The BBC tells us that their weather forecasters have been trolled about their heatwave reports.
Weather forecasters report unprecedented trolling during UK heatwave coverage https://t.co/W2HkB8ugWU
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 29, 2022
Tweets aimed at BBC Weather and its presenters featured personal insults and messages such as “it’s just summer” – many described advice on how to stay cool as pandering to the “woke-brigade” or for “snowflakes”.
Other tweets accused the Met Office and the BBC of spreading “alarmism” and “hysteria”, telling both to “stop scaremongering”.
Hundreds of people have also shared their experiences of the 1976 heatwave on social media, with many making the false suggestion that this month’s heatwave was “no different”.
…
BBC meteorologist Tomasz Schafernaker said: “What frustrates me most is when I’m accused of twisting the truth. As meteorologists, we report facts. There is no conspiracy.”
I have huge sympathy for the forecasters who are doing their job with great professionalism. Rather than scaremongering, if anything, they are very restrained in their comments, and rarely explain to viewers directly about the reasons for extreme weather.
For those who are unaware of this social media phenomenon, here is the Wikipedia definition of trolling:
In Internet slang, a troll is a person who posts inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), a newsgroup, forum, chat room, online video game, or blog), with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses, or manipulating others’ perception.
Here on Lib Dem Voice we know a thing or two about trolling. Trolling is, of course, very prevalent in political contexts, but that is no reason not to challenge it. We want this to be a safe space where people can discuss issues and agree to disagree courteously. That is why we make this statement under each post:
Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.
Unlike some social media outlets we do actively patrol comments and remove any that fall short. Some are picked up by our magic moderation filter, but others are missed and are automatically published. But we editors are not sitting at our laptops all day scanning comments so sometimes we do miss inappropriate comments. If you spot any please email us on [email protected].
Needless to say, we do get trolled ourselves, mainly being accused of censorship if we don’t publish a comment.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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11 Comments
I must admit that I thought some of the coverage was OTT and would have scared people unnecessarily when those temperatures are a regular feature of life in many countries. The messaging should have been aimed at encouraging people to enjoy the hot weather whilst taking precautions where appropriate.
Is that really trolling?
The increasingly awful Daily Mail et al should share responsibility for the trolling. They were leading the ‘snowflake line. Then switched next day to ‘Nightmare of the wildfires’; ‘Britain burns, on hottest day in history’. As if their snowflake headlines had never happened.
Yes. In1976 it was hot (my child had a brolly and factor for protection but still got burned).Then, we were not used to the heat.Now the temperature is HIGHER.We are not used to those temps that are regular abroad. The trolls may have no idea of the difference (unless, of course, just stirring it).As said The Mail is No1 troller.I see nothing wrong with weathermen telling it as it is and giving advice
Remaining in very hot sun for a long period can lead to a condition known as hyperthermia, causing the body temperature to rise above normal. It is the opposite of hypothermia, where the body temperature falls and can cause death. I have always found that it is easier to warm up in cold weather than to cool down in hot weather and, therefore, believe that these warnings are necessary as we are not conditioned to the extreme heat that we are now experiencing.
I have breathing problems. I don’t have enough oxygen in my blood. In hot weather blood needs 15% more oxygen. It is like being held under water or being suffocated by a pillow. You can put cool things against you to try and get the blood flow away from extremities which is trying to cool you down because your main organs, heart etc need that blood’s oxygen. It is hell.
My husband has multiple health problems and we are both oldies. So we were grateful for all the warnings and spent the two 40+ days indoors where we managed to keep the temperature below 26 degrees by keeping windows and curtains closed during the day but open at night when temperatures fell. Earlier in the year we had wooden shutters fitted to all the windows in the front of the house which is south facing and we found them to be very effective – more so than curtains at the back.
It was disappointing how few journalists reporting outside were wearing hats and how many inside were still in business suits.
The “good” news is these temperatures will become increasingly likely so we have a do-over.
The BBC tells us that their weather forecasters have been trolled about their heatwave reports.
Hardly “trolling”. For the most part they were valid criticisms of the BBC’s hysterical coverage. It’s also hypocritical of the BBC to complain about “personal abuse”, when they themselves frequently use the nasty and sinister term “deniers” to associate dissenting views with holocaust denial.
The BBC have a reputation for leaving ‘low-effort’ comments up, while censoring well reasoned and informative responses which challenge their agenda, as was the case with this heatwave report…
‘BBC Weather Forecasters Don’t Like The Truth!’ [29th. July 2022]:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/07/29/bbc-weather-forecasters-dont-like-the-truth/#comment-224493
Marco 29th Jul ’22 – 7:01pm:
I must admit that I thought some of the coverage was OTT and would have scared people unnecessarily when those temperatures are a regular feature of life in many countries.
Indeed, many countries where lots of people pay good money to go on holiday to.
In a crowded field this was perhaps the most ludicrously OTT claim…
‘’Up to 10,000 excess heatwave deaths’ should be anticipated – Ex-Govt Chief Scientist’ [16th. July]:
https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/matt-frei/excess-deaths-heatwave-uk-weather-national-emergency-temperatures-40c/
nigel hunter 29th Jul ’22 – 10:27pm:
In1976 it was hot… Then, we were not used to the heat. Now the temperature is HIGHER.
Actually, Central England Temperature (CET) data shows that average temperatures were over 2˚C higher in 1976 than in 2022…
‘‘UK heatwave: How do temperatures compare with 1976?’’ [24th. July]:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/07/24/uk-heatwave-how-do-temperatures-compare-with-1976/
“up to 10,000 excess deaths”
I always feel that using the term ‘up to’ is highly misleading. But maybe the problem is inadequate understanding among the public of some basic statistics terms e.g. mean, median, range, probability……
And by the time some tabloid media have had their fun with the statement many members of the public could easily believe that ‘up to’ means ‘will definitly happen’
Nonconformistradical 1st Aug ’22 – 9:11am:
I always feel that using the term ‘up to’ is highly misleading.
It’s King’s 10,000 figure which is highly misleading; it’s ludicrously absurd even for climate alarmism.
Paul Homewood at NALOPKT has just examined the July ONS figures for deaths…
‘David King’s 10,000 Heatwave Deaths Never Happened’ [5th. September 2022]:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/09/05/david-kings-10000-heatwave-deaths-never-happened/