BBC Breakfast’s Charlie Stayt has been slammed by fan for taking an ‘absolutely disgraceful and embarrassing’ swipe at Carol Kirkwood.
During Thursday’s show, the presenter, his co-host Naga Munchetty and the meteorologist discussed a technical glitch on the BBC’s weather app which incorrectly showed winds of 13,508mph were set to hit London.
After explaining it was an issue, which IT were trying to fix, Charlie continued to question Carol, which left some viewers fuming.
He continued: ‘Are you going to fix this Carol? This has been going on for many hours now. Is anything actually happening? Are you going to fix it
‘Of course Charlie! Of course, we are. It is a big problem, it’s not just one that can be sorted like that,’ she responded while snapping her fingers.
+16
BBC Breakfast’s Charlie Stayt has been slammed by fan for taking an ‘absolutely disgraceful and embarrassing’ swipe at Carol Kirkwood
+16
During Thursday’s show, the meteorologist discussed a technical glitch on the BBC’s weather app which incorrectly showed winds of 13,508mph were set to hit London
Carol added: ‘So our technicians are working on it as fast as they can and it will be sorted as quickly as it possibly can, again our apologies on this.’
But fans weren’t happy with Charlie’s questioning and shared to X: ‘Was there really a need for Charlie Stayt to speak to Carol Kirkwood the way he did about the weather app glitch on the last weather bulletin? I thought he was mucking about at first. Going all Paxman on a work colleague seemed a bit much’;
‘Why are Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt always having a go at Carol Kirkwood. They might think it’s banter, to the viewer it comes across as workplace bullying’; ‘Charlie had a moment of existential crisis there’;
‘Absolutely disgraceful by Charlie on BBC Breakfast. There’s a glitch on the app showing incorrect wind speeds. He shouted at Carol and demanded to know when it would be fixed. Embarrassing and petulant. He owes her an apology.’
Carol was forced to insist a hurricane was not battering Britain after the channel’s app showed 13,508mph winds in London.
The app also showed that Nottingham was going through an extreme heatwave with temperatures of 404C.
She said: ‘We’re having a technical glitch at the moment.
+16
After explaining it was an issue, which IT were trying to fix, Charlie continued to question Carol, which left some viewers fuming
Fans said: ‘Absolutely disgraceful by Charlie on BBC Breakfast. He shouted at Carol and demanded to know when it would be fixed. Embarrassing and petulant’
+16
The channel’s app showed 3,500mph winds in London and 404C temperatures in Nottingham
+16
+16
The app showed hurricane force winds across the nation. The BBC said there had been a ‘technical glitch’ on their app
+16
+16
There were weather warnings from London to Edinburgh and Belfast to Cardiff
‘It’s showing wind speeds far too fast – in fact hurricane strength – and of course that is not the case at all so please do not be alarmed by that.
‘We are well aware of that and we are on it. We are trying to fix it right now, so hopefully that will sort itself.’
Fellow Beeb presenter Matt Taylor said in a post on X: ‘Don’t be alarmed folks – Hurricane Milton hasn’t made it to us here in the UK!
‘There’s been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue.’
BBC Weather apologised and said it was ‘working hard to fix it quickly’.
Meanwhile, presenter Simon King said: ‘Oops, don’t be alarmed by some of our BBC Weather app data this morning.
‘Be assured there won’t be 14,408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404C.’
Viewers were quick to draw comparisons with Michael Fish’s infamous broadcast brushing off concerns of a hurricane on October 15, 1987.
Fish told viewers there was unlikely to be a hurricane – before the Great Storm of 1987 pummeled Britain, leaving 22 dead and £2billion worth of damage.
Former MP Dame Tracey Crouch shared a photo of BBC weather presenter Fish with the caption: ‘I see the BBC weather app is having a moment this morning. Don’t worry….’
The BBC said that accurate weather headlines for Thursday included colder, clearer air moving in, rain and drizzle in the south and blustery showers near the east coast.
A BBC spokesman added: ‘We’re aware of an issue with our third-party supplier, which means our Weather app and website are wrongly predicting hurricane wind speeds everywhere. That is incorrect and we apologise. We’re working with our supplier to fix this as soon as possible.’
It came as Hurricane Milton mauled Florida on Wednesday night with record flooding and devastating 120mph winds that destroyed the roof of Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium.
Tropicana stadium had been a designated shelter for first responders and cleanup workers awaiting the aftermath of the historic storm and the destruction in its wake. Footage from inside the facility showed a debris-filled field with empty cots meant for sleeping.
50
Comments
What do you think about the BBC’s response to the glitch?
Comment now
+16
Carol said an error within the app had caused the shocking number and that the BBC was trying to fix the issue
+16
She said: ‘We’re having a technical glitch at the moment. It’s showing wind speeds far too fast – in fact hurricane strength – and of course that is not the case at all so please do not be alarmed by that’
+16
Viewers such as former MP Dame Tracey Crouch were quick to draw comparisons with Michael Fish’s infamous broadcast brushing off concerns of a hurricane on October 15, 1987
Incredible space footage shows Hurricane Milton growing in size
+16
The roof of Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, appeared to be badly damaged as Hurricane Milton passes Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024
+16
Street lights are pictured on a ghostly deserted street in Orlando, Florida
+16
This satellite images courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch (RAMMB) taken on October 9, 2024, shows the formation of Hurricane Milton over the Gulf of Mexico
+16
A map of the wind hitting land tonight as Florida residents are told to ‘hunker down’
The hurricane spawned deadly tornadoes that levelled more than 100 homes in St Lucie County and killed ‘multiple people.’
Elsewhere, a gigantic crane teetered off the top of a building and crashed into the offices of the Tampa Bay Times. No injuries were reported.
A Flash Flood Emergency was declared in the Tampa area and nearly three million people were without power across the Sunshine State.
The monster storm dissipated as it moved toward cities like Orlando, where emergency services have been shut down since early Thursday.
Emergency crews have now prepared to venture into the wake of Milton’s destruction in an attempt to survey the wreckage and possibly save lives.
