The shipping forecast has evolved. It is something other than the weather/shipping information the Met Office produces and the BBC broadcasts.

It has become an iconic, steadfast cornerstone to the Isles of Britain’s coastal dwellers. Adopted by poets and written about in rosy tones, it is romanticised by those who do not need the information but, hear the beauty in the listed areas.

It provides safe harbour to those who snuggle in the depths of their duvets; imaginations full of salty spray and white horses.

“The Shipping Forecast”, 

Seamus Heaney

Dogger, Rockall, Malin, Irish Sea:

Green, swift upsurges, North Atlantic flux

Conjured by that strong gale-warming voice,

Collapse into a sibilant penumbra

In an age where it is too convenient to get the latest weather, the Shipping Forecast is still broadcast four times a day. Long may that continue for both the fisherman and the duvet dwellers of this land.

•    0048 – transmitted on FM and LW.

•    0520 – transmitted on FM and LW.

•    1201 – normally transmitted on LW only.

1754 – transmitted only on LW on weekdays, but at weekends transmitted on both FM and LW.

The daily 0048 forecast is available online via BBC iPlayer.