Jersey petitions for a place on the map
Published: Jul 29, 2010 23:48 Updated: Jul 29, 2010 23:48
LONDON: The island of Jersey, 100 miles off the southern coast of England, is feeling left out.
It has complained to the BBC that while other offshore areas like the Orkneys or Scilly Isles are regularly featured on weather reports, the Channel Islands hardly ever get a mention.
An online petition to have Jersey put on the UK national weather map has attracted over 1,000 signatures.
The petition against "forecast discrimination" was launched by Jersey Tourism, after it found that the island only appears in 5 percent of BBC national weather forecasts.
"There's a principle at stake" said a spokesman for Jersey Tourism. "Jersey is very much a part of the British Isles."
Although Jersey is 161 km from the UK's southern shore and nearer St Malo than Weymouth, it is a British Crown dependency.
Research by Jersey Tourism suggests that the island loses out on millions of pounds in tourism revenues because potential visitors are unaware of the island's pleasant climate, which benefits from prevailing southwest winds and the Gulf Stream.
As TV licence holders, moreover, Jersey residents are entitled to the same BBC forecast coverage as the rest of the UK, the spokesman said.
"Frankly, finally we've got a bit fed up with it," he added.
Jersey Tourism also said that reports of the island's weather are inaccurate, with temperatures reported as lower than they really are.
In response to the petition, the BBC said: "the Channel Islands are clearly visible on the UK wide weather map."
