BALPPA, the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions, has welcomed news that the Met Office has issued new guidelines designed to encourage the use of more positive terms when reporting the weather.

The organisation has long lobbied for the Met Office and broadcasters to accept the difficulties they cause the tourism industry when they present the weather in a way which is likely to adversely affect people’s decisions on whether to take leisure and tourism day trips.

The new guidelines include suggestions that terms such as ‘often cloudy’ should be replaced with ‘generally clear’ and ‘occasional showers’ with ‘mainly dry’.

BALPPA chair, David Cam – who in the past suggested suing the Met Office if it did not accept the damage it was potentially doing to attractions operators – said: “Good sense has prevailed and well done to the Met Office for being prepared to accept our point and act accordingly. It’s just one less negative for us to worry about in trying to make a success of our business.” Details: www.balppa.org