^ Screenshot of BBC weather, Monday’s tab selected. The overview states a 20mph wind, the detail says at least double that. Which do I believe?

I’d accept “wind at 20mph with gusts up to 45mph” if it said so in the summary. But it doesn’t.

The black circles mean peak wind speed in gusts.

Scroll down the page and click the ‘pressure’ tab on the map.

That’ll give you a good idea as to what they mean.

Closely packed isobars (lines of pressure) = windy.

Generally, the indicators in your screen shot will show max wind speed.
EDIT: Eloquently put johnners

Nonetheless, that’s what it means

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/31666545

The written description will be for a pretty large area (e.g. mine covers the whole of the Highlands and Islands). The table above it is more specific to your location, hence the disparity.

It also says 13*c but I can’t see what time of day that is

Fair enough. It’s going to be a long ride home against that tomorrow.

Solution – ditch the BBC and use yr.no or xcweather.co.uk

Go straight to the gold standard – Met Office give both average wind speed and gust.

Thanks – I had meant this to be a question about which less lazy, more accurate forecast to use. I find different forecasters are more reliable depending whether the location is in town or out country.

wukfit – Member
It also says 13*c but I can’t see what time of day that is

13 is estimated highest temperature. It might reach 13C for about 5 minutes of an hour, and 12C for the remaining 55 minutes. You’d summarise that hour as 12C, but the peak of 13 would still be correct.