The BBC weather forecast is like my mother: it fears the worst.

Some of the most beautiful weekends of my life were – as far as the BBC was concerned – big black clouds. I wonder if their weather predictions intentionally err on the side of caution to leave them less open to blame if their prediction of a blazing barbecue Sunday goes wrong. Or perhaps the BBC wants to discourage their audience from leaving the house.

I am sure the fault lies in my perception of the situation. I am sure the BBC is blameless and perfect, and not the meteorological Daily Mail they appear to be.

Weather should be clear-headed, but news is clouding weather’s judgement

Residents of the Highland community of Carrbridge say that they live in one of the driest areas of Scotland. The residents claim that the BBC weather website forecasts a wet day and then it turns out that there are only a small number of isolated showers – and sometimes no rain at all. This tallies with my own experience – an hour of rain in an otherwise fine day billed in advance by the BBC as a weeping black cloud.

News and weather are always bundled together, like husband and wife. News accentuates the negative to create drama. Weather should be clear-headed, but news is clouding weather’s judgement. Perhaps it is time they ended their co-dependent relationship and then weather might be able to think more clearly about what is really happening outside its window.

Friday afternoon. Invariably the BBC five-day weather forecast has been chipping away at morale all week, only to change its tune just as Saturday is upon us, innocently maintaining that it had predicted bright with sunny spells all along. But it is too late to pack and so we must spend the weekend in the house, staring at the sunshine through hot windows and dreaming of green fields.