BBC Weather app wrongly shows 18,995 mph wind speeds in Britain

LONDON (Reuters) - Britons woke up to alarming news on Thursday, with the widely used BBC Weather app forecasting winds 150 times stronger than Hurricane Milton, due to a data malfunction.

With television news channels showing Milton smashing into Florida in the United States, the unprecedented winds forecast on the BBC Weather app prompted many people to turn to social media for an explanation.

"Go home BBC weather app, you're drunk. It's about 37mph," said one X user, posting under the username Larky McRory, next to a screenshot of the app showing wind speeds of 18,995 mph.

Hurricane Milton was registered as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph).

BBC Weather sought to reassure the public that they did not in fact have to brace for hurricane winds, with a post on X saying that the weather was more likely to be a typical autumnal day of cold air and blustery showers.

"Don't worry folks, there isn't a hurricane on the way today for Scotland, and Edinburgh isn't going to see wind gusts of an impossible magnitude of 17246mph!," BBC Scotland Weather said on X. "There is a major error in the data being ingested into the app."

A banner announcement on the app said: "We're experiencing issues with our forecast data. We're working to resolve it." BBC Weather noted some temperatures were also displaying wrongly and apologised.

The malfunction prompted some social media users to recall the moment in 1987 when Britain's then leading weather presenter, Michael Fish, reassured viewers that reports of a brewing hurricane were not accurate, just hours before hurricane-force winds hit the country.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Philippa Fletcher)