Weather Obsession

Along with the fine art of queuing and proper tea, talking about the weather is the essence of Britishness. We’re all a little bit obsessed by it. Will it snow this Christmas? Was this year really the warmest on record? And where on earth did ‘raining cats and dogs’ come from?

From the bestselling author of Acquainted with the Night comes a brilliant and witty look at our favourite topic ― weather

In 1865 Admiral Robert FitzRoy locked himself in his dressing room and cut his throat. His grand meteorological project had failed. Yet only a decade later, FitzRoy's storm warning system and "forecasts" would return, the model for what we use today.

A glorious national obsession is explored in this archive-rich look at the evolution of the weather forecast from print via radio to TV and beyond - and at the changing weather itself. It shows how the Met Office and the BBC have always used the latest technology to bring the holy grail of accurate forecasting that much closer - even if the odd messenger like TV weatherman Michael Fish has been shot along the way.