French TV's weather forecast cock-up

"And the weather for the rest of today will be overcast and stormy...er sorry, sunny and hot"

screenshot from PureMédias' video

Anyone watching last Thursday lunchtime's weather forecast on France 2 public television will have been a little depressed to begin with and also slightly perplexed - especially if they'd had a chance to look out of the window.

As is usual the presenter - in this particular case Philippe Verdier, who's pretty new to the channel having joined at the beginning of the summer from the all-news BFM TV - popped up before the news bulletin to tell viewers what the weather would be like for the rest of the day.

And he reappeared afterwards to do exactly the same thing.

Only in the space of little over half an hour, there appeared to be a dramatic change in what weather France could expect, both for the rest of the day and the seven-day outlook.

Philippe Verdier (screenshot from PureMédias' video)

Before the news Verdier told viewers that there had been a fair amount of rain across the country in the morning and the pattern looked set to continue into the afternoon and evening.

Except as news anchorwoman Sophie Le Saint explained at the end of her bulletin, there had been a slight mix-up in weather forecast.

Someone had played the wrong recording.

"We would like to offer our apologies because the weather forecast you saw immediately before this news bulletin wasn't the correct one," she said.

"The wrong tape was played (it was a recording from the previous week) and you'll be able to see Philippe Verdier with the correct forecast immediately following this bulletin."

And as you can see from the screenshot which the French media and entertainment news website PureMédias put together to compare the two maps used to illustrate the weather forecast both before and after the news, there's quite a difference.

France 2 s'emmêle les pinceaux Vidéo OZAP sélectionnée dans Replay TV

A touching and tearful goodbye from French TV news presenters

It's one of those moments that only live television can give the viewer; a presenter saying goodbye and being unable to hold back the tears.

That's exactly what happened at the end of Wednesday morning's programme on LCI, one of France's all-news channels.

Audrey Crespo-Mara and Jean François Rabilloud (screenshot from LCI video)

As the French media and entertainment news site Puremédias reports, emotions were running high as the team of Audrey Crespo-Mara and Jean François Rabilloud signed off at the end of the show.

More than that, after four years presenting together, it also marked the end of the partnership as, although Rabilloud still has a week left before the final show of the season and the beginning of the summer break, both are to be replaced in the autumn by Sylvia Amicone and Philippe Ballard.

As the pair alternately presented their adieus and thanked the editors, producers, studio technicians and just about anybody else they could think of, it all became too much for Crespo-Mara who had difficulty holding back her tears.

"My thanks to you my dear Jean-François," she said, turning to Rabilloud and using the informal "tu" form seldom heard among journalists on either television or radio.

"I've spent four marvellous years with you," she continued.

"And it has been the best experience in my professional life."

Rabilloud, clearly prepared for the occasion and certainly less demonstrative in his emotions appeared touched.

"Happy holidays and have a good summer," he said offering her a somewhat unglamourous but nonetheless thoughtful pot plant as a leaving gift."

"Here's a hortensia which will accompany you - my dear Audrey. I'll see you (the viewers) in a moment for the latest sports news."

A touching moment indeed in the usually hard-nosed world of journalism, proving that they too, are after all, just humans.

Emotion lors de la dernière matinale de LCI de la saison Vidéo LCIWAT sélectionnée dans Actualité