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The head of one of Wales’ oldest visitor attractions says he is planning to take legal action over what he claims are inaccurate weather forecasts.

Ashford Price, chairman of Dan Yr Ogof caves, claims poor forecasting is damaging the Welsh tourism industry.

Speaking at the Upper Swansea Valley-based showcaves, Mr Price said: “What is happening all too frequently nowadays are too many gloom and doom reports by the weather forecasters.”

Mr Price claimed a forecast of snow for South and West Wales on Good Friday – traditionally the start of the main tourism season for Wales – led many tourists to cancel their plans but snow never materialised.

But the Met Office said it had not forecast snow for the area on that day.

“It is true that the weather over the Easter period was very cold. But it was also sunny, with clear blue skies,” said Mr Price.

“On many occasions last year the same thing happened with predictions being made by the weather people early in the week that the weekend would contain bad weather, only for the weekend in fact to turn out to be free of rain.

“People listen avidly to weather forecasts, and plan accordingly but with the high cost of petrol, and the recession limiting the amount people can spend, if the weather is predicted to be bad they now stay at home.

“Welsh tourism businesses can be badly affected by inaccurate forecasts, especially in the main holiday periods.

“It would be much fairer to Welsh tourism if the experts who give out these futuristic gloomy reports, also mentioned that they were only a ‘guide’ as the weather could turn out to be very different five days on.

“I realise that weather reporting is not an exact science, and that areas within 20 miles can have differing weather patterns.

“However, inaccurate forecasts are costly to the Welsh tourism industry and thus indirectly the Welsh economy.

“My legal team is looking to see if these predictions by weather experts can be given more of a ‘health warning’ as to their accuracy and if compensation can be claimed for Welsh tourism operators when forecasts are completely wrong.”

But legal experts said taking action for damages against weather forecasters would be difficult.

A spokeswoman for leading solicitors, Irwin Mitchell, said: “To claim for a weather forecaster being negligent, there firstly must have been a duty of care put in place between that forecaster and the individual for a breach of that duty to be recognised, and therefore causing loss to that particular person.

“Obviously there was no contract with any weather station in the first place, and nor would there ever be with a member of the public, or broadcasters would never predict the weather again.”

Met Office spokeswoman Sarah Holland responded to the claims of Mr Price – who did not name any specific weather forecasters in his claims – saying: “The Met Office is trusted to give the best possible guidance on the weather by the public and we report the weather exactly as it is.

“Research shows forecasts are right six days out of every seven.

“The Met Office has worked with the tourist industry in recent years to provide detailed forecasts for resorts, beaches and attractions with local forecasts for up to 5,000 locations across the UK.

“These regularly updated forecasts provide local detail on the weather to help you plan your day out with confidence and make the most of the great British weather come rain or shine.”

She also pointed out the Met Office predicted “cold but dry” weather for this Easter.

The Met Office’s Easter forecast read: “Cold easterly winds will remain firmly in charge of our weather but for the majority of the UK it should be dry.”

Still, Rick Turner, owner of the Big Sheep attraction in Abbotsham, Devon, backed Mr Price’s stance.

He claimed “gloomy” forecasting was to blame for lower attendances at his farm attraction business.

He said: “I’m with Mr Price 100% on this and maybe it’s time tourist attractions got together to take legal action.

“It’s not so much the accuracy of forecasts I’m annoyed by, it’s the overly pessimistic way they are presented.

“Forecasters seem to get animated by the prospect of big storms, deluges of rain or the prospect of snow.

“But if the skies are going to be clear with no action, they are not interested.

“I got in touch with lawyers last year over the issue and was told proving losses could be problematical.

“We should make the forecasters aware however what they say is so important to the tourism trade.”