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Weather, whisky and wine – the delicate balance of booze and the British climate

2018-08-23T14:25:37+00:00

Sarah Keith-Lucas and Nick Miller, Weather World presenters

Those of us who might have written off UK summers as disappointingly cool and rather wet affairs will have enjoyed the summer of 2018, but as part of a pattern of extreme heat in a multi-continent heatwave, should we be careful what we wish for?

As one of the ��’s broadcast meteorologists, waving my arm over a weather map featuring temperatures exceeding 30C became the norm for a time this summer, rather than the exception.

The UK fell short of breaking its national temperature record of 38.5C, but that perhaps dubious honour was achieved in a number of other countries including Japan hitting 41.1C. Even in the Arctic Circle temperatures topped 30C.

High pressure is a common link between the heatwaves in recent months. In the UK a weak jet stream parked itself to the north of us resulting in high pressure and persistent hot, dry weather. The longer pressure remains high the hotter it tends to become.

Heatwaves are nothing new of course, but as global temperatures rise due to human climate influence in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, climate scientists say heatwaves are likely to produce higher temperatures. In other words when it gets hot, it will be hotter.

In making Weather World we often meet people who are working to mitigate the challenges or harness the opportunities of climate change. For a recent edition of the programme we were in Scotland finding out what the whisky industry is doing to ensure we can all enjoy a wee dram for many years to come.

The Glenlivet distillery is working with scientists from the University of Aberdeen to assess what impact higher temperatures could have on the water supply to the distillery, a crucial element in the making of whisky.

A substantial amount of water is required in the cooling process. Higher temperatures may mean the water arriving at the distillery is warmer and that means more of it would be required to do the same amount of cooling.

The other key ingredient of whisky is barley and this summer’s hot, dry weather has had an impact on yields. More of the same summer weather in the years ahead could limit whisky production. That’s quite significant when you think that in 2017 whisky exports were valued at £4.37bn.

The programme also looks at how the changing climate is benefiting wine producers in southern England where warmer weather has led to the expansion of grape varieties, including some which would have previously been grown in the Spanish region of Rioja.

So there are opportunities and challenges facing drink producers but it’s safe to say our alcohol supply is in good shape for a while yet. However, drinking alcohol in hot weather increases the risk of dehydration and heat stroke. That’s quite the dilemma!

Weather World: Whisky and Wine, is on the �� News Channel at 9.30pm on Friday 24 August, and is repeated across the Bank Holiday weekend.

A year of �� Weather Watchers

2016-11-04T09:54:07+00:00

As part of the ��’s Make it Digital initiative we launched �� Weather Watchers last year asking people to get involved and send in their photos and weather reports from across the UK.

Weather Watchers allows people to have fun creating their own reports, helping to develop digital skills, and even have their pictures and observations appear in �� broadcasts on local radio, regional and network TV.

One year on Weather Watchers has more than 132,000 members and together they’ve submitted over 928,000 reports.

We spoke to our �� Weather presenters about the initiative as well as some of Weather Watchers who share experiences and favourite photos from the past year.

�� Weather Presenter, Carol Kirkwood

As we are an island, our weather is quite diverse – cold continent, warm sea and we cross latitudes – so as a result we can receive starkly different pictures from all over the UK taken at the same time e.g. dense fog in southern England, frost and clear skies in the Highlands, and showers in Newcastle.

Sunset at Fisherman’s Beach in Kent by Weather Watcher Becky

If I was really pushed to choose which pictures are my favourites, it would definitely be sunrises and sunsets so it’s just as well as I am usually on �� Breakfast in the morning. We love your pictures so thank you for sending them and please keep them coming in.

Weather Watcher Ebb & Flow from Cambridge

Whatever time of the day I'm outside, I seem to find something. Sometimes I think, well, I might not take photos today, and lo and behold I'll come back and I've got 50 pictures on my mobile phone!

I've gained so much photography knowledge. And although I’ve been taking pictures on my phone, I’m now planning on getting a proper camera. I just look forward to just seeing what's out there up in the skies.

Ebb&Flow captured this wonderful shot of poppies against a background of altocumulus cloud in July

One of the best highlights of my year was getting a showcase on the Weather Watchers site and it certainly wasn't my aim at all. My aim is to get out and take in all the sights. I’ve made friends with the local farmers who tune in in to the local TV weather forecast at 18:55 to see if my photos have been featured and if their farms have been featured.

When I first saw my photo on air it was just the best thing. It was just amazing. In fact I ran around the room and I called some family and it was just amazing, just so exciting.

Ebb&Flow witnessed this sunrise on a cool, crisp day in Great Chesterford

�� Weather presenter, Chris Fawkes

Weather watcher photos bring to life our forecasts on TV. It may be a cliché that a picture paints a thousand words, but it’s true, and the fantastic weather watcher photos we use can show people in near real-time what the weather actually looks like in different parts of the country.

Some of my favourite weather watcher photos are of some of the rarer weather phenomena that you don’t see every day.

In October, Weather Watchers user glasshalfempty captured this dramatic picture of a Fallstreak in Bournemouth.

