Presumably the accuracy of long-range forecasting will improve eventually, but we at least no longer need to rely on the Met Office for shorter-term forecasts. For that, we have Twitter.

The current, prolonged cold snap have once again proven the worth of Twitter (and other social media tools) for quickly disseminating accurate information about weather conditions. Barely has the first snowflake hit the ground before #uksnow is trending, but when the weather is as extreme as it is at the moment, Twitter really does come into its own.

Once all this information is organised more smartly – see Ben Marsh’s #uksnow map for a tantalising glimpse into how much smarter we could be at communicating weather information – then we’ll never need to rely on the Met Office again.