The Met Office is under fire this morning after it was revealed that the Exeter-based organisation told councils and the Environment Agency that conditions would be 'drier than usual' this winter.
The office in fact confirmed yesterday that the UK had instead suffered the wettest winter since records began.
The three-month forecast, which a Met Office spokesman described as an 'experimental to some extent 'even suggested the West Country would be especially dry.
The storms have already caused years' worth of erosion and damage in just a few weeks or even hours, according to the National Trust.
The news was revealed on the front page of the Daily Mail today after more than two months of storms and terrible weather that have pummelled the Westcountry, causing widespread damage to coastal areas and large-scale flooding inland. Two areas of the Somerset Levels remain on red 'risk to life' flood alert which was issued by the Environment Agency on February 5.
The Exeter-based forecasters issued a report saying there would be a 'significant reduction in precipitation compared to average' for most of the country, adding that there was only a 15 per cent chance the winter would fall into the 'wettest category'.
The three-month forecasts are only sent to contingency planners, such as councils, government departments, and insurance companies.
A spokesman for the Met Office said: 'Our short and medium-term forecasts are the ones relied on by emergency responders to help them manage the impacts of severe weather.
'The Met Office's five-day forecasts and severe weather warnings have provided excellent guidance throughout this period of exceptionally stormy and wet weather.'
Tory MP Chris Heaton-Harris told The Mail: 'The Met Office is very good at predicting the weather it can see is coming; but beyond that, its track record is pitiful.
'Many government agencies and some government policies are dependent on these Met Office predictions and so these mistakes potentially are costing us dearly.'