We’ve had great photos of Fallstreaks, holes punched in the middle of clouds caused by tiny water droplets turning to ice, which then fall out of the sky.

Weather Watcher Tedmawr from Carmarthenshire

I signed up Weather Watchers because I enjoy taking pictures of the local Welsh area; it’s a fantastic tool that allows people to share their photos and experiences of the weather wherever they are. It’s fascinating.

Tedmawr took this photo at Ammanford beach front after a Summer shower in July

I take my Jack Russels Alfie and Wilfer for long walks every day and I take pictures of everything around Carmarthenshire including the mountains and the lakes. They’re very keen Weather Watchers too.

The River Usk at Abergavenny is sparkling in the August sunshine

The first time I saw my photo on-air it was just fantastic! All my wife’s friends phoned to say they’d seen it and my parents came round to celebrate.

�� Weather presenter, Nick Miller

Sometimes I see something spectacular in the sky and I photograph it. Then I wonder “I can’t be the only person lucky enough to see this?”

Before the advent of �� Weather Watchers I may have been left wondering but now I can go online and not only share my photo but more often than not see other people’s view of the same thing.

No I wasn’t the only person marvelling at such an amazing sight although frequently everyone else’s photos are far better than mine!

Weather Watcher TheWildGarden sent in this photo of a circumzenithal arc in Sheffield

Whether it’s a classic circumzenithal arc or fabulous full moon, being a �� Weather Watcher has allowed me to not only share my view on the world of weather but enjoy what other people are seeing too.

This double rainbow was spotted in Fort William back in April

And then there are all those spectacular rainbows, haloes, lenticular clouds, thunderstorms - enough to keep us weather geeks entertained for hours.

Weather Watcher Sandie’s Valley from West Yorkshire

I signed up to the Weather Watchers website on the day it launched and I post a number of pictures everyday which I take when I’m walking my dog, Crumble.

Crumble has cold paws on her frosty in November morning walk in Derbyshire with Sandie’s Valley

To see my photo appear on the �� was beyond my wildest dreams and I’m lucky enough to have had more than one photo shown over the past year. My next ambition is for Crumble to meet Carol. I think they’ll like each other.

Sandie’s Valley took this photo at Meltham Mills showing the leaves changing colour for the season

I have learnt so much since I became a Weather Watcher. I understand much more about the topography of the land, cloud formations and where the best places are to find a rainbow. I’m really keen to do a weather forecast course.

I’m really passionate about the website too. Whilst I was on holiday on The Isle of Man, I convinced someone to sign up after mentioning that I didn’t see many photos from the area. Since then, I’ve seen her photos on-air too, so that’s great!

Sign-up for Weather Watchers and read more about some of our members on the �� Weather Watchers website.
Follow �� Weather Watchers on Twitter.

The future of the ��’s weather service

2016-08-17T13:00:00+00:00

The weather may be changeable in the UK, but �� Weather will continue to provide the best possible weather information service across television, radio and digital based on timely and accurate forecast information.

As many of you know, our contract with the Met Office is coming to an end so over the last year we have been assessing a number of organisations to determine which can best shape our weather coverage for the future. Today I’m extremely pleased to say that our new partner will be MeteoGroup.

We know our viewers, listeners and users expect a high quality weather service from the �� to help make decisions daily, from what to wear to what to do.

You may not have heard of MeteoGroup, but it has more customers in the UK than any other commercial weather company. They already provide weather services for major UK clients such as the National Grid, the majority of those who maintain the UK Roads network, as well as the UK press and Channel 4 and Sky News.

This decision will mean we can further modernise our weather forecasting making the most of new technology and science to bring our audiences an even better service. This means improvements for the �� Weather App as well as local, national and global broadcasts.

We always want to give viewers and listeners the clearest, most accessible and accurate information which is why we’ve carried out a thorough, regulated procurement process to test all the organisations that applied on a wide range of areas including data, forecasting, graphics and technology.

We ended up selecting MeteoGroup, an international weather company with headquarters in the UK, because they can best meet our ambitions for innovative and high quality weather services both in the UK and around the world. MeteoGroup will be putting their multiple sources of meteorological data into providing more comprehensive and detailed forecasts at the heart of our award-winning weather app and TV or online weather graphics.

This means audiences can expect to see a more personalised website with clearer and more searchable graphics and more information on screen and on air. We are already planning to upgrade our app, which has been downloaded around 15.5m times or roughly once every 10 seconds, using this enhanced data service to bring even more science and forecasting detail too.

We’ll also be using MeteoGroup’s graphics system so that our brilliant weather presenters can easily design and manage content themselves creating great images for TV and online.

As mentioned, with our current Met Office contract coming to an end the ��, as a publicly funded organisation, was required by law to run an open competition to decide which organisation delivers our weather service from next year. The regulations state a contract tender must follow various set stages of deliberations and then it must be awarded to the ‘Most Economically Advantageous Tender’, which is the optimum combination of both quality of the services offered and cost.

