Wind chill: why is it not used in Ireland/UK?

ollie103

Hi all,
Can anybody please tell me why wind chill isn't really used in met forecasting in Ireland or the UK (and correct me if I'm wrong) whereas its a lot more common in the US? I see that Accuweather have a 'RealFeel' feature which is really useful and (I think) a more realistic summary of the weather. www.yr.no also has a 'feels like' temp feature on their desktop site - again: very useful.
Is there not a common/agreed scientific way of determining wind chill? Or is wind chill not really part of met forecasting and more a modern creation?
Thanks.

JCX BXC

Personally, I don't really care for wind chill and I don't think its an accurate measure of anything. I know that if its windy, its going to feel colder depending on your location. Theres too many factors and variables for me to use it efficiently.

nacho libre

The bbc weather do use it sometimes, but usually only when you have a strong easterly, which is not too often in recent years.

here is a classic example of its usage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd6DuebHliY

Iancar29

It is often mentioned by the forecaster .. " but with the wind it will feel much colder " , they just don't use it in graphics as it would confuse a lot of people who would think its gonna be icy on days that its 6-9c but with a strong cold breeze.

sryanbruen

nacho libre wrote: »

The bbc weather do use it sometimes, but usually only when you have a strong easterly, which is not too often in recent years.

here is a classic example of its usage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd6DuebHliY

Correct. I remember the BBC using it often during the cold snowy spell in early February 2009.

Captain Chaos

I think it should be used. Like this afternoon it was 7C but with windchill taken into account it was 2C. It's far more accurate to account for it imo.

For Dublin airport now, accuweather.com is indicating -2C, but with windchill it's -6C.

sryanbruen

Captain Chaos wrote: »

I think it should be used. Like this afternoon it was 7C but with windchill taken into account it was 2C. It's far more accurate to account for it imo.

Crazy because I am close to you and I did not feel a breeze today. Probably because of the sun which made it feel like Summer (or Spring would be more appropriate to say) where I am

Captain Chaos

sryanbruen wrote: »

Crazy because I am close to you and I did not feel a breeze today. Probably because of the sun which made it feel like Summer (or Spring would be more appropriate to say) where I am

I walked 20mins to the Luas on the way home and I could hardly feel my hands again I got to it. Today was baltic in Dublin. There is ground frost every morning for the past week when I'm going to work with all these clear skies. If it was summer it would be cloudy with no sunshine.

JCX BXC

The three above posts are examples of why I hate windchill, it's too variable. To achieve accuracy you'd have to give a windchill for every different street in a town, every few minutes, for every gust. IMO it's just a way to try sensationalise the weather even further.

sryanbruen

Captain Chaos wrote: »

I walked 20mins to the Luas on the way home and I could hardly feel my hands again I got to it. Today was baltic in Dublin.

Hate that. It was a beautiful day here!! I even had just a shirt on! LOL :pac:

Captain Chaos

sryanbruen wrote: »

Hate that. It was a beautiful day here!! I even had just a shirt on! LOL :pac:

Well I kid you not, in my office in Tallaght we had the heat on full blast for the day. It's a bit warmer when I get back to D13 but not by much.

Graces7

As others have said, it is too variable. Here ( South Kerry mountains 400 asl) the house is on a "platform" with a concrete pathway alla round, At the front it can be calm and warm , but go round the corner of the house and you get blasted. When I sit out I sit where the calm place is. Certainly chill wind chill today.

munchkin_utd

Carnacalla wrote: »

The three above posts are examples of why I hate windchill, it's too variable. To achieve accuracy you'd have to give a windchill for every different street in a town, every few minutes, for every gust. IMO it's just a way to try sensationalise the weather even further.

so true

In Belfast, which is a small city, you have shaded areas with little wind say round Queens University, and then walking into the city centre past the BBC you'd have an awful wind that would cut you in half, and at various other parts of the city where high rises were built as part of the IRA led (i.e. bombings) re-development of that part of the city you'd also get blasted with wind even on a relatively calm day.
But then the pedestrian area itsself where all the shops are is middling sheltered.

All very random, and indeed so localised that a general wind chill isnt remotely accurate.