The Shipping Forecast is a comfortable reminder that worse things happen at sea, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in the UK. It consists of a long list of mysterious sounding areas, more than likely marked with the legend "here be Dragons" on old maps, together with such enigmatic comments as "Variable four to five, increasing slowly" and "Precipitation within sight".

These lists are instantly recognisable to certain sections of the British public who can recite "Dogger, Fisher, German Bight" along with the radio's soothing voice while they sit comfortably in their armchairs and wait for the news to come on.