Under this law we are duty bound to consider and treat equally all the bids we receive from companies. We have taken forward the strongest bid based on best possible service and value for money for the licence fee payer.

These services will hit your screens, from mobile to television, in Spring next year. And at a time when we need to make big savings across the ��, it will also save us millions of pounds over the next seven or so years.

Some things won’t change though. We know how fond people are of our weather presenters. We have taken steps so the vast majority of our well known and much loved presenters will continue to front �� Weather.

We’ll still work closely with the Met Office on severe weather warnings; the national agencies for flood warnings and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on shipping forecasts and coastal information.

One long term forecast we can make today with certainty is that audiences will still be able to rely on the �� for an authoritative weather service in the years to come.

Nigel Charters is Project Director, �� Weather re-procurement

Introducing the �� Weather Watchers club

2015-11-03T19:00:00+00:00

Head of Weather Liz Howell explains the idea behind �� Weather Watchers.

In March this year, we announced �� Weather Watchers as part of the ��’s 2015 Make it Digital launch. As we said then, the goal of Weather Watchers was to create a new, crowdsourced weather club that will enable people across the UK to help tell the story of the great British weather.

As Head of Weather at the ��, I know that this is a topic the British public is passionate about. The weather shapes the decisions we make every day, from going out or deciding what to do with the kids; to what to wear or whether or not to hang the washing out to dry.

We want to give everyone the chance to join in with the nation’s favourite conversation, as well as get creative, learn a few digital skills and maybe even have their content appear as part of the �� ‘s weather broadcasts along the way.

Following several months of planning and development, I’m delighted that the brand new �� Weather Watchers club has gone live today. You can see it unveiled on tonight’s episode of The One Show, and we have a lot of exciting activity planned over the coming days and weeks across �� local news and radio, to help introduce �� Weather Watchers to you, wherever you live, and invite you to join in.

�� Weather Watchers is an important part of �� Make it Digital - the ��’s 2015 flagship initiative designed to inspire people across the UK to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology. It’s also firmly rooted in our public purposes to promote learning and education, work with all parts of the UK, and help introduce new digital technologies to all audiences. I am excited about the role that �� Weather Watchers will play in engaging people across the country- and in particular an older audience – around this much-loved topic, giving everyone a chance to develop and boost their digital skills.

Today, our audiences already send in their weather pictures which appear on air, on the ��’s social media channels, and populate our online gallery. �� Weather Watchers will build on that existing activity, and we’ve designed the site to be easy and intuitive to use. Users will be able to upload weather pictures and observations irrespective of scientific knowledge, and without the need for additional equipment. Through easy steps, you’ll be able to start creating simple digital reports that show what the weather is doing where you live. And you can also share these ‘report cards’ on social media. Your 'nowcasts' will help build a map of the UK that shows local weather with images and information sent in by you. You can read more about how the site works in my colleague Mike Burnett’s blog.

�� Weather Watchers will help become part of the ��’s overall weather storytelling and broadcast activity, via �� local radio, TV and online. Scientific data and our weather experts will of course continue to be key to the ��’s weather reporting and forecasting, but now, it will be easier for you to tell us what’s happening where you are and become part of our weather coverage - from exactly where the first snow fell or how high a flood rose, to what the effect of a storm was on a coastal resort.

But �� Weather Watchers is more than a map of the UK weather: weather watchers can also learn about the science behind the weather through our partners at the Royal Meteorological Society, and get behind-the-scenes info from their favourite national and regional weather presenters.

�� Weather Watchers is open to anyone over the age of 16 with an interest in what the weather is up to. Hundreds of early birds have already signed up and taken part in workshops held by �� Local radio stations over the last two weeks. They include gardeners, pilots, delivery drivers, photographers, keen amateurs and seasoned weather pros. I hope you’ll join us too.

Liz Howell is �� Head of Weather

Sign-in to the �� Weather Watchers website and contribute
Read the press release on the Media Centre: �� Weather Watchers Goes Live

�� Weather: Why we run an open competition for the service

2015-08-24T15:45:00+00:00

Nigel Charters, Project Director, �� Weather re-procurement explains the rationale behind the process to secure the future of the ��'s weather service.

It is often said that weather is the national obsession. We know this to be true because our weather app is downloaded 15 times a minute and our bulletins are watched by millions.

�� weather is important to us. We care about it and will always be innovative and ambitious in how we present it. However, with our current Met Office contract due to expire in 14 months we began a formal re-procurement about a year ago. As we last did in 2009.

The overarching aim for us is to maintain and enhance our position as the leading destination for weather information, whilst improving the service available to global audiences. This is founded on a reputation for high-quality timely, accurate distinctive and innovative content across all platforms.

First, let’s deal with the legal side of things. All publicly funded organisations in this country are considered something called a ‘contracting authority’ under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 introduced by the Government. Those regulations implement the EU's 2014 Public Sector Procurement Directiveand state a contract must be awarded to the ‘Most Economically Advantageous Tender’, which is the optimum combination of both quality of the services offered and the cost.

