Bloomberg Brexit Barometer by Bloomberg Graphics

Can a metaphor with animated weather icons track the economic well-being of the United Kingdom and show the impact of Brexit over time? Here is our attempt at adding a little levity to an important (but somewhat dry) subject—with the math to back us up!

This custom index updates daily and is made up of indicators for employment, inflation, growth and uncertainty. The higher the number, the healthier the economy and the better off Britons are economically – and vice versa. The weather icon at the top of the page is determined based on how the daily barometer value compares to the history of the index, with each weather icon corresponding to a different category of the historical data, from optimistically sunny to depression-level thunderstorms.

Aside from the proprietary indicators and daily analysis, we give our readers an extended methodology section which offers behind-the-scenes transparency into the data and its calculations. In this case, the methodology is just as important as the story.