BBC Weather forecasts 'hurricane winds' for Manchester... but don't worry

BBC Weather is currently forecasting hurricane winds for Manchester of 13,963mph. But don't be alarmed, a weatherman has revealed the reason why.

The BBC Weather website is showing 'impossible values' for 'hurricane force winds' in cities around the country, including Manchester and Nottingham. The weather for Manchester shows hourly forecasts of six, seven and eight degrees, but winds of almost 14,000mph - and perhaps most surprisingly, a zero per cent chance of rain.

But a message has gone out over BBC radio and on social media that there has been a technical glitch with the service. Lead BBC weather presenter and meteorologist Simon King took to X, formerly Twitter, to say at 6.24am: "Oops, don’t be alarmed by some of our @bbcweather app data this morning.

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"Be assured there won’t be 14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404°C. It is being looked at and hopefully sorted ASAP."

The weather presenter shared an image of a weather forecast for Nottingham, showing the 'impossible values', he said. The error still might cause anxiety for some who might not have a 'tech failure as their first thought', wrote one social media user.

The mistake comes as news of Hurricane Milton unfolds, hitting Florida and causing millions to be without power and deaths to be reported. But Mr King responded on the platform, writing: "I agree, which is why we’ve mentioned it here and on radio. Hopefully a glitch is obvious with the impossible values."

Hurricane Milton is devastating vast swathes of Florida and the southeastern United States, as the vast hurricane brings 120mph winds and vast storm surges. Milton made landfall near Tampa Bay around 1.30am GMT (8.30pm local time), but was preceded by deluges of heavy rain and tornadoes, which led to it being branded the "storm of the century". Throughout the day, while homeowners flee and businesses boarded up their windows, eight tornadoes were spotted spinning through state highways at around 55mph.

More than 2 million homes and businesses were left without power. Several people were reported to have died, but the full extent of the damage is not yet clear. A number of airports in Florida have closed to commercial operations, including Orlando International, Melbourne Orlando International and Tampa International.

British nationals and tourists in the sunshine state have been warned by the Foreign Office about these weather conditions and urged to follow local advice and track the storm on the US National Hurricane Center website.