This means that wherever public money is being spent the �� is legally obliged to go through an open competition to avoid any inappropriate influence in awarding such contracts.

Under this law we are duty bound to consider and treat equally all the bids we receive from companies across Europe. We then take forward the strongest bid to make sure we secure both the best possible service and value for money for the licence fee payer.

In June last year we published a notice in the EU Journal of our intentions to tender two contracts: one for the supply of weather data and on air presenters and one for the supply of weather graphics.

The Met Office currently supplies the weather services and, people may not realise this, an independent private company called MetraWeather supplies the graphics. Incidentally, our Shipping Forecasts won’t change. We will continue to broadcast the reports on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (who use Met Office data) and we will continue to issue the Met Office’s National Severe Weather Warnings.

We expect to be able to take a final decision on the procurement later this year, but in order to keep the process moving we have now shortlisted the best bidders.

We have valued the Met Office’s relationship immensely over the years and were clear we wanted them to put in a very strong proposal. But we have to consider all bids fairly. So last week we had to inform a number of bidders, including the Met Office, that having done a detailed evaluation of all the bids we are not in a position to take forward their proposals to provide the service from late 2016.

We know our viewers expect the highest standard of weather service and what they get won’t change. We will not compromise on quality.

The way we provide information will continue to evolve, taking advantage of technology changes where it makes new things possible. We have worked hard in recent years to create new products for our audiences to satisfy an ever increasing appetite for information. This includes the app, a ten day forecast, a world weather forecast for a UK audience and much more use of forecast confidence and science in our broadcasts. A quarter of all people now check the weather from us on their mobiles and we’ll carry on innovating.

In addition, we also want to maintain the high quality of our on-air presentation. We have always had a team made up of a mix of meteorologists and experienced, trained weather presenters. We don’t anticipate any significant changes to our on-air presenting team in the near future.

Those companies still in the process have proven track records for delivering weather services to some of the biggest broadcasters around the world, including other UK broadcasters and national newspapers.

So the outlook remains positive. �� Weather will continue to produce the authoritative, reliable, accurate and modern weather service on which our audiences rely.

Nigel Charters is Project Director, �� Weather re-procurement

In praise of weather presenters

2014-01-10T16:07:35+00:00

�� Weather presenter Peter Gibbs

Weather presenters are cool.

Not cool as in they are incredibly stylish, achingly fashion conscious and desperate to set themselves apart from the crowd. Cool as in they’re the ‘cool kids’, if we can all agree for the purposes of this blog post that the broadcasting world is temporarily analogous with school.

As it happens, weather presenters do have to appear smart on screen. I learnt this myself to my intense disappointment when after an interview with Peter Gibbs earlier this week, I got a chance to step into the �� Weather studio up on the mezzanine floor adjacent to the newsroom in New Broadcasting House.

Weather presenter Peter Gibbs provides a potted history of his career to date.

As I stepped into shot (nothing was being broadcast, by the way) and saw the familiar map of the UK in the background on the monitor in front of me, I discovered to my horror that my favourite jumper strobed horribly on-screen. Worse, the Paxman-inspired beard I’ve proudly defended in the face of staunched criticism from some, does in fact make me look a little seedy.

Weather presenters can’t look seedy on screen. They also need to come across as confident, perky and personable individuals. More importantly, none of that personability must be at the expense of the skills, knowledge and experience they have as meteorologists. They need to be able to ad-lib live on-air for any given period of time too. And they mustn’t wear anything that strobes on TV. That’s a schoolboy error. Big time.

What sort of person do you need to be? Peter Gibbs offers a possible person specification

That in part goes some way to explain why I think weather presenters are cool. A comprehensive explanation must also draw on the inherent tragedy of their role too.

Pause for a moment and consider this. When you watch the weather forecast do you listen intently to every word the weather presenter says? What is the first thing you focus on? Isobars, warm fronts or the animations for rain, snow or thunderstorms? Can you name in full all 19 of the national weather presenters? (You can have Carol Kirkwood, Louise Lear, Peter Gibbs and Tomasz Schafernaker for starters – they’re easy names to remember – and no going and searching the internet – that’s not cricket.) When you get to the end of the weather forecast, what do you remember the most? The presenter, what they said, the graphics or what the weather is supposed to be doing tomorrow?

Having spent some days thinking about nothing but �� Weather (because of the 60th anniversary news and history output being produced ahead of this weekend), I wager that if there was one memorable thing we’d be guaranteed to take away it would be what the weather will do. Nothing else. The weather presenter, it seems to me, is forgotten about.

If the weather doesn't perform, weather presenters take it personally.

And yet, even that seems like a sad thing given their immense skill set, the fact we don’t remember them first and foremost shows their reliable professionalism. Knowledgeable and skilled in live broadcasting. Infectiously enthusiastic about their subject material. Positive, upbeat, confident and unflappable. They can string a perfectly-sized sentence together in an interview long before you’ve even finished asking a ham-fisted question of them in an interview situation (sic. my interview with Peter). They carry off a look of casual professionalism effortlessly, it seems. And there is never any danger that they’ll ever run out of things to talk about: there will never not be any weather. Perfect jobs, perfect personalities, perfect outfits. I bet they’re great at parties.

