On January 11 1954 George Cowling presented the first "in vision" weather forecast on the BBC. In celebration of this the first modern weather broadcast, we offer a brief history of the Weather Forecast.
Meteorology may well have been the first science. It surely would not have taken early man long to realise that the dark streaks in the sky moving his way meant that he was going to get wet.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, observed in the 4th century BC that "whoever wishes to pursue the science of medicine must first investigate the seasons of the year and what occurs in them". The Chinese in the 11th Century BC and the Egyptians a little later, observed and studied the weather, but the science did not really get under way until the invention of instruments which could measure the elements - mainly in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The British Meteorological Office was founded in 1854 as a very small department in the Board of Trade. By 1861 it was issuing gale warnings to shipping. Harbourmasters, on being telegraphed with a warning, would hoist north or south cones up a mast.
Forecasts to the press began in 1879. They were greeted by the Standard thus: "It may safely be conjectured that, unless the authorities of this most completely conducted department had already verified their forecasts within the not extravagant limits of time which are now mentioned, they would not assume this new responsibility."
On November 14th 1922, the BBC broadcast the first radio weather forecast to the public when an announcer read a script prepared by the Met Office with the first regular weather broadcasts on the BBC starting on March 26th 1923. On November 11th 1936, the world's first television chart was transmitted at the start of a trial series. BBC Television closed down during World War II but, in July 1949, weather maps with captions began to be broadcast again.
The idea of personalised weather forecasting on BBC Television was first raised at an executive lunch in 1953. The BBC's then Director General, Sir Ian Jacob, noted that "a young but highly professional meteorologist who was in the party" had made the point that it would be better if, instead of just weather maps and charts, the forecaster himself appeared on screen.
Within a year the anonymous young man's idea had become a reality, with the help of "an easel and treatment to walls and background" at a cost of 50 pounds.
On January 11th 1954, George Cowling of the Met Office became the first person to present a weather forecast on British television. The broadcast was live and lasted for five minutes. The Radio Times magazine highlighted the new service:
"From Monday onwards the television weather report and forecast will be presented by a Meteorological Office forecaster who will explain and comment on the charts shown. The change is designed to stress the continuity of the reports provided; the forecaster will show, for example, how the weather expected tomorrow is conditioned by the weather experienced today.
Two Forecast Officers will for the time being share the job. They are: George Cowling, a 32 year old Yorkshireman, married and father of a five-year old son; and TH Clifton, a 42-year-old Londoner, married and the father of four girls and one boy. Listeners who remember the Air Met broadcasts (now off the air because of wavelength difficulties) may recognise Clifton's voice: he was one of its chief meteorological announcers."
The tradition of live forecasts is maintained today, but the length of each broadcast has fallen to between 45 seconds and 4 minutes. Far more forecasts are produced each day for more "customers", and the total broadcast time during a week has grown to well over 22 hours.
