Shipping and Inshore Waters forecast

[MontyMariner]

The best that I could find was this from: More details announced regarding BBC Radio 4 long wave switch off

The Shipping Forecast will cease to be broadcast four times a day, and will instead be available via the Radio 4 FM simulcast twice a day (weekdays) and three times a day (weekends) as well as on DAB and BBC Sounds.
It will also continue to be broadcast via HM Coastguard’s channels.

Also a long winded article here BBC radio switching off Long Wave Shipping Forecast forces sailors to install new alert system

 

[alan_d]

The removal of the LW broadcast is unfortunate for some. It is the wave band which has the lowest range and can be picked up in mid-Atlantic. In fact at altitude it is receivable close to New York.

I assume you meant to say the longest range (rather than lowest), unless you intended to write lowest frequency.

 

[Bodach na mara]

I assume you meant to say the longest range (rather than lowest), unless you intended to write lowest frequency.

Yes. Bloody autotext.

 

[Daydream believer]

Do the BBC use the French Meto service, so asking the British met office would be pointless anyway. They would only want to know if they wanted to listen in, to find out what the weather was going to do, in case someone was to ask them.

 

[franksingleton]

Do the BBC use the French Meto service, so asking the British met office would be pointless anyway. They would only want to know if they wanted to listen in, to find out what the weather was going to do, in case someone was to ask them.

The Met Office is the U.K. National Weather service as is Meteo France for France, Met Eireann for the Republic of Ireland etc. The Met Office does a great deal more than provide weather to the BBC presenters who, in any case do look at other forecast centres. The Met Office is a part owner of ECMWF. The Met Office has a defence role to provide support to our armed services. They advise our government on anything meteorological, including climate change. They are responsible for warnings of severe weather to local authorities and the public. Jointly with the USA, they provide a global aviation service in a mutual back up manner. The provide routine forecasts for GMDSS purposes. Your perceptions are somewhat blinkered.

 

[Daydream believer]

The Met Office is the U.K. National Weather service as is Meteo France for France, Met Eireann for the Republic of Ireland etc. The Met Office does a great deal more than provide weather to the BBC presenters who, in any case do look at other forecast centres. The Met Office is a part owner of ECMWF. The Met Office has a defence role to provide support to our armed services. They advise our government on anything meteorological, including climate change. They are responsible for warnings of severe weather to local authorities and the public. Jointly with the USA, they provide a global aviation service in a mutual back up manner. The provide routine forecasts for GMDSS purposes. Your perceptions are somewhat blinkered.

The BBC use the French Meto service as the main provider. Was I wrong?

 

[franksingleton]

The BBC use the French Meto service as the main provider. Was I wrong?

Yes. You must be cloth eared. The presenters on the BBC often refer to the Met Office. They also refer to the US GFS and the European centre, ECMWF. The detailed images they show of rain/radar echoes are those that you see on the Met Office app. I cannot recollect ever hearing them mention any other data source.
If you mean the shipping forecast, you must be totally deaf. The preamble to every forecast states the origin.
You seem to be one of those who “Praise every century but this and every country but your own.”
Come out of your day dream.

 

[st599]

The government forced the BBC to use OJEU tendering processes, so the weather provider is Meteo Group, a multinational private provider. They take weather alerts and the shipping forecast from the Met Office.

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes.

You hate to admit that you may be wrong- Bit like your climate change claims.
I quote - & you can google it- On 6 February 2018, BBC Weather changed supplier from the government Met Office to MeteoGroup after an open competition.
Now whether the met office supplies crumbs of info is NOT in dispute. What I said was correct . But it seems that you cannot accept an alternative that does not suit your met office brain washing

 

[lustyd]

The BBC use the French Meto service as the main provider. Was I wrong?

No, you're quite right, but it is irrelevant here since we're talking about the shipping forecast which is provided by MET office as the official UK weather service. The BBC use other services for their weather but that's a different topic and probably based on the cheapest provider.

 

[franksingleton]

You hate to admit that you may be wrong- Bit like your climate change claims.
I quote - & you can google it- On 6 February 2018, BBC Weather changed supplier from the government Met Office to MeteoGroup after an open competition.
Now whether the met office supplies crumbs of info is NOT in dispute. What I said was correct . But it seems that you cannot accept an alternative that does not suit your met office brain washing

You confuse presenters with providers of forecasts. BBC presenters MUST issue warnings provided by the Met Office. They take most of their information from the Met Office.
As regards GMDSS forecasts, such as the Shipping and Inshore waters forecasts, every European maritime nation Met service provides forecasts for their national waters. If you sail, you will know that.
MeteoGroup used to be a private European forecast service. They could only operate by using information provided by National Met services. However they have been taken over by a succession of companies and are now owned by an American group.

