What's happening? A glitch in the BBC weather system is leaving users confused with what is actually happening with the weather. With Hurricane Milton currently battering through Florida, it has likely caused initial confusion and distress. It turns out there is nothing to worry about. The weather in the UK is currently it's natural grey cloud with a bit of rain.
Rosie Sherry is here reporting from Brighton after reports of the BBC spreading false weather data. The BBC states there are hurricane force winds. This is not fake news, rather a data glitch in the system.
The windspeed was so high that it was no longer visible visually through the website. It was only through inspecting the source code that we could see that Brighton was registering wind speeds of 10,804 mph.
In Kingston upon Thames, Simon Tomes also reports that the windspeed is, in fact, not 4619mph.
To test this, Simon looked out the window. To be sure, he stepped outside. The photo below is what the current weather looks like. As you can see, the trees are not swaying side to side.
So what? In this instance, it's obvious that the data is, in fact, incorrect. Yet it also highlights how integrated our modern day systems are and how data plays such an important part of our systems.
On X Matt Taylor wrote : "Don't be alarmed folks - Hurricane Milton hasn't made it to us here in the UK! There's been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue."
The BBC has apologised. They are working hard to fix the problem.
Simon King said: "Oops, don’t be alarmed by some of our BBC Weather app data this morning. “Be assured there won’t be 14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404C.”
Across the globe, software testers are smiling because temperatures have reached 404C. 😉
Why should we care? From a more serious perspective, data is is a crucial part of delivering quality software. As software testing professionals, we must consider, plan and test to prevent situations like this BBC weather glitch. Data glitches can be catastrophic in specific situations.
We can learn from other people's mistakes, is your project using constrained types and units of measure?
On X Scott Wlaschin says:
The BBC weather app has a nasty bug today 😧. If the @bbcweather developers were using constrained types and units of measure, as per my book, maybe they would have caught this before it went out the door to millions of people
Testing for data risks is not something that just happens at the beginning of a project. We must monitor our software systems as the requirements change. As risks become apparent. As data sources evolve themselves.
Sources:
- Image credits to Rosie Sherry and Simon Tomes
- BBC Weather app bug suggests hurricane winds in UK
Helpful resources:
