We learn from a recent article in the Manchester Guardian
that before many weeks have passed the Meteorological Office will probably receive a regular supply of wireless messages about the weather in the Atlantic from many of the great liners. The value of this service will depend chiefly upon the number of messages received and upon the longitude from which they are sent. Unfortunately most of the ships move along two lines of latitude, and there is necessarily a gap of some hundreds of miles between them. The Meteorological Office is really an excellent prophet con- sidering the limited data at its disposal, and it gets too much blame for its occasional failures and too little praise for its high percentage of successes. Our West coasts suffer more from inadequate or wrong forecasts than the inland or Eastern districts. This is because most of the disturbances which affect us form in the Atlantic, and the winds or rain predicted often arrive on the West coasts simultaneously with the forecast or in advance of it. The new service should mean, at the worst, a considerable improvement in the meteorological information where it is most needed.
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