The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has been instructed to make changes to its newly redesigned website following widespread criticism from farmers, politicians, and the public. The site, launched a week ago, has been slammed for missing or hard-to-find features, sparking anger online and in federal parliament.
The $4.1 million upgrade was necessary after a serious cyber intrusion in 2015 exposed vulnerabilities in the old system. The BoM stated the new site was built from scratch to improve accessibility and mobile-friendliness, with 16 months of beta testing. However, Nationals leader David Littleproud argued that farmers should have been consulted more directly, and critics noted the lack of randomised testing on regular users.
Key complaints include the inability to search by GPS coordinates, with searches restricted to towns or postcodes. The BoM clarified that latitude and longitude searches remain available through MetEye on both the old and new sites. Other issues involve the timing of the launch during severe weather in south-eastern Australia, and difficulties accessing detailed rainfall data.
In response, acting chief executive Dr Peter Stone apologised for the problems and assured that improvements would be made in the coming weeks. The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has ordered changes. Meanwhile, the old website remains accessible, and the BoM is welcoming feedback as it continues to transition features.
