Radio 4 Shipping Forecast

The only time that the shipping forecast has been read on both radio and tv as part of the Arena Radio Night in 1993.
The forecast is read by Laurie MacMillan.
Broadcast Saturday 18 December 1993 on Radio 4/BBC2 (or more accurately in the early hours of Sunday 19th)
Read more about the shipping forecast, and hear more audio here:
andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2011...

[@Talythia]

My dad was a helicopter pilot operating in the North Sea from Aberdeen, and he always listened to this in the mornings. Hearing it again brings a lump to my throat.

[@lighteningsgirl]

Aww bless you ....I am the same as in I grew up with it ..I use to get scared on bed and this use to be on for me and relax me and make me sleep xxxx

[@barrypeers8665]

@@lighteningsgirl yeah i used to wet my bed too

[@carolineyoung5487]

Literally didn’t run out and said all of your family’s car alarms off, otherwise will kick your bottom so hard that you would fly to Elon Musk’s house and Elon Musk would eat you for dinner

[@spike-d-rail162]

I was an American medical student studying in the UK in 1989. One night I stumbled upon The Shipping Forecast and I was hooked. Now 40 years later I find it on You Tube! It’s like finding and wrapping yourself in your favorite old blanket. Only a lot less dusty. Thank you 😊

[@spike-d-rail162]

Okay, 30 years. Maybe time for bed 💤😴🌙

[@dotdashdotdash]

@@spike-d-rail162 did you become a doctor?

[@sergeantyork1485]

Ur not on ur own mate 💝❣️❣️🇵🇰

[@terrydawson1153]

I also wanna know if you became a doctor.​@@spike-d-rail162

[@jeptioak]

You know, it's still produced. You can find it on the BBC's Sounds app and website.

[@steerpike66]

We used to go on holidays on a little yacht around the Irish Sea when I was small, and the sound of the shipping forecast, accompanied by the sound of halyards slapping against the mast, the scent of the paraffin lamp, and a nice mug of tea, represents something indescribably perfect to me.

[@slowdivebreeze1]

you've described it perfectly, what a wonderful image you've given me.

[@micheledibenedetto7780]

mate thats just fucking mustard the way youve conveyed that

[@paulputnam8211]

The calming voice of a Radio Four continuity announcer (Laurie Macmillan) in the night. No matter how bad things seem, when you hear this, somehow you know all is well, there is hope.

[@eleanorsopwith9806]

Grew up listening to this when I should have been asleep. 😴🙏🦉🎵🌬⛵⚓

[@carolineyoung5487]

But now on radio five comes on Persia bizarre times

[@ypila]

Indeed. RIP Laurie Macmillan.

[@fnhatic6694]

I'm an American and lived in the UK for 4 years. BBC Radio 4 at midnight was one of my guilty pleasures and it's one of the most British things I can remember from my stay. Big Ben tolls out the stroke of midnight before the world news. It segues off to Sailing By, then the shipping forecast, and the service ends with God Save the Queen. Makes me nostalgic even ten years on.

[@combatsignaller]

Fnhatic It is sadly , one of the last bastions of our great ( falling ) nation , this and Songs of Praise on our TV on Sunday afternoons . Can I ask the last of my compatriots , turn the light off on the way out .

[@ianwatkins9602]

keith wood I couldn't agree more with you!

[@zanyzoo6767]

please come back soon , lovely words.

[@paperchain1239]

Well God Bless you and thanks for those lovely thoughts.

[@wakeupcall2665]

Same for me, lived in the UK for 9 years up until 2003. BBC Radio 4 was a must every night. It just made me feel so comfy, safe and secure thinking about the seamen out there. Very British. Now watching this, it makes me feel rather nostalgic. However, back in Germany, getting older, I love my Bavarian mountains throughout the year, out and about in nature with my two dogs. I cherish all the memories about my time in Britain, and the wonderful friends and People I met. Greetings to wherever life has taken you now!

[@factstrumpprejudice6740]

I'm and old bloke, I've lived here in Barcelona for many years but really miss my late wife, my smallholding in Somerset where I practised organic self-sufficiency for 40 years, my pigs, chickens, ducks etc. slipping off to sleep with my head half out of my window with the sweet smell of Britain. Blimey I've tears in my eyes …. thank you so much for this, so many memories.

[@joeroganjosh9333]

Good on you mate.

[@orwell2984]

God speed

[@factstrumpprejudice6740]

@@orwell2984 oh dear, invoking your invisible friend doesn't help.

[@orwell2984]

@@factstrumpprejudice6740 it's a phrase, not my belief. It means wish you the best

[@factstrumpprejudice6740]

@@orwell2984 Ok, an interesting turn of phrase for a nonbeliever. Religion is intellectually hilarious and socially decisive.

[@Ridaeon]

I love the shipping forecast. I lie in bed and imagine all the people out on boats both big and small also listening to it. Its a beautiful feeling,

[@simon5090]

Just like I do.

[@theouter_banks7260]

Thought it was just me that did that 😂

[@theouter_banks7260]

Thought it was just me that did that!

[@kay6285]

here here!

[@TheKonga88]

Ridaeon 🐵🐒🐵🐒🏊🏊🏊🏊🏊🚢🚢🚢🚢🚣🚣🚣🚣⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵🏊🏄🏂

[@iChengdu]

It's In the Night Garden for adults.

