apologised and said it was ‘working hard to fix it quickly’.
Meanwhile, presenter Simon King said: ‘Oops, don’t be alarmed by some of our BBC Weather app data this morning.
‘Be assured there won’t be 14,408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404C.’
Viewers were quick to draw comparisons with Michael Fish’s infamous broadcast brushing off concerns of a hurricane on October 15, 1987.
Fish told viewers there was unlikely to be a hurricane – before the Great Storm of 1987 pummeled Britain, leaving 22 dead and £2billion worth of damage.
Former MP Dame Tracey Crouch shared a photo of BBC weather presenter Fish with the caption: ‘I see the BBC weather app is having a moment this morning. Don’t worry….’
The BBC said that accurate weather headlines for Thursday included colder, clearer air moving in, rain and drizzle in the south and blustery showers near the east coast.
A BBC spokesman added: ‘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.’
It came as Hurricane Milton mauled Florida on Wednesday night with record flooding and devastating 120mph winds that destroyed the roof of Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium.
Kirkwood said an error within the app had caused the shocking number and that the BBC was trying to fix the issue
She said: ‘We’re having a technical glitch at the moment. It’s showing wind speeds far too fast – in fact hurricane strength – and of course that is not the case at all so please do not be alarmed by that’
Viewers such as former MP Dame Tracey Crouch were quick to draw comparisons with Michael Fish’s infamous broadcast brushing off concerns of a hurricane on October 15, 1987
The roof of Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, appeared to be badly damaged as Hurricane Milton passes Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024
Street lights are pictured on a ghostly deserted street in Orlando, Florida
This satellite images courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch (RAMMB) taken on October 9, 2024, shows the formation of Hurricane Milton over the Gulf of Mexico
A map of the wind hitting land tonight as Florida residents are told to ‘hunker down’
Tropicana stadium had been a designated shelter for first responders and cleanup workers awaiting the aftermath of the historic storm and the destruction in its wake. Footage from inside the facility showed a debris-filled field with empty cots meant for sleeping.
The hurricane spawned deadly tornadoes that leveled more than 100 homes in St Lucie County and killed ‘multiple people.’
Elsewhere, a gigantic crane teetered off the top of a building and crashed into the offices of the Tampa Bay Times. No injuries were reported.
A Flash Flood Emergency was declared in the Tampa area and nearly three million people were without power across the Sunshine State.
The monster storm dissipated as it moved toward cities like Orlando, where emergency services have been shut down since early Thursday.
Emergency crews have now prepared to venture into the wake of Milton’s destruction in an attempt to survey the wreckage and possibly save lives.