Met. Office and Piers

We read the recent article by Lucy Hodges on our competitor Piers Corbyn (above) with interest. However we were disappointed to read the standfirst/picture caption that accompanied the item - that Piers Corbyn is "the weather forecaster who has a better prediction record than the Met. Office".

Such a bold definitive statement is surely difficult to justify as to my knowledge Piers Corbyn has never published accuracy figures for his forecasts. It is also a misconception that Piers Corbyn bets against the Met. Office. We supply an advisory service to William Hill which allows them to set the odds for weather-related bets. This advice is based solely on historical weather data, and at no time do we provide our own weather forecasts as part of this service relating to Piers's bets.

Andy Yeatman The Met. Office Bracknell, Berkshire