 

[Daydream believer]

You confuse presenters with providers of forecasts. BBC presenters MUST issue warnings provided by the Met Office. They take most of their information from the Met Office.
As regards GMDSS forecasts, such as the Shipping and Inshore waters forecasts, every European maritime nation Met service provides forecasts for their national waters. If you sail, you will know that.
MeteoGroup used to be a private European forecast service. They could only operate by using information provided by National Met services. However they have been taken over by a succession of companies and are now owned by an American group.

I am not confusing anything. I am just quoting something which has been well known for several years. The preferred supplier to the BBC is the Meto service, simply because they won the contract over the met office. The met office lost. A bit like brexit remoaners - Get used to it

 

[Mister E]

Metro supply BBC television but do they provide the radio shipping forecast?
Especially as the radio announcer states from The MET Office.
Back to to original problem radio 4 long wave has a shortage of the valves which are not made any more. So the BBC don't know for certain when LW will no longer be available, thus they are stating the broadcast will end.
Personally I will miss the lw forecast.

 

[franksingleton]

MeteoGroup staff are the presenters of forecasts on BBC radio and TV. In theory, they could get much of their data from the USA, MeteoFrance, DWD etc. In practice, they would still have to adhere strictly to Met Office warnings. They would not have access to all observational data, the radar and the radar rainfall prediction output is copyright to the Met Office.
When the Met Office lost the contact to provide presenters to the BBC, they were at a disadvantage in that the Met Office has to recover all its costs from customers. I do not know how it is now, but at the time, they had what were, effectively, government defined rates for staff time.
However, be that as it may, the fact is that the BBC presenters rely heavily on the Met Office. As far as marine forecasts are concerned these, as you well know, are all provided by the Met Office on behalf of the MCA.

 

[franksingleton]

Metro supply BBC television but do they provide the radio shipping forecast?
Especially as the radio announcer states from The MET Office.
Back to to original problem radio 4 long wave has a shortage of the valves which are not made any more. So the BBC don't know for certain when LW will no longer be available, thus they are stating the broadcast will end.
Personally I will miss the lw forecast.

The same is so for RTTY/RadioFax. Every so often the USA announces that the days for these services are numbered, including NAVTEX, of course. It is only a matter of time before satcoms become affordable by all. The sooner this is recognised by IMO/WMO the better.

 

[franksingleton]

Bit like your climate change claims.

An afterthought, since you mentioned it, I do not make any claims about climate change. I just quote facts that are as solid as the explanation of the earth orbiting around the sun. If you wish to introduce that, then see https://forums.ybw.com/threads/climate-change-forum.605785/#post-8386282.

 

[Bilgediver]

After the BBC ceases to use LW, does anyone know
1. What times will the shipping forecast be broadcast?
2. When will the Inshore Waters forecast be broadcast?
3. When will reports from coastal stations be broadcast and which stations?

I have asked the BBC twice recently and had no reply.

Within VHFrange there are regular forecasts from the coastguard. If further afield and have SSB then Winlink is available to hams which gives access to the UK inshore forecasts as well as world wide forecasts .These are probably also available to thise with Airmail. These forecasts can also be received via satellite such as Iridium. I was relaying grib forecasts to someone on St Kilda last year when he had problems with his on site equipment and these can be obtained by both satellite and SSB RADIO as well as apps in your devices. You do need a Grib Reader to view them.

These forecasts should be available by Navtex but attempts to read that with the equipment I have is very much hit or miss. Maybe Navtex receivers are more successful .

If within 5G range all these are available on the Web as well as by using Starlink when out of range of 5G.
There are various forecasts transmitted for civil and military aircraft which can be usefull if in the area of an airport

 

[Bilgediver]

After the BBC ceases to use LW, does anyone know
1. What times will the shipping forecast be broadcast?
2. When will the Inshore Waters forecast be broadcast?
3. When will reports from coastal stations be broadcast and which stations?

I have asked the BBC twice recently and had no reply.

According to The Met Office Web site other frequencies are available for forecasts

Radio broadcast times

 

[Bilgediver]

Best use t’internet like we do in Yorkshire!

If offshore is t’satellite !

Maybe can do with Starlink if cost effective, It is on the Met Office Web pages.

Inshore waters forecast and strong winds - Met Office

 

[franksingleton]

Yes, there are other frequencies but none has anywhere near the range of 198kHz. Yes there is Iridium etc.
The fact remains that the BBC has not yet told us the scheduled times for these broadcasts that some find to have value in terms of safety at sea. Even the date for the change was not announced.
These days, I hold no brief for the BBC Shipping forecast. I do recognise, unlike some posters, that some sailors find it useful. The BBC, clearly does not. I suspect that their programme schedulers are influenced by those idiots wh0 call it part of our heritage. They have lost sight of the real purpose.