The Met Office, which has provided weather forecasts for the BBC for nearly 90 years, may be dropped by the UK publicly-owned broadcaster after a flood of complaints about its inaccurate forecasts.

The blunders of the state-owned forecaster — most notably the prediction of a mild winter recently proven wrong by the deepest freeze in 30 years — come just two months before its contract with the BBC expires next April, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The BBC has been in talks with the New Zealand-based Metra, which already produces weather graphics for the BBC, since last September, when a document was issued stating that the corporation  was seeking a single forecaster with a turnover of more than £10 million ($16.3 million) to provide meteorological data and presenters for five years.

Weather Commerce, Metra’s British subsidiary, which already supplies forecasts to private companies such as Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, is expected to try and undercut the Met Office bid.

A BBC spokesman said the broadcaster is currently considering various options relating to provision of weather forecast services. “It is common practice to look at the options available when a contract is about to expire to ensure we get the best value for money for our licence fee payers,” he added.

A source close to Metra told The Sunday Times that the BBC thinks the service provided by the Met Office is too expensive. “We have the ability to provide a bespoke service that will undercut it,” the source added. “Because we already produce the graphics we’ve got a foot in the door, so we’re optimistic.”

The Met Office hopes the successful relationship with the BBC will continue. A spokesman said: “We have always been in the strongest position to provide the BBC with accurate and detailed weather forecasts and warnings for the UK.” According to the spokesman, although the seasonal forecasts may be inaccurate, since they are “new and experimental”, the three and five-day forecasts are “more accurate and detailed.”

A Daily Mail investigation last summer found that the Met Office got the three-day forecast wrong in more than 25 percent of the cases. When questioned, a spokesman said: “Forecasting the weather in this country is extremely difficult – it’s notoriously changeable.”

BBC may drop the Met Office as its weather forecast provider.