MORRISONS Store, in Cowdenbeath, is introducing weekly localised barbecue forecasts in its store to help customers plan their BBQ shopping this summer and keep them up to date with the latest weekend weather predictions in the area.

From the 28th July, weekend weather forecasts will be placed at the front of the Cowdenbeath store each Thursday for the duration of the summer holidays to help customers buy the right food for the weekend and to help reduce food waste. Without these, many customers find themselves returning to stores if the weather is unexpectedly good or bad.

To get the forecast as accurate as possible, Morrisons is working with MetraWeather, a global leader in providing weather forecasting, to provide a local weather forecasts for each of Morrisons 491 stores nation-wide. The ‘Local BBQ Forecasts’ kick off this Thursday and there will also be weather announcements over the store tannoy to remind customers during their shopping trip.

Research for Morrisons found that 58 per cent of people have not seen the weather forecast when doing their shopping. As a result, more than a fifth (21 per cent) say they buy the wrong food for the weather. Additionally, almost a third (31 per cent) of customers find themselves commonly doing an additional shopping trip because weather is unexpectedly good or bad.

The localised alerts played over the in-store PA system and shown on the weatherboard at the front of the store will be updated at 1700 every Thursday throughout the summer, all in a bid to help [TOWN]’s customers plan for a BBQ in the typically unreliable British weather.

Neil Whittaker, Store Manager at Morrisons Cowdenbeath, said: “We can’t change the weather but we hope that by giving our customers up-to-date local BBQ forecasts we will help them plan their shopping and make the most of our fresh British food this summer.”

Byron Drew, Weather Consultant at Metraweather, said: “Using the latest technology our localised weather reports can predict the weather in an area between two to four kms, which means we can predict the weather in individual areas near to Morrisons stores. The weather forecasts will help shoppers to take advantage of any unexpected heat waves.”