But what makes them cool is the fact that in real life weather presenters don’t – as far as I can make out - make a big thing about the fact that they are there in our lives every single day, guiding us through the most universal and elemental experience. As viewers, we never feel we are watching Carol Kirkwood’s report on what the weather will be. Instead, we are watching the weather forecast which today happens to be delivered by Carol. Weather presenters are vital to proceedings but they’re not central to them. There’s an inherent style in that. They are ‘cool’. Sure of themselves and what they talk about. Innate ability backed up by a good grasp of their subject area. It is the difference between the elegant beauty of a subject left-hand justified in a photograph, as opposed to the brutal immediacy of a contributor slap bang in the middle of the shot.

Journalists make sense of what has happened or what is happening. Weather presenters are the individuals that help us as human beings to keep on looking forward in our lives. The intonation in their voices underpinned by the message they need to convey (‘it’s going to be bad’ or ‘getting the buckets and spades out, it’s going to be sunny!’) is what helps us escape from the present and dream (or fear) our immediate future. To my mind, that makes them a marginally more potent part of our day to day experience than say a newsreader (save, for a moment in time when a grave news story is breaking), especially given how many more newsreaders there are on TV now than say 60 years ago.

Weather presenter Peter Gibbs shows how �� weather helps shape the news agenda.

That sense of style I mention is, I think, rooted in a weather presenter’s status. What makes them endearing is that they appear genuine, authentic or real. As an audience member I feel as though they are on my side of the pitch, rooting for me, giving me tips, encouragement, pointers. They’re not so aspirational as human beings as to be completely unreachable. Weather presenters present themselves a bit like you or I. We could be them. The only thing which marks them out is that they’ve got a slightly better idea of what might happen in the future.

But there’s more. Notwithstanding the fact that former weather presenter John Kettley had a song written about him in the mid-80s by teenage band Tribe of Toffs, Carol Kirkwood’s or Tomasz Schafernaker’s appearance on Radio 1’s Innuendo Bingo remains one of the most dangerously funny pieces of video content ever published on the Radio 1 YouTube account in my opinion. Perhaps the most important reason why I think they’re cool is that weather presenters get to own one of the most exciting shots on �� Television.

Peter Gibbs explains the technological changes since moving to New Broadcasting House.

The ‘Trundle Cam’ is a remotely operated camera sat on a dolly which happily glides up and down the side of the Broadcasting House newsroom throughout the working day. In the final few seconds before the top of the hour, the camera will glide to the right and zoom in on the Studio E. Reasonably satisfying to watch but nowhere near as earth-shatteringly exciting as when the camera moves gently to the left panning from Studio E to �� Weather in the link before a live TV forecast.

What would I do to have an opportunity to experience the sense of power that is implied by the sight of that moving shot of screen? I’d be prepared to shave off my beard, ditch the jumper and go to work in a flatteringly tailored suit, that’s what. (Although I also acknowledge that at the very least, I’d need to study to be a meteorologist too.)

Jon Jacob is Editor, About the �� Website and Blog (not a meteorologist)

Read Liz Howell, Head of �� Weather’s blog '�� Weather at 60'.
Nick Higham's story on �� News Magazine provides a detailed history of weather forecasting at the ��.
More information about �� Weather's celebrations can be found in a press release on the �� Media Centre website.
Follow @��Weather on Twitter

�� Weather at 60

2014-01-10T08:43:53+00:00

Carol Kirkwood in open air studio in Broadcasting House, 2014

To mark the 60^th anniversary of the first weather forecast on �� Television, Head of �� Weather Liz Howell explains what the role of weather is in the ��’s output today.

As Head of Weather at the �� I take strategic and editorial responsibility for a wide range of local, national, network and global coverage on radio, television and online. Our output ranges from global reports to ‘postcode-driven’ weather. I wanted to use this opportunity not only to celebrate 60 years since the first TV weather broadcast, but also to explain a little of what the role of �� Weather is today and how we work to deliver weather to our audiences.

One of the things we know for sure is that the UK audience is obsessed with weather. Quite understandably too. The UK is a very difficult country to forecast weather. Quite apart from the discussion around what 'good' or 'bad' weather is - one man's snow, is another man's pleasure …or another man's cause for concern – as UK residents, weather is central to our day to day experience. What the weather will be matters in many decisions we make during the day: decisions that involve going out or doing something outside; deciding what to do with the kids; whether or not to turn the heating up or down. In short, the weather really matters to people.

But we believe our audience is very interested in world weather events too. That's really important to us because that's when weather forecasting can help shape the news agenda. For example, take the typhoon that devastated the Philippines. We saw that coming five days before and were able to talk about it: how the storm was growing; how big it was getting; the likely impact of the storm, etc. All of that is a central part of storytelling in news. In the past, weather may have been slightly more compartmentalised because of the way in which forecasts featured at the end of bulletins, but now it's my view that weather is truly embedded within our news agenda, right the way through.

