Caught in a Draft

It is 20 years since Michael Fish‘s infamous quote on tv the evening before the country was lashed by storms:

“Earlier on today apparently,” he began, “a woman rang the BBC and said she had heard that there was a hurricane on the way.”Well if you are watching, don’t worry there isn’t,”

Except it wasn’t. According to The Fish he wasn’t even on duty that evening and the clip above actually refers to another hurricane in the US and if there was any deception it should be laid at the door of his former colleague Bill Giles.

I quite like weathermen. They are an anchor in the day, but particularly in the morning when you lie in bed as they tell you what to expect. I especially miss Philip Eden, the meteorologist who challenges the accepted wisdom on climate change. He may be wrong, but at least there is debate.

And few other professions have been immortalised in punk music. (At the time Mrs P was often mistaken for Wincey Willis.)

Anyway, I remember that ill=fated weather day well. We weren’t affected as badly as some, but the fence at the front of our first house was wafted across the narrow street where we lived and slates tumbled and missed parked cars by inches. But we did get the whole roof re-done on the insurance, something we couldn’t have afforded ourselves at the time.

Still, it’s an ill-wind…