Recent research by VisitBritain has revealed that foreign visitors to Great Britain are not worried about the weather during their visit. Whilst we all discuss the vagaries of the British climate at the drop of a (waterproof) hat, tourists visiting the UK are not put off by our cooler summers, drawn to our shores by the world class culture and heritage instead.

Meanwhile, this summer has seen a PR debate raging about that most routine of British institutions – the weather forecast.

Jersey Tourism has complained that the BBC does not give the Channel Islands fair billing in its daily forecast and that as a result the island’s tourism industry has been adversely affected. The islanders claim that last minute holiday makers base their decisions on the weather forecast and that Jersey has more sunshine hours than anywhere else in the UK. They believe that the lack of coverage and inaccurate reporting of temperatures for the Channel Islands in BBC forecasts means that the islands are overlooked by tourists.

I say good work by Jersey Tourism, they may not be able to control the weather in their PR department, but they have certainly created a positive story and secured themselves plenty of airtime and column inches, including a long interview with my secret crush Eddie Mair on Radio 4′s PM, giving the impression that the sun shines almost constantly on the home of Bergerac and off-shore banking, just a hop and a skip away from the grey UK.