�� News really values our weather output too. What we've tried to do over the last few years since I've been in post, is really capitalise on the expertise that we have at �� Weather. Not just so that we can tell people what the forecast is going to be, but also to explain the science behind the forecast, the story behind it, why the weather that's happening is happening, how many times it's happened, what might happen in the future with different weather patterns, and so on and so forth. Additionally, we know that our audience loves hearing about the science behind the weather and us explaining graphically why weather occurs the way, it occurs or how hurricanes are formed, what freezing rain is, etc. There seems to be a never ending appetite for consumption of weather output and that’s very much recognised and cherished by my colleagues in news. Moving from Television Centre to New Broadcasting House has been an important part of that development in how weather is integrated into news.

Helen Young, 1996

Where we were in Television Centre - a lovely, quirky place, it has to be said - was quite a way from the Stage 6 newsroom, tucked away in our own little offices behind locked doors. Out of hours, people who didn’t have access had to knock to get in. It felt very isolated.

Today, in comparison, our physical proximity to news - up on the mezzanine floor right above the newsroom, adjacent to the ��'s 'General News Service' - makes us very much more visible to our colleagues. So, if there is a big weather event going on we can sit somebody in amongst the general news service and that individual can just be interviewed by every local or national radio station across the UK. Additionally, the �� News Channel is just below us, so they can easily get access to us far more easily for weather-related output than they could in Television Centre, something which has proved very useful during the severe weather conditions which have hit the UK in recent weeks.

As a result the exchange of information and the requests for contributions is phenomenal now. The move to New Broadcasting House has been such a big boost for us.

But I think too there is a perhaps more striking change in how weather appears on screen to viewers which has also occurred since we moved location. The camera shot some News Channel viewers might have seen – the shot of the newsroom when the camera tracks over for the weather report - not only illustrates our connection with news but it’s also one of the parts of the organisation members of the public get an opportunity to see from the Media Café, next door. It makes the modest weather studio a performance area, perhaps even an 'open air' performance area. That's something which really gears a presenter up, because they've got an audience watching not just on TV but here, physically watching in the building as they do it. I think that's sort of symbolic of how intertwined we are with our news colleagues now both as a physical presence but also in terms of the agenda.

Bert Foord, 1969. In 1967 the �� brought in a new range of weather symbols

The other big development for us recently was the launch of the �� Weather app, which has proved widely popular with almost 5 million downloads since launch. I think it's really important that we were able to deliver it as the audience love �� Weather - we know that, we know that our approval is very high and the consumption of information from �� Weather is also very high. Clearly smartphones, tablets and mobile platforms are very important to the �� in terms of broadcasting now and I think what we've tried to provide is very much a �� experience. The app is very nicely designed -it just does what it says on the tin - and gives people what they want to know in a very elegant way.

We had a lot of discussion about what would be included in the app and of course this is the first stage. We will make decisions based on the audience need. We learnt from the website about what people really used a lot and what they wanted from us. So we felt quite solid in our offer for the app, that it was neither going to feel too weak or transparent or be too detailed and unwieldy to use. My colleagues in Future Media did a brilliant job in compiling all that research and working out what we should have and I’m really looking forward to us working on more releases in the future.

I have a fantastic team, second to none, both in the passion and dedication to duty of the incredibly hard-working producers at �� Weather and of course, our presenters. All of them really worked solidly over Christmas. The presenters have an amazing skill set: some people maybe surprised that they talk without autocue about very detailed scientific information, and in some cases without the visual reference behind them. They are a mixture of really great presenters who know weather inside out, and meteorologists who know detailed science - you need a mix of both. Everyone is incredibly dedicated to getting the weather story out as much as they can, they just don't ever get bored, or tired, or sick of me saying, "The channel want to do this," or, "The 6 o’clock news want to do that." That’s really important with something like weather, because when the weather is 'bad' our activity goes through the roof.

Liz Howell is Head of �� Weather

Read the Press Release about �� Weather at 60 on the Media Centre

Ten Things #21 Spring

2013-05-22T14:27:25+00:00

Seeing as there’s a Bank Holiday this weekend and Springwatch returns to �� Two on Monday, this week’s 10 things from around the �� celebrate nature and wildlife.

Whilst obviously looking forward to watching all the new wildlife emerge from its wintery sleep in the new series of Springwatch, I’m also hoping to see presenter Chris Packham crowbar some song titles into his pieces to camera.
Springwatch kicks off the ��’s Summer of Wildlife season, a collection of TV and radio programmes and online content that aims to inspire people to discover the nature that’s on their doorstep.
If you find yourself spurred on to help our furry or feathered friends, there’s some useful information about wildlife volunteering on the Nature website.
It shouldn’t happen to a vet, nor, it seems, a cameraman for a wildlife documentary. Here’s a quick look at Nature: Behind the Scenes in one of the many video collections, also on the Nature website.
In front of the camera seems slightly easier in comparison. Sir David Attenborough shares his memories of 1950’s series Zoo Quest in this special interview for the �� Archive.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is in full bloom and celebrates its centenary this year. You can catch up on coverage of the show on the �� iPlayer.
If the beautiful displays of Chelsea inspire you to get your gardening gloves on, help and advice will be on hand from the experts at Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham, 12-16 June. Alternatively you could download the latest Gardeners’ Question Time podcast.
Having moved from Television Centre in London to Salford, the Blue Peter Garden was opened to the public last year by Princess Anne. Fancy making a herb garden out of a recycled juice bottle? Here’s one they made earlier.
If you’re looking to go a little further afield than your doorstep, there’s plenty of ideas of Things To Do in the great outdoors from Countryfile.
Whether you’re in the garden or out and about this weekend, remember, it is a Bank Holiday so best keep an eye on the weather.

