Presumably the various radio stations and TV stations around Ireland are independent of state agencies such as the Met office - how would all the stations be forced to use km/h? Surely some might say something like "...wind speeds of 100 km/h, that�s about 60 mph".
Also - the most popular TV channels in Ireland tend to be BBC1 and UTV (with Sky Sports in pubs and Sky News in hotels). Since these are all UK based they won't be able to "intercept" the signal and dub km/h over the mph as this would be too complex (and ridiculous). -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Wade VMS Systems Sent: 11 January 2005 08:39 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:31863] Irish Weather reports to drop MPH Another welcome change due next week is the final piece of metrication for our weather reporting. The Met Office TV bulletins report rainfall in mm and atmospheric pressure in hPa, but wind speeds have remained stubbornly in MPH for some years. An article in todays Irish Times (reported below) states that they will replace MPH by km/h at the same time as the road speed changeover (2005-01-20). This is another highly visible step forward. I had lobbied the Met Office before some years ago when they changed from Beaufort Scale to MPH, but got a non-committal we-are-constantly-reviewing-our-policy response. Also, the deployment of metric speed signs has begun. I passed my first one this morning on the way to work, nine days ahead of schedule (it is one of a pair on either side of the road; the other one was left in imperial). Tom Wade Irish Times Text: Weather reports to go fully metric next week Liam Reid Irish weather forecasters are to follow the example of the new kilometre road signs and will abandon the use of miles per hour when giving wind speeds in bulletins from the end of next week. Yesterday Met �ireann said it would be mirroring the changeover of speed limits from miles per hour (m.p.h) to kilometres per hour (k.p.h)[sic] this month. >From January 20th, the day the metric changeover comes into legal >effect for road signs, Met �ireann will be giving wind speeds in kilometres per hour. The use of the Beaufort scale (e.g. force four, force five, etc) for wind strengths will continue to be used in sea-area forecasts, Met �ireann said. Although meteorology equipment measures wind speeds in metric units or in knots, these are then converted into m.p.h figures by forecasters for most television and radio forecasts. For example, forecasters were warning of wind speeds of up to 100 m.p.h for today. Mr Michael Walsh, head of forecasting at Met �ireann, said the use of miles was to give a measurement that people understood and used in everyday life. "It would seem ridiculous to keep using miles when every sign in the country is in kilometres per hour," he said. Forecaster Ms Evelyn Cusack said most children were taught measurements in metric units. "It's only us old fogeys who use miles," she said.
