The bosses of some of the UK's biggest visitor attractions will meet at Chester Zoo today (Monday 13 July) to push for changes to weather apps they say are wrongly putting people off visiting.

The summit comes after Chester Zoo warned earlier this year that misleading rain icons on weather apps could be costing some attractions up to £137,000 in a single day.

More than 80 attractions, including the Eden Project, RHS Gardens, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Blenheim Palace, backed the campaign.

New research from Chester Zoo and tourism consultancy Navigate, based on a survey of UK visitor attractions, found more than 60% experience a drop in visitors of over 40% following a poorly displayed weather forecast. Some attractions reported falls of more than 50%.

The attractions argue the issue is not forecast accuracy, but how the information is presented – with a short period of rain sometimes shown as a washout for the entire day.

They are calling for changes including breaking forecasts into shorter time slots, as used by Norwegian forecaster YR, which divides a 24-hour period into four six-hour windows.

This would prevent a brief early morning shower from affecting how the whole day is perceived.

Other proposals include clearer written summaries and a "dry hours" indicator to show when visitors can expect better conditions.

Chaired by VisitBritain board member Nigel Wilkinson MBE, Monday's event will bring together around 30 delegates, including senior representatives from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Met Office, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and CEOs and directors from 16 leading UK visitor attractions.

"In March we said the problem wasn't the forecast, it was the single icon used to sum up an entire day," said Dom Strange, Chief Operating Officer of Chester Zoo.

"Getting government and 16 of the country's biggest attractions round the same table is a real opportunity.

"We want to leave this room with recommendations we can actually put into practice."

Since the campaign launched in March, support has grown beyond the visitor attractions sector, with organisations including the National Association of British Market Authorities, the National Market Traders Federation and UK Events backing the call for change.

Olly Reed, Marketing Director at Navigate, said: "Our latest data shows this issue hasn't gone away, it's become more significant.

"In March we were talking about a 30% drop in visitors from a misleading rain icon. Today, some attractions are reporting losses of more than 50%.

"The difference now is that the people who can influence what happens next are in the room. That's the point where a campaign becomes change."