British weather forecasters have spoken out about how they received a blizzard of abusive online comments during a record-breaking heat wave earlier this month. Furious skeptics pilloried the meteorologists—who quickly became a lightning rod for public anger—for allegedly stoking unnecessary fears about the severity of the heat—which hit 104.5 F on July 19, the hottest day in U.K. history—and for the heat wave being linked with climate change. “It's a more abusive tone than I’ve ever received,” BBC forecaster Matt Taylor said. “I switched off a bit from it all as it became too depressing to read some of the responses.” Royal Meteorological Society head Liz Bentley added that: “Anecdotally, abusive comments increase when the message about climate change is intrinsic to the story.” Trolls also reportedly accused presenters of pandering to “snowflakes” and the “woke-brigade” by giving out advice on how to stay cool in the blazing temperatures.
