Weather is a national obsession. It is well-known to be the first topic in any conversation. It either delights or depresses. When we have long hot periods we look for rain, and after the rain we seek the sun. Our weather in the UK is a topic of conversation throughout the world as it illustrates the stoic nature of the British! Nobody who lives on our island is excluded from the effects of our weather, be it a mother hoping for sun on her daughter's wedding day, to those caught in the recent flooding, to those who daily live their lives with the weather such as farmers and fishermen. Ever since the first radio broadcasts by the BBC in 1926 weather was a feature. Even when the first public Television service started in 1936 it included a weather forecast. Then in 1954 the BBC introduced the first weather TV forecast with a 'weatherman'. Today we take for granted our weather forecasts not realising the technological and presentational changes that have taken place over the years. Good television always looks easy, because all of the elements come together to produce a result that is more than the sum of all its parts. The journey from 1954 to today involved a whole range of innovations for both the Met Service and the BBC, not only technical, but understanding how to communicate our very complicated atmosphere in a way that 'the man in the street' could readily understand. Bill Giles OBE, one of the nation's best-known weather presenters, and John Teather, the founder of the BBC Weather Centre worked together to revolutionise how weather was presented and turn the BBC and the UK Met Office into world leaders in this field. Their new book is not a history lesson, but a 'peep behind the curtains' at the world of broadcast meteorology, sometimes fraught, many times difficult, often funny and always challenging. It reflects the personalities such as Fish, McCaskill, Kettley and Charlton who were household names. It explores two of the nation's great institutions - The BBC and the Met Office as they both struggled with enormous internal change. It is a book that doesn't fit in the normal categories. To make excellent broadcast weather reports takes many different resources and talents and perhaps this book is a reflection of this many faceted approach. Not autobiography, not history, not scientific paper, not tales out of school, not learned journal - but simply an exciting journey. But the book also shows how a shared vision of two very different people, from entirely different backgrounds, can work together to realise a dream and take on the world.
About the Author: BILL GILES was born in Dittisham, near Dartmouth in Devon. He retired from the Met Office in January 2000 after leading the team of Broadcast Meteorologists since 1983 as the Senior Weatherman at the BBC Weather Centre. He first became interested in meteorology whilst at school in Crediton and joined the Meteorological Office at Exeter in January 1957. His broadcasting career began in 1972 when he transferred to the London Weather Centre to become part of the team forecasting for BBC Radio. He moved to television forecasting in 1975. In 1980 promotion took him back to Bracknell where he worked in public relations and then, in May 1983, returned to take charge of BBC Television's forecasting team, on the retirement of Jack Scott. October 1990 saw the publication of his book "The Weather Story", and he presented the BBC programme "The Weather Show". Since his retirement, he has been a Director of Weather Index Ltd. He formed The Weather People Ltd with colleague John Teather. His hobbies include golf, cricket and gardening. He was awarded the O.B.E in the 1995 New Year's Honours for services to broadcast meteorology. JOHN TEATHER trained as a professional photographer before joining the BBC in 1966 where he was a film editor working on a variety of programmes including 'Some Mothers do 'ave em". He joined the BBC Presentation Department as an Assistant Producer. In 1975 he directed Bill Giles's first broadcast. During this time he became more involved with weather and was responsible for the introduction of electronic weather graphics in 1985. He led the project for the BBC Weather Centre, which opened in September 1991, and five years later for the opening of the second phase of the centre in September 1996. John was the Editor for BBC Weather Broadcasts, responsible for running the BBC Weather Centre, with a team of 25 broadcast meteorologists producing over 120 broadcast every 24 hours. He was Editor of the successful Weather Show series, directing and filming many of the episodes himself. He is Honorary Secretary of the International Association of Broadcast Meteorology. Since retiring from the BBC in September 2001, he set up The Weather People Ltd with Bill Giles. His hobbies include the arts, in particular the theatre, not only as an amateur thespian, but also directing plays and musicals. John is a Fellow and former Vice President of the Royal Meteorological Society and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. UK.