It is the season for hurricane warnings in Coastal Georgia and we are also experiencing lots of extreme heat advisories, so many of us are paying more attention to weather forecasts than we normally do. When I first moved to the USA 16 years ago, I was intrigued to discover that there was a TV channel (and now two) totally dedicated to forecasting and commenting on the weather.
The enthusiasm of the presenters and commitment to broadcasting from all sorts of locations with violent weather was eye-opening to me. The British tradition is very different with presenters formally dressed and very calmly going through the meteorologist’s best predictions for the days ahead. I clearly remember as a child how important it was to tune into the BBC’s evening news which ended with a detailed weather forecast. Of course, the latest weather forecasts are now available to us instantly and at any time online, but back then the shout of “hurry up and come in here, the WEATHER FORECAST is coming on” was part of the soundtrack of our childhoods.
You may be aware that the British are obsessed with talking about the weather, and it is a standard ice breaker to comment to a stranger on the current weather or what it might do next. According to social anthropologist Kate Fox, who performed studies, 94% of British respondents admit to having conversed about the weather in the past six hours, while 38% say they have in the past 60 minutes. I soon stopped doing this after becoming a US citizen since I realized that, unless dramatic weather is forecast, this is a boring topic to Americans who would rather talk about something more personal or interesting.
So why do the British do it? I think it is because the country’s geography makes the weather generally mild but changeable and famously unpredictable. Grey skies and rain are very common throughout the year. Therefore, people in the land of my birth get very happy and excited about sunny days unless it is too hot, which is usually thought of as anything over 80 degrees since air conditioning is rare in homes. The weather in the UK is unpredictable for many reasons including Britain’s position at the edge of the Atlantic which places it at the end of a storm track. There is also the Gulf Stream to consider which makes the British climate milder than it should be, given its northern latitude, on a par with much of Canada. The fact that the UK is made up of islands means there is a lot of moisture in the air and every Brit knows that we can never rely on hosting an outdoor event even during the height of summer without a back-up plan.
Even then I have many memories of shivering outside in July and getting damp while making small talk at a social occasion.
The science of weather forecasting is relatively recent and although ancient civilizations tried hard, they were usually incorrect or just lucky with their guesses. Observant farmers and others who learned nature’s signs could interpret the appearance of the sky and the wind to predict the weather on a local and limited basis. However, the scientific study of meteorology did not develop until measuring instruments became available, initially the mercury barometer in mid-17th century Italy followed by the development of a reliable thermometer. Many scientific breakthroughs in the 17th and 18th centuries led to the beginning of useful weather forecasts in the 19th century. It took the ability to quickly communicate by electric telegraph in the late 1800s to enable experts at various weather stations to share information to develop more accurate and widespread predictions. It was about that time that national meteorological services were established around the world, but it was the development of radar that contributed significantly to improved accuracy. Today, our relatively accurate medium-term forecasts of five to seven days is the result of 20th century meteorological satellites.
This all leads to me sharing with you a very British anniversary – the centenary of the ‘Shipping Forecast’. As an island nation dependent on imports and subject to gales and storms, the UK’s history is full of tragic shipwrecks. BBC Radio Four began this service to the nation in 1925, and it is challenging to presenters to successfully broadcast live in exactly nine minutes detailed information about different shipping areas. It is full of tricky names of small areas of ocean Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties, Cromarty, Dogger, Fisher, German Bight, Lundy, Fastnet, Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle, Faeroes, Southeast Iceland, FitzRoy, and Sole.
These names often have historical or geographical roots, sometimes referencing physical features like sandbanks or headlands.
Basically the Shipping Forecast is a monotone series of disjointed words and phrases with weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles. Many people wake up to the 5:20 am broadcast or go to sleep with the broadcast at 48 minutes after midnight. On weekends there is one at the more civilized hour of 5:54 pm. Over the last 100 years it has developed a uniquely British cult following inspiring music, poetry, art and writing in addition to preventing the loss of countless lives at sea. These forecasts have their own rhythm and cadence which can be strangely hypnotic. For example, “Tyne, Dogger, Fisher.
Southwest 4 or five increasing 5 or 6 occasionally 7 later occasional rain moderate or good”. Really I am not making this up!
For a lot more information see www. britannica.com and www.bbc.com I will say goodbye with a quote from 20th century American motivational author, Louise Hay “There’s no such thing as good weather or bad weather. There’s just weather and your attitude towards it.”
God Bless America!
Lesley grew up in London, England and made Georgia her home in 2009. She can be contacted at lesley@francis.com or via her full-service marketing agency at www.lesleyfrancispr.com.