Weathercasters in Netherlands to be fined for wrong updates

No one likes weather forecasters, as all they seem to do is bring bad news.

Watching the weather reports at the moment can make for some painful viewing, as it only seems to be rain, rain and more rain.

However, councillors in the Netherlands have floated a novel idea to make forecasters take their job seriously – fine them if they are wrong.

It comes after the nation enjoyed a period of seasonably good weather, despite the fact the men and women supposedly in the know had forecast heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Joep Thonissen, head of the Dutch tourist attraction association Recron, stated: "Last week it was really good weather over most of the country but the weather forecasts were full of heavy rain and thunderstorms, so people stayed home."

It does seem slightly harsh, but is the type of policy that could catch on and it would be interesting to see if it made any difference.

Posted by Mark Wilkins