On 1 February the Met Office (the National Weather Forecaster for the UK) launched weather forecasts in both Welsh and Gaelic, in addition to English, on its ‘Invent’ This is a bold and exciting move, increasing accessibility for an estimated 600,000 Welsh speakers and 58,000 Gaelic speakers across the country.
The language content will include round-the-clock updates and warnings for locations all over the UK, providing opportunities for both native speakers and learners to use and be exposed to the languages in everyday life.
Iain Forsyth, Head of the Public Weather Service at the Met Office said: “We are delighted that we are now able to provide weather forecasts in Welsh and Gaelic. This latest development follows the release of the Welsh language weather widget late last year.”
The weather widget is an application whereby other websites can embed a Met Office forecast into their page, allowing website owners to stream this content seamlessly in either language. A Gaelic version of the widget is expected to be launched in the next couple of months.
