Bournemouth Borough Council (BBC) has launched its own bespoke weather service to provide visitors to the Dorset resort with "accurate, localised" forecasts.

According to the council, an incorrect Met Office forecast for last year's Whitsun Bank Holiday caused around 25,000 potential visitors to stay at home, despite sunny weather conditions. BBC estimates the decision cost local hoteliers and tourism operators more than £1m in lost revenue, prompting the launch of the new online service providing three-day forecasts for the resort.

Mark Smith, head of Bournemouth Tourism, said: "Tourism is too important to Bournemouth to have it damaged by poor forecasts. To get the quality and accuracy we need, we have been working with a local weather company Weathernet. "Accurate weather information increases business and this new forecast will be worth more than £2m per year in extra trade for Bournemouth through increasing visitors."