General News
29 October, 2025
An epic fail: Bureau of Meteorology lets us down with new site
Editor Matt Nicholls gives his thoughts on the rollout of the BoM's new website.
The Bureau of Meteorology wanted us to clap for its brand new website.
Apparently, it is cleaner, simpler, modern.
Out in the bush, it feels like a catastrophe dressed in corporate buzzwords.
The weather is not a decoration in this part of the world. For many, it is the first thought when the alarm goes off and the last check before bed.
It decides whether a grazier keeps their herd alive, whether a road train gets through before a storm cuts the highway, or whether the last two races at Cloncurry need to be brought forward in order to get the meeting finished before the rain comes.
We do not have the luxury of waiting or wasting time navigating through a clunky website or app.
The old BoM site might not have been pretty. It wasn’t built for awards or glossy tech brochures.
It was built to deliver the essentials quickly, especially for people who don’t have time to admire the interface.
Radar came up instantly. Warnings shouted from the top of the screen. River levels were right where you needed them.
This new version tries to be a lifestyle platform. Soothing colours, rounded shapes, a cheerful dashboard that looks as if it has been stolen from a weather segment on breakfast television.
Meanwhile, actual emergency information is tucked away.
Even the radar feels as though it has been slowed down by committee meetings and design workshops.
When the clouds are rolling in faster than the radar loads, it's not just annoying – it's dangerous.
Decision-makers clearly designed this website for people whose weather risk peaks at whether they walk to brunch or order in.
It shows a breathtaking lack of awareness of the people who rely on the Bureau the most.
There is also a grim irony here. The Bureau constantly asks Australians to take weather warnings seriously. To trust them. To act quickly.
That trust erodes when the very organisation shouting “prepare now” makes it harder to find the information required to prepare.
A national service should serve the nation.
That includes Far North communities staring down cyclones that can level homes.
That includes truckies parked on the shoulder at Julia Creek, weighing up whether they can get home or risk getting stuck for days.
That includes local event organisers refreshing the page because lightning is already cracking in the distance and they need real-time answers.
The Bureau of Meteorology owes its credibility to the people who trust it. Right now, that trust is wearing thin. This is not a style upgrade. It is a step backward in safety and accessibility.
Weather does not wait while you hunt through menus built by someone who has never stood in red dirt watching a storm explode over the horizon.
We deserve a digital tool that respects the stakes. We deserve clarity. We deserve speed. We deserve respect for the lived reality of regional Australia.
Fix it. Restore what worked. Put vital information back within one click, not five.
Because when the sky turns black and the wind starts screaming, nobody cares how sleek the website looks.
We care that it works.
