People logging on to the BBC website this morning to check if they need an umbrella today were in for a shock – as it told them UK is about to be hit by a massive hurricane.

With a a warning of ‘Hurricane force winds’ and wind speeds of around 3500 mph people’s hearts were in their mouths as they wondered if it was true.

One viewer said on X: ” BBC weather showing solidarity with Florida by predicting hurricane force winds for London for today. A steady 13508 mph all day is a little hard to believe though!”

Another added: “Either BBC’s weather app has a really unfortunately-timed bug this morning or I’m about to get blown away by thirteen thousand mph winds.”

according to its weather service today which is predicting winds of more than 3000mph. Anyone using the BBC weather app or website will be faced with the news that the UK is about to be wiped out by the biggest weather disaster in history.

BBC weatherman Simon King moved quickly to reassure viewers saying: “Oops, don’t be alarmed by some of our @bbcweather app data this morning.

“Be assured there won’t be 14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404°C. It is being looked at and hopefully sorted asap.”

BBC weather added: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly. Sorry – please bear with us. In the meantime here are Thursday’s weather headlines:

-Colder, clearer air moving in

-Rain and drizzle in south

-Blustery showers near east coast”

Viewer David Edwards asked: “@bbcweather @thetimes @guardian @BBC are we really going to have a #Hurricane in the UK today #HurricaneWarning any location on your website for the UK… is this a glitch or do we need to prepare?@themetoffice comment please!”

Northamptonshire weather added: “If you’re checking the @bbcweather app or website this morning and think there’s a hurricane on the way then, as a legendary forecaster once said, ‘don’t worry, there isn’t’.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’re aware of an issue with our third-party supplier, which means our Weather app and website are wrongly predicting hurricane wind speeds everywhere. That is incorrect and we apologise. We’re working with our supplier to fix this as soon as possible.”