On 8 August, the Ulster Orchestra take to the stage of the Ulster Hall with continuity announcers from BBC Radio 4 to celebrate 100 years of The Shipping Forecast at the BBC Proms. Even if you’ve never listened to it, you’ve probably heard of it – but what actually is it? 

The Shipping Forecast has informed, comforted and warned generations of people both at sea and on land. It’s become famous around the world and is a deeply ingrained part of British culture. Some find it mesmerising and magical, so much so that it’s been adapted into a podcast to help people relax and sleep. But its primary purpose is to provide important information to keep people safe at sea. 

In 1859, a powerful storm in the Irish Sea led to 800 deaths and the loss of 133 ships, including 450 lives lost on one ship alone, the Royal Charter, which was wrecked off the coast of Anglesey. This tragedy compelled Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, head of the recently established Met Office, to establish a weather warning service, initially delivered by hoisting signals at ports, then over time published in newspapers and transmitted to ships via telegraph. 

The BBC broadcast their first ‘morning weather forecast for Farming and Shipping’ in July 1925, followed in October that year by the first dedicated shipping forecast. The format has remained mostly unchanged since then. 

The Shipping Forecast is currently broadcast three times a day on BBC Radio 4. It divides the seas around the UK and Ireland into 31 areas, named after features like islands, sandbanks and estuaries. The forecast always follows the same order, beginning with ‘Viking’, an area off the northeast coast of Scotland, and proceeds clockwise around the British Isles, finishing with ‘Southeast Iceland’. Each area receives a forecast that includes wind direction and speed, precipitation, and visibility.

The broadcast is read in a steady, measured tone for clarity, and it is this distinctive style that has helped The Shipping Forecast be ingrained in the cultural imagination. Stephen Fry, Alan Bennett and John Prescott have had a go at reading the Forecast, it’s been sampled by Blur, Radiohead and The Prodigy, and has inspired poets Carol Ann Duffy and Seamus Heaney as well as many other artists.

Another iconic part of the forecast is musical – Ronald Binge’s ‘Sailing By’ is played before the 00:48 broadcast each day and has become synonymous with the programme. Many people have an emotional connection with the piece and Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker even chose it as one of his Desert Island Discs in 2005. 

Radar, the internet and smartphones now provide many other ways for sailors to check weather conditions, but The Shipping Forecast is still essential to many. That hundreds of thousands of people regularly listen, far more than actually need it, demonstrates the broadcast’s place in UK popular culture.  

Whether it’s for vital seafaring information, a sense of comfort, or a reminder of maritime heritage, The Shipping Forecast remains a stable, reassuring presence in an ever-changing world. 

BBC Proms: 100 Years of the Shipping Forecast with the Ulster Orchestra will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 on 8 August at 9pm.

Find out more about The Shipping Forecast: 
BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast webpage 
‘Shipping Forecast – 100’ by BBC/National Maritime Museum Greenwich 
‘100 Years of the Shipping Forecast’ by Royal Museums Greenwich 
‘“We listen to it to remind us of home”: 100 years of the Shipping Forecast’ by The Guardian  
99% Invisible – Episode 316: ‘The Shipping Forecast’ 
The Shipping Forecast Wikipedia page 
Shipping Forecast and gale warnings – Met Office