h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

VIKING, NORTH UTSIRE, SOUTH UTSIRE, FORTIES, CROMARTY, FORTH, TYNE, DOGGER, FISHER, GERMAN BIGHT, HUMBER, THAMES, DOVER, WIGHT, PORTLAND, PLYMOUTH, BISCAY, SOUTH FINISTERRE, NORTH FINISTERRE, SOLE, LUNDY, FASTNET, IRISH SEA, SHANNON, ROCKALL, MALIN, HEBRIDES, BAILEY, FAIR ISLE, FAEROES, SOUTHEAST ICELAND.

and yes, these places really do exist.

...and now the forecast for inland waters.

Does anyone know the mantra for this ?

Has anyone visited all the inshore stations ? I've done 3 and they were all beautiful !

There are even songs about it.
Non-UK fans of the band Blur may have struggled in interpreting the lyrics to their song "This Is A Low". Most of the places mentioned in the song are from this very shipping forecast e.g. "On the Tyne, Forth and Cromarty there's a low in the high forties...".
The forecast is a nice reminder to the Brits that we are an island nation, which is sometimes easy to forget if you live in an inner-city tower block watching Jerry Springer re-runs.

In the pedestrian area in Grimsby(!) signposts to the mantra names are set into the cobblestones with their distances from the place (the furthest away would perhaps seem to be the best). So you can dance around in the rain reciting the above mantra.- and some people do.

To get some idea of where they are, they start off the coast of Norway
and the travel in a clockwise direction round the UK.
For a map see http://www.meto.gov.uk/sec3/shiparea.html

I went to the National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) and there is a
piece of installation art called the shipping forecast which has a
short video clip of each place shown whilst the forecast for the day
the videos were shot is played in the background.

......and wasn't there an artist who travelled to all the areas listed and painted the scene for posterity!I am afraid that I can't remember the name at the moment.Just out of curiousity...where did *The Minches* go! It used to feature quite regularly,though not all the time,but has been sadly missed in recent forecasts!
shazzPR

Don't know about the minchies, but didn't traffalgar used to get a
mention, doesn't seen like it now though.

As for the inshore station bit of the thread I can only remember
Valley, cos when I lived in Bangor (as a poor student, them were
the days and all that) I did occasionally listen to the forecast to
get some idea of what the weather would be like.

There's a map of the inlands at http://www.meto.gov.uk/sec3/iswfplace.html

Once I get a text version I might write a song about them.

Trafalgar appears on the shipping forecast map but doesn't seem to be in the Met Office forecasts. However, the map only shows one Finisterre, whereas the forecasts give South East and North West. Perhaps the more southerly of these is/was Trafalgar? Does anyone know the answer?

I think that you are correct with that
My favourite inshore one was Leuchers...it took me ages to find
the place...an RAF station situated just south of the Scottish Border
I think Did anyone hear the forecast when Charlotte had a fit of
the giggles and could hardly pronounce any of it correctly?? I thought
that it was one of the funniest broadcasts I have ever heard...they should release it as a CD
shazzPRME

Trafalgar used to be mentioned on the superlong comprehensive night shipping forecast, I've never heard it during the day. My personal theory is that they subdivide areas if they have a lot of weather.

Hehehehe! We ALWAYS have a lot of weather here don't we
shazzPRME

Would that we didn't
Joanna

But what would we talk about if we didn't have so much weather?

All conversation would cease for ever. I just wish we didn't have to have so many different types of weather at the *same time*!

At least it's different weather, unlike say the inuit who are supposed to have many different words for snow.
And if we didn't have all the weather, how could you enjoy walking in sunshine after a big downpour or seeing the countryside appear as the fog and mist clear...

hmmmm... quite happy to give up windy rain, though.

That's fine till you have to be in it

Yep. and I have to be in it *much* too frequently for my liking!

yoh busking bob, the map now adorns my wall and thanks