If you want a job doing properly, do it yourself. The Met Office have been notoriously bad, predicting recently the non-existent “BBQ Sunmer”, but you have to forgive them because they are working with a computer programmed with data pre-designed to anticipate that we’ll be living on the surface of the Sun by next Thursday afternoon. So Tesco’s have got their own weathermen in – and they are predicting what you will want for tea.

“Many big companies, including the BBC but excluding Tesco, buy their weather forecasts from the government- funded Met Office, which has acquired a chequered reputation for accuracy over the years.

Supermarket chain Tesco has employed its own team of weather experts to pinpoint changes in the weather so it can use its twists and turns to its own advantage.

The spokesman said: “In recent years the unpredictability of the British summer – not to mention the unreliability of British weather forecasters – has caused a massive headache for those in the retail food business deciding exactly which foods to put out on shelves.

“Getting this right means we do a good job for customers…

and for their shareholders, naturally, which just shows once again that the capitalist system works. Read the article as it gives a fascinating insight into how, in an industry with a tight profit margin the decisions on what to stock and when make a huge difference.

So, get your weather forecast from Tesco or the Met Office? In the private versus public showdown, the winner is predictable. As these days supermarkets seem to offer every service you need (or don’t) they should offer forecasts direct.