However, the general perception - and that is what counts - is that the forecasts have become less reliable in recent years, and we have sufficient evidence to justify that view.
The "general perception" based on anecdotal evidence of the sort that you've presented, is also that policemen are getting younger, that typefaces are getting smaller, and that the good old days were always better than now. If the "general perception" is what counts, then the Met Office might as well give up.
If you care about reality (in the way that a scientist would), you may have to read some of those boring reports that you've already mentioned that show that "performance against performance targets - on cloud and visibility - and has consistently exceeded the targets".
The reality is that most pilots look at last night's or this morning's BBC forecast (supplied dreckly from the Met Office) and could not interpret a TAF, METAR, Form 215 etc etc if their lives depended on it - and it does!
What you seem to be asking for is a one word summary of what the weather will be like, good or bad. Unfortunately, in aviation, the interaction of weather with flying is complicated, and flights for different purposes need different sorts of prediction. That's why we have METARs and TAF, that refer to wind direction, wind speed, visibility, cloud etc. If you want to improve that "reality", why not concentrate on pilot education since that what seems to be failing, and spend less time bashing the Met Office, which is not.