TOURISM leaders are pressing television weather presenters to highlight how often their forecasts are inaccurate.

Welcome to Yorkshire and Newby Hall and Gardens, near Ripon, whose owner is the president of the Historic Houses Association, say overly pessimistic forecasts are deterring people from visiting attractions.

Visit England said 4.9m Britons were last night (Thursday, March 28) undecided about whether to take an overnight trip over the bank holiday weekend, and that weather would be the deciding factor for 40 per cent of them.

Tourism operators’ principal grievance appears to centre on local and regional daily summaries, which they say feature rain symbols whenever there is a small chance of wet weather.

Gary Verity, Welcome to Yorkshire’s chief executive, claimed a recent report by the Met Office found just 46 per cent of their forecasts were accurate.

He said: “This means they are wrong more often than they are right.

“What I have tried to say to the BBC and ITV, and understandably they have not rushed to do this, is they should put their percentage accuracy statistics on the screen.

“If people understood that then maybe they would take weather forecasts with a pinch of salt.”

Stuart Gill, of Newby Hall, said he had spoken to forecasters about the presentation of their reports as in fine weather the 18th century country house receives 1,000 visitors a day, while in poor conditions it expects about 100.

He said: “Forecasters tend to err on the side of doom and gloom. Seemingly if there is only a ten per cent chance of rain, the symbol they use is a rain drop and a black cloud.

“This is not good for business when you are operating a garden open to the public.”

Ian Ashton, of the Herriot Country Tourism Group, backed the call for accuracy figures to be included on forecasts, but added pessimistic summaries benefit some of his members who have indoor attractions.

A Met Office spokeswoman said its forecasts for the next day gave good advice six days out of seven and while it publishes its accuracy figures online, it was up to broadcasters to decide what information they provided.

She said: “Today our four-day forecast is as accurate as our one-day forecast was 20 years ago.”

The BBC and ITV did not respond to requests for a comment.