The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have announced a new firm will supply its weather data.

The broadcaster says it has been assessing a number of organisations over the last year "to determine which can best shape our weather coverage for the future".

The BBC says MeteoGroup will supply all its weather information, after its contract with the UK Met Office comes to an end.

MeteoGroup is already used by a variety of companies in Britain - including the National Grid, Channel 4 and Sky News.

"This decision will mean we can further modernise our weather forecasting making the most of new technology and science to bring our audiences an even better service," the BBC say in a statement.

It says MeteoGroup will be putting multiple sources into providing more comprehensive and detailed forecasts.

As a publicly-funded organisation, the BBC was required by law to run an open competition to fill the weather contract.

The new services will be in place from Spring next year.

The BBC has been under pressure to save money, which has seen several changes - including the abolition of its recipes website.

And the broadcaster says the new weather provider will save "millions of pounds over the next seven or so years".

But Nigel Charters, project director with BBC Weather re-procurement, added: "We'll still work closely with the Met Office on severe weather warnings; the national agencies for flood warnings and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on shipping forecasts and coastal information."

MeteoGroup is headquartered in London, with offices around the globe, including Ennis in Co Clare.