Q&A WRITTEN REPLIES

WEATHER FORECASTS: The Meteorological Office has been set a minimum target of 84 per cent accuracy in its key radio weather forecast, the Minister of State for Defence, Nicholas Soames, announced last night.

He said in a Commons written reply that the executive agency running the organisation had been set a range of quality, financial and efficiency targets "to ensure that it delivers progressive improvments in the provision of weather- related services". The targets included attaining "an average accuracy over the UK of at least 84 per cent for the 24-hour forecasts broadcast at 5.55pm by BBC Radio 4".