The BBC Weather glitch that is showing winds of 14,000 miles per hour across the UK is an unacceptable "fiasco," according to senior meteorologists from the University of Reading.

The BBC's weather services have been hit with a "data issue" this morning, leading to forecasts of hurricane force winds across the UK - including "14,747 miles per hour" gusts in Berkshire. 

People across the UK woke up this morning to find the alarming prediction on the BBC app and website.

In Reading, the forecast is for winds that would be one hundred times stronger than a Category Five hurricane, which usually has winds of 150 mils per hour. 

Residents may have been surprised to see this prediction paired with a zero percent chance of rain. 

As of 9am today, the hurricane-strength winds are erroneously forecast to last until 11.59pm on Friday night. 

Professor Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, said the failure to quickly rectify the issue was "unacceptable."

Professor Cloke said: "Myself and many of my colleagues at the University of Reading work closely with the BBC Weather team.

"They do a brilliant job of keeping people informed and up to date.

"I don't know what's going on at BBC Weather right now, but it is unacceptable that they don't seem to have been able to pull the plug on this glitch, several hours after it occurred.

"I hope it will be resolved as soon as possible."

Professor Cloke said that BBC Weather could have fallen victim to hackers. 

"The fiasco could be caused by a problem with an update to the display of the forecast  that's gone wrong, or a malicious hacker exploiting vulnerabilities in the BBC Weather online system," she said. 

The faulty forecasts come as an actual hurricane - Hurricane Milton - batters Florida with winds of 127 miles per hour, throwing the lives of millions of people into chaos.

Professor Cloke said: "As we are seeing on Florida right now, clear and believable weather information that leads to action can be the difference between life and death. Delivering weather information is hard and BBC Weather is one of the most important sources of weather information in the UK. 

"The BBC Weather Hurricane Hack is an amusing if alarming reminder of the importance of 24/7 reliable weather information for many people in all parts of their lives."

BBC Weather said it was aware of an issue with a third-party supplier and it is working hard to fix the problem.