Jen Macro is Digital Content Producer, About the �� Blog and website.

See also Marking David Attenborough's 60 years in broadcasting

90 years of weather

2013-03-26T15:51:13+00:00

Today, Tuesday 26 March, marks 90 years since the first daily weather forecasts on �� Radio. The service began in 1923 and has continued ever since, except for a hiatus during the Second World War.

To mark the event here’s a clip from the Today programme on Radio 4 (Tuesday 26 March) featuring former assistant director of the Met Office and member of the Royal Meteorological Society Stan Cornford, and Helen Roberts, a Met Office meteorologist.

Hannah Khalil is Digital Content Producer, About the �� Website and Blog.

A history of TV weather forecasts, an account of how radio forecasts are produced and advancements in forecasting are all available via the �� News and Weather websites.

Northern Ireland's big freeze and bigger thaw

2011-01-14T17:14:10+00:00

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Northern Ireland with its normally mild climate is a beautiful green place thanks, in part, to an abundant supply of water but as we recently experienced this natural asset can bring with it severe weather related challenges. In the run up to Christmas, Northern Ireland was gripped by a blast of unrelenting ice and snow. Dramatic satellite pictures capture the scale of the 'white out'. On December 23, 2010 in heart of the frozen north, a small village in Co Tyrone Castlederg, dubbed 'Castleicederg' by local press hit an all time low temperature of -18.7°C.

Earlier in the year �� Northern Ireland had appointed a new team of district journalists based in communities across NI and at a local level when the going got tough they really came in to their own. Stories emerged including a viewer's Super 8mm archive footage of past winters and a mobile phone video captured an emergency rescue on a frozen lake in Lurgan, Co Armagh. One snowbound reporter, Conor McCauley improvised by sending his report back to base in Belfast using his cameraman Eamonn Doyle's home broadband connection.

With mass disruption to services in general - hundreds of schools were to close during this period. It wasn't an option to read long lists of those affected on air so a comprehensive online service kicked in to keep parents informed to the joy of pupils eager to take advantage. Snowboarding isn't a regular sport seen in this part of the world!

The big freeze continued through to Boxing Day causing travel chaos for thousands of people on their way to or from home for Christmas. On our airwaves we featured many harrowing stories of people stranded in airports all around the world. One anxious mother called the Stephen Nolan Show on �� Radio Ulster to recount the story of her daughter stranded in Canada facing the prospect of Christmas on the airport floor. It wasn't long before another caller rang in to offer the young girl a place to stay at her sister's house. Generosity of spirit is one of our finest community values. Later in the programme news came through she had boarded the plane…and the show was there to record the emotional reunion.

We often glibly say our services are there during times of crisis and of people turning to the �� for news and information, but �� Radio Ulster and �� Radio Foyle truly does have that relationship ; a deep connection with its audience stretching back to the bad old days of the Troubles. Programmes like Good Morning Ulster, Nolan, Talkback and Evening Extra had significantly more contacts from the audience, and during a holiday period. Our audience need for up to date local news was also clear in the figures for �� Newsline at 6.30pm on �� One throughout the weeks of the freeze, the thaw, the burst pipes and the big water crisis. The 30% average share in December was up a quarter on the previous year.

Our weather team, Angie Phillips, Cecilia Daly and Barra Best, forecast the thaw would arrive on Boxing Day. It did and we were ready although the same can't be said for our underinvested water system. Some 40,000 homes went without and some for weeks on end. Our teams brought pictures to local screens and across the UK of people queuing for water. As water supplies ran short - so did the Dunkirk spirit. By December 28 our radio shows were bombarded by texts and calls from angry listeners.

Sensing the scale of the crisis - �� Northern Ireland journalists, correspondents and teams on Christmas leave commendably made their way back to work without being asked. In times of crisis our role is clear - to provide timely, accurate information to our audience. But it wasn't that simple. It quickly became clear that the public body responsible did not have accurate information and their communication systems, most notably their website, were creaking at the seams. We faced a difficult editorial task but did our best in the ensuing days to balance vital information via the web, Ceefax and radio - airing listeners' views and questions; analysing what had gone wrong and what would happen next.

From personal experience - I can safely say that if you are without water for any period of time the next commodity you need is accurate information on when it might be on again and if not where to source it. The �� NI News website provided that service with around two million page impressions across the first two days. Our audiences have made known their appreciation.

