THE BBC has apologised for an error that saw its weather app and website incorrectly forecasting “hurricane-force winds” to hit East Devon and most of the UK. 

Forecasts predicting more than 6,400mph wind speeds for Honiton and nearly 4,000mph in Exmouth were still showing on the BBC Weather website Thursday, October 10, as the BBC worked to fix data issues. 

Sidmouth had predicted windspeeds of over 2,000mph on the BBC's website. The Met Office's forecast, which was not affected by the error, stated that windspeeds were not above 9mph for Sidmouth, Honiton, or Exmouth.

BBC broadcast meteorologist Matt Taylor assured the public that Hurricane Milton, the category three storm that made landfall in Florida overnight on October 9, was not on its way to the UK.

“Don’t be alarmed folks – Hurricane Milton hasn’t made it to us here in the UK!”, he wrote on X alongside a screenshot of an extreme prediction on the weather app.

“There’s been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue. No need to panic buy plywood and candles.”

Lead BBC weather presenter and meteorologist, Simon King, also assured users of the website and app that there will not be “14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404C” in a social media post.

Meanwhile, BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood told BBC Breakfast viewers that the weather centre was experiencing a “technical glitch” that they were trying to fix “right now”.

Graphics showed London was set to experience winds of more than 13,000mph on Thursday while Nottingham would have overnight temperatures of 404C.

A statement from BBC Weather on social media said: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly. Sorry – please bear with us.”

It added that the accurate weather headlines for Thursday included colder, clearer air moving in, rain and drizzle in the south.

A BBC spokesperson added that the issue was with a third-party supplier which they were working with to fix the issue “as soon as possible.”