When winter came in full force with snow and ice, online audiences looked to our digital platforms to be kept up to date with the fast changing picture.
With severe weather warnings in place across large parts of the UK, the cold spell brought heavy snowfall to many areas, along with deep frosts and flood alerts.
As local journalists providing news updates across our portfolio, our digital team saw significant year on year rises in the number page views recorded compared with 2024, along with high levels of social meda engagement.
A live weather blog on Isle of Man Today proved popular with readers with the island community: Weather LIVE updates as snow hits parts of the Isle of Man
The Isle of Man team compiled photos from across the island, alongside public announcements and video of the impact of the snowfall.
Another popular update was the Farnham Herald post by chief reporter Paul Ferguson on unprecedented flooding in Tilford, Surrey.
Paul uploaded a video of the rising waters. He wrote: “Tilford is a divided village as a swollen River Wey has burst its banks following a weekend of rain. Tilford Street has been closed until further notice with residents facing a long detour to get from the school, green and Barley Mow to the village shop.”
See his report here: Flooding in Tilford, deep surface water on B3001 at Elstead
In Somerset, the Journal’s news story on the weather warning of a two-day blizzard, published on New Year’s Day, provided a spike in traffic. See the story here: Met Office issues two-day ‘heavy snow warning’ for Somerset and England
Jon Gripton, Deputy Group Editorial Director, said: “When communities responded to the arrival of the winter weather, they turned to our news titles as trusted online sources of news and information.
“Our colleagues provided them with valued updates on the impact of the weather, confirming our value as community-based publishers.”
The Tindle websites were recently updated with modern designs to enhance the experience for users as part of a drive to increase digital engagement.
The layouts were modernised to improve visits across all devices and to reduce page loading times as the first step in a programme to further update our digital offerings.