EVELYN CUSACK KICKED off something of a debate about wardrobe options for female weather presenters last year, when she spoke out about women who were “too frivolously dressed” for work.
“I’m a bit like Angela Merkel, nobody comments on her clothes, she just has 40 different jackets in different colours,” Met Éireann’s deputy head of forecasting said in an interview with Woman’s Way, adding:
I don’t think women should be sexy at work, that’s my opinion.
Other RTÉ weather presenters (some of whom are meteorologists, others part of the continuity staff at the national broadcaster) are well-known for their sartorial choices – and the issue was in the headlines again recently, when news outlets picked up on complaints sent to Met Éireann about forecasters not dressing appropriately for the weather.
“One can hardly believe that we are having the coldest weather at the moment by the way some of the female presenters are dressed,” one complainant wrote. Another said reports were more “glamour orientated” than weather-focused.
Asked about the complaints in an interview with TheJournal.ie this week, Cusack took a diplomatic approach.
“Disgraceful, that’s absolutely disgraceful,” she joked.
I couldn’t possibly comment on how other people dress of course. Personally I’m not a fan of the bare-arm look in winter.
But again, I think, some people – it’s not always Met Éireann personnel either – but there’s different views on it, so hopefully we always get the weather right, or the forecast is good anyway.
Ruined barbecues
There have also been complaints of ‘American-style language’ being used in bulletins, and about incidents in individual reports – like that big arrow pointing out the location of Ireland, on the weather map.
The majority of complaints, however, tend to be about the quality of forecasting – people writing to tell Met Éireann their barbecue was ruined or that they weren’t able to paint their garden furniture, because it rained when it was supposed to be sunny.
Cusack says that while all feedback is welcome, it’s often the case that people are responding to weather forecasts they hear elsewhere, that aren’t based on Met Éireann data.
“There’s always going to be a limitation to the accuracy of forecasts but sometimes we get blamed in the wrong,” she said.
For example, we get a lot of complaints – ‘you forecast snow for Christmas in the summer and it didn’t arrive!’
Sorry, no we didn’t.
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