THE outlook appeared cloudy for the BBC yesterday as it rode into a storm of complaints about its new graphics-charged weather bulletins.

Long-familiar sun and rain symbols disappeared, replaced by computer-generated animations of the elements in a £1 million revolution that the corporation said would provide a much clearer picture but succeeded only in annoying viewers.

Despite an early warning in The Times on Saturday, viewers were aghast at the change.

“My daughter, who is 8, watched the weather with me this morning and she asked what was wrong with the TV?” began one complaint, typical of hundreds on the BBC website. All that “zooming” under the clouds, which the BBC is particularly proud of, induced “mild motion sickness”, said another.

“Puddles and grey smudges on a brown map are very confusing,” Emma Brady wrote. Others complained that the new three-dimensional representation of Britain was out of proportion, discriminating against Scotland and the North. Owen Smith wrote: “The oblique view of the country massively distorts the overall picture. Are people in the North going to be offered a reduction in their licence fee for this poorer service?

“Do we really want a generation of children growing up with an incorrect idea of the shape of the UK and sizes of different parts of the country?”

Meteorological observers complained about the removal of pressure charts, isobars and fronts, accusing the BBC of dumbing down the bulletin.

Why had England’s “green and pleasant land” been turned brown, another asked. Black-and-white viewers were left in the dark, others complained.

The BBC was unbowed, saying that viewers had demanded the changes in the first place. A less-than-conciliatory statement on the BBC Weather website read: “Today’s media industry is like a shark. Either you keep moving forward or you are dead in the water.

“The new graphics are clearer and engaging. We have created clearer, more involving images of weather conditions without sacrificing the science behind those forecasts.”

The Disability Rights Commission said that accessibility was a prime objective and complaints about difficulties experienced watching the new-look forecast would be investigated.

DAZED AND CONFUSED

“All the moving around made me feel queasy”
Owen Smith

“Living in Scotland, I have to look almost to the horizon to see my weather”
Muzza

“If I wanted a muddled, distorted view of the UK weather from 100,000ft over western France, that’s where I would go to watch it”
Tim James

“Please can you lower the word ‘Cardiff’ on your new-style weather maps? It obscures the temperature for London”
Catherine Preston

“I feel totally LOST without the Atlantic pressure charts”
Andy Morse

“Was there something wrong with the green land of before? Looks like we are in a desert, arid landscape now”
donboyfisher

FROM THE BBC WEBSITE

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