This is the Met Office web page which ignores the Yorkshire Dales as one of Britain's mountain areas, whilst including the Peak District! Scroll down to read Peter's email exchange with the Met Office powers-that-be.
|
----------------------- Original Message ----------------------- From: Peter Breen <p_a_breen@btinternet.com> Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 08:50:00 +0100 Subject: Yorkshire Dales Dear Sirs I am a resident of the Yorkshire Dales and live in the village of Buckden. In anticipation of a village walk (the ascent of Whernside 736 metres) organised for today, I looked at the Met Office website and was momentarily delighted to see a special section for mountain areas. However, when I followed the link I was presented with a map that did not include the Yorkshire Dales in this designation. My first reaction was that the peaks of the Dales are not high enough to qualify and yet the Peak District is included and on checking I find out that its highest point is Kinderscout at 636 metres whereas Buckden Pike (immediately above our village) is 702 metres and there are a number of other peaks above 700 metres in the Dales. Oddly, it seems that mountainous areas are not defined by your office in terms of the height of the mountains! I assume that other criteria are in use and would be interested to know what they are. Another related, isolated fact gleaned from the Internet indicates that there are over half a million acres of ground above 600 metres in the Dales. Yours faithfully Peter Breen Buckden North Yorkshire 01756 760817 ----- Original Message -----
Kind Regards Sarah Weather Desk Advisor Met Office, FitzRoy Road , Exeter , Devon , EX1 3PB , United Kingdom . Tel: 0870 900 0100 or +44 (0)1392 88 5680 Fax: 0870 900 5050 Email: enquiries@metoffice.gov.uk http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
Met
Office climate change predictions can now be viewed on
Google Earth Your personal details will be stored in our database. The information will not be passed to any third parties. Please advise us if you do not wish your details to be stored. The Met Office is an Executive Agency of the UK Ministry of Defence and is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. ----------------------- Original Message ----------------------- From: Peter Breen <p_a_breen@btinternet.com> Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +0100 Subject: Re: Yorkshire Dales Dear Sarah Thank you for your prompt reply. I am grateful for the additional source of weather information to add to those already available on the Met. Office website. On re-reading my original message I can see that it could be interpreted as a request for a source of information of this kind. I really wanted to know why the Yorkshire Dales is not considered to be in the same category as the Lake District, Peak District, East and West Highlands, Snowdonia and Brecon Beacons and thus eligible for a detailed forecast giving:
The forecasts are issued twice daily. Sincerely Peter --- On Wed, 19/8/09, Mark Beswick <enquiries@metoffice.gov.uk> wrote:
The Met Office provides Mountain Area Forecasts via our web site to help people make the most of the outdoors in a safe way and was initially aimed at upland areas with ground above 900 metres (3000 feet). Changes introduced on 30th March 2009 followed extensive consultation with stakeholders and other interested parties during the previous six months. For example, the Met Office and our Public Weather Service Customer Group consulted mountain rescue services, the Ramblers Association and other outdoor leisure groups and National Parks and other bodies. Changes to the content and format of these forecasts were then considered very carefully, with the aim of making these forecasts more relevant, easier to understand and more visually appealing. Key changes to the service included:
An additional forecast for the Peak District was also added to the mountain area forecast service. This was chosen after careful consideration of analysis of visitor numbers, weather related incidents and other relevant factors. In addition to the Mountain Area Forecasts, the Met Office now provides brief summary forecasts for each of the National Park areas and an equivalent forecast for the Norfolk Broads and the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland (which do not have the same status as National Parks but are similarly important areas for outdoor recreation and wildlife). These can be found on the regional forecast pages of the Met Office web site. We appreciate your feedback and would like to thank you for your interest in the mountain forecasts. The Met Office’s Public Weather Service web pages will continue to evolve and develop. We will bear in mind comments from customers regarding other areas for inclusion in any further development of this service in the future. I hope this information is of assistance and thank you for taking the time to contact the Met Office. Yours sincerely Mark Beswick on behalf of the Customer Feedback Manager Met Office FitzRoy Road Exeter Devon EX1 3PB United Kingdom Tel: 0870 900 0100 or +44 (0)1392 88 5680 Fax: +44 (0)1392 88 5681 E-mail: enquiries@metoffice.gov.uk http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
Your personal details will be stored in our database. The
information will not be passed to any third parties. Please advise
us if you do not wish your details to be stored. The Met Office is
an Executive Agency of the UK Ministry of Defence and is registered
under the Data Protection Act 1998. |