Stormy Weather Gallery

Look on the bright side, parks urge forecasters

Although the overcast start to the summer break has failed to dampen holidaymakers’ spirits, a major holiday parks group has pleaded with forecasters to stop talking down the weather.

Park Holidays UK says that gloomy weather maps on which a single large symbol is placed over an entire region often give a false picture of local reality.

According to director Tony Clish, seaside locations – where all of his group’s parks are based – are often brighter and clearer than inland.

Yet they still get tarnished with a rain or cloud symbol that might apply only to higher ground.

This month, said Tony, Park Holidays UK is playing host to tens of thousands of holidaymakers – almost 25 percent more than last summer, thanks to the boom in British “staycations”.

But there are still some last-minute waverers, he comments, and it would be a pity if they decided to beat a retreat overseas because of the forecasters’ pessimism.

“Recently, for example, there have been long periods of glorious warm sunshine on our holiday parks in Devon – despite the previous day’s weather outlook painting a very different picture.

“We’re not asking forecasters to bend the truth, but just to be more careful with their phrasing.

“For example, they could say that while inland areas may have showers, coastal areas are expected to be largely dry with blue skies for the most part,” said Tony.

“We’d also urge forecaster to resist negative off-the-cuff remarks about the weather as these too can put people off, and don’t always tie-in with holidaymakers’ experiences,” he added.

Bookings have shown no signs of slowing since the start of the school holidays, said Tony, suggesting that many families have still yet to make up their mind about this summer.

Although some of the group’s parks now had “no vacancies” notices posted for the whole of August, said Tony, it had decided to release extra weeks on other centres to cater for demand.

Seven-night family stays at Park Holidays UK (www.parkholidaysuk.com) currently cost from around £300.

“We’re absolutely thrilled with the massive upswing in UK holidays this year, not least because Britain’s multi-billion pound tourism industry is benefiting many different businesses,” said Tony.

“All we’d ask is that forecasters remember that part of Britain’s charm is our mixed weather, and that micro-climates often exist in coastal regions.

“If one symbol doesn’t tell the whole story, we say keep it in the box!” he added.

ends

More press information from Tony Clish on 01424 751185 or PR consultant Jon Boston on 01768 895225 (jon@jjbpr.co.uk)