I want to thank all �� Northern Ireland teams involved for their response and professionalism in providing a vital service to the community under difficult circumstances. Our �� buildings across three sites stood up well to the water crisis with only one burst pipe - right above my office!

Peter Johnston is the Director of �� Northern Ireland

�� Weather - our local coverage

2010-12-01T16:25:48+00:00

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I've been in regular contact with our teams across England this week, hearing about their snow coverage; the issues they are facing getting around communities and the amazing responses we've had from members of the public letting us know their stories; hearing about how they are looking after their neighbours and sending us their photos and other critical information.

Local services are a lifeline to many communities in times of severe weather. Nowhere more so than in the North of England whose residents have had more than their fair share of critical weather during the past year.

Local radio is the natural place for people to find out how the big stories impact locally. Our teams work long hours to give the best, most up to date service possible. Many stations have departed from their normal schedules to go live and local throughout evenings and weekends.

Our radio cars, reporters and cameramen have been out from dawn to dusk to cover snow stories and give eyewitness accounts of the conditions. So we've been local whenever and wherever the audience needed us and we're carrying on while the information is required.

Yesterday, according to our overnight figures, 8.1m people tuned into their 6.30 regional news programme. This is the highest reach for the evening regional news in England since the 'big freeze' in January this year. This was particularly high in the North and North East, where the snowfalls are biggest and whose figures were up by more than 10%.

Our online sites also attract a great many visitors during bad weather. On Monday for school closures alone - �� Newcastle's special web page had 85,000 unique users and more than 160,000 page impressions!

I've been impressed by some of the work that has been done using crowd sourcing - for example the Cornwall map which takes our data and adds others to it.

School closures and transport available to schools which are open are always high on people's lists of 'things I need to know' and we make a point of ensuring that this information is on our local websites whenever relevant. This is how we do it in Shropshire.

�� Newcastle tweets the list of school closures daily and keeps re-tweeting throughout the morning. Our Twitter feed, on Monday alone, had more than 600 clicks, potentially reaching new audiences and moving school closures into the social networking world.

We've got an incredibly important role to play in providing both information and companionship to our audiences - often we're a lifeline in every sense of the word. As I've written this blog I've seen a note from our radio Editor in Lincolnshire describing today's conditions as unprecedented in the station's history, so it looks like we will be doing this for some time yet . I am proud of our teams and what they can achieve for our audiences.

David Holdsworth is the Controller of English Regions

Check the forecast for your area at �� Weather

Get the latest Travel News for your area

The Met Office wins the �� Weather contract

2010-07-06T09:59:34+00:00

Today's announcement concludes a rigorous and competitive tender process begun in Autumn 2009 which sees the Met Office continuing to supply the �� with its weather services for the next five years.

Weather is a key part of the ��'s news and information services and a much loved talking point for everyone across the UK. The public turns to us in huge numbers for regular weather updates, or for accurate information and forecasts when big weather stories happen - such as the recent heavy snow or floods.

The ��, as a public service broadcaster, is committed to offering audiences the highest quality for the best value for money and we're confident this new contract does that. The Met Office has demonstrated its ability and commitment to deliver a high quality service through accuracy, consistency of data and flexibility. Overall the new contract delivers better value for money.

The �� has been working in partnership with the Met Office for many years, a relationship that dates back to 1922 when a script prepared by the Met Office was read out by an announcer for the first time in a radio weather forecast.

Much has been made about the decision to put the contract out to tender, with some claiming it to be because of inaccurate forecasts by the Met Office around the Barbecue Summer/mild winter. This is simply not the case.

The truth is we had recognised a significant change in the market for weather services which has become more competitive in the last few years. It is exactly because of this new context that we wanted to consider the options available to ensure we were still offering the best value for money to licence fee payers. And it made sense to do so at a time when the contract with the Met Office was about to expire.

So what does the contract mean and what are the differences you'll see going forward?

Accuracy and consistency are central to what �� Weather does and this contract renews our commitment to produce high quality forecasts across TV, radio, online, mobile and Red Button.

The contract covers the supply of weather services, which includes weather data, on air presenters and forecast services. Our audiences won't see drastic changes in how our forecasts are being presented - the weather map will be retained and familiar faces will continue to be seen and heard regularly.

What this contract means is that the �� will get more data for more locations and more frequently throughout the UK and around the world - which will help keep weather forecasts consistent and accurate.

It will also allow the �� and the Met Office to organise their resources in a way which will help provide the most consistent forecasts across all our platforms.

Our responsibility is to our audiences and we will focus on our mission to make sure �� Weather continues to deliver the authoritative, reliable, accurate and innovative forecasts on which our audiences rely.

Mark Byford is Deputy Director-General at the ��

The image was taken by �� News Photographer, Jeff Overs

About the �������� Feed

Weather, whisky and wine – the delicate balance of booze and the British climate

A year of �������� Weather Watchers

The future of the ��������’s weather service

Introducing the �������� Weather Watchers club

�������� Weather: Why we run an open competition for the service