[@beaterbikechannel2538]

You win the Internet! Hats off to that comment! Brilliance!

[@petesapwell]

It absolutely is!! I never realised, Thanks for pointing it out :)

[@mango4606]

Winner of Internet: X Kang

[@BeasleyStreet]

Top class comment...

[@tessakulik6710]

How good to see the lovely Laurie MacMillan, who died much too young. If the BBC ever drops the Shipping Forecast I will fear that civilisation really is in trouble.

[@CringePoop]

i doubt they will because they get a HUGE spike in ratings when it comes on

[@RandomRadioJottings]

Oh dear. Some of the recent comments seem at odds with the poetry of the Shipping Forecast. I think its fair to say that these days as many female announcers as male announcers read it and, as the timing is fixed, they all read it at the same speed. Please keep your comments polite.

[@DavidRobinson-vd6tg]

Can't get to sleep without listening to this particular video featuring Laurie Macmillan's soothing voice. Must have listened to it many hundreds of times over the years. Conjures up images of distant flashes of light from remote lighthouses far out at sea on a stormy night. Priceless !

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

RIP Laurie MacMillan (1947-2001). I saw this on its broadcast in 1993, and remember Peter Cook and Josie Laurence speaking to Ned Sherrin on 'Loose Ends' on the morning of the Arena evening to promote the joint Radio/Television event.

[@oystermouth1971]

Lived in a laissez faire household growing up, allowed to stay up very late at weekends as a young boy, used to slowly move the tuning dial though all the late night stations, R4 Shipping Forecast was always a tuning stop for a good 15 minutes. Loved listening to it. My 10 year old boy now has his radio on very low overnight to help him sleep. I put genteel & serene Radio 4 on for him. Went in last night to check on him at 12.45am only to hear the reassuring strains of ‘Sailing By’ as the Shipping Forecast was about to start. Took me right back. One of the most memorable lines from Ken Loach’s Kes when the school register was being called was ‘Fisher?’ and Billy Casper replies ‘German Bight’. Brilliant line, brilliant film. Also see Blur’s track ‘This is a Low’. Great stuff.

[@nmarks]

There is a certain pleasure in listening to a voice coming over on the radio giving sober information. Concentration is needed to work out what is being said - TV just gives it to you visually, without the need to think.

[@berlinsaintclair9100]

+fact gasm I TOTALLY agree. I felt that way about weather reports from where I grew up in California. Eventho we rarely had anything interesting happen weather-wise.

[@BillyBoy1235]

And here I am Oct 2021 locked down during the Covid 19 epidemic in Melbourne Australia. Been here 50 years that’s how long since I last heard it. Driving my wife mad must have listened to it a dozen times. Problem is I don’t know why.

[@rossi6113]

I honestly thought it was just me who snuggled up safe and warm in bed and listened to this and said a prayer for our heroic fishermen out on those dark unforgiving seas.

[@roblaa3198]

me too pal 🇬🇧

[@scotttracy9333]

Nope, not just you . Me also mate

[@dotdashdotdash]

hard to find a British fisherman these days, the EU have destroyed our fishing industry.

[@rossi6113]

@@dotdashdotdash How very true.

[@user-xv2kk5fe5b]

I'm at an age now where there is nothing better than cozying up on a dark winter's night with the wind and rain lashing against the windows, listening to Radio 4. Whether it's a debate, a drama, the shipping forecast or any of the great stuff on there. I wonder if anyone else feels the same ?

[@lindalanethornton8218]

The only piece of music that has the power to bring tears and one of the things that I miss not living in the UK. I used to love listening to the shipping forecast, either tucked up in bed at home or lying in my berth on a boat, wondering what the weather had in store for the next day. Proof that despite all of our wonderful technology, when it's blowing Storm 10 and above all you can do is plan for the worst, hope for the best and hang on.

[@stevenwoodhouse2725]

I remember listening to this on the way down the English Channel on a 58 day voyage to Australia to pick up a coal cargo for Immingham. Great days.

[@alphadragon7645]

I have never been on a boat but i listen to this as if am captain birds eye.

[@randomuploadsism]

I hope you get to go one day

[@billydeeuk]

It's great to listen to on a cold dark winter night when you are all wrapped up warm in bed

[@kay6285]

thumbs up

[@rossi6113]

OMG - I thought it was just me!!!!!

[@dmander7492]

and I thought it was just me!

[@ianwatkins9602]

and I thought it was just me!

[@holyislandexile]

ian watkins me too, and I live in Switzerland.

[@gregghill4075]

Rest peacefully Laurie. You voice is sadly missed by many.

[@DavidMiller-ps5rr]

The Radio 4 'Theme' (it's a medley , actually) used to open Radio 4 each morning at 5:20AM. Sadly no more. You can hear it on Spotify, or download it from Amazon.

[@sppider77]

Another lost Radio 4 voice from the past here, Laurie MacMillan. Sadly she died from breast cancer in 2001.

[@sapper82]

Sadly Radio 4 and the BBC in general, seem reluctant to engage announcers with that quality of voice. She is one of a class of person who is much missed.

[@dotdashdotdash]

The BBC are so woke that they’d have someone with an incomprehensible third world accent on, these days

[@timwingham8952]

@@dotdashdotdash I agree completely. Well said.

[@jonmortermusic]

She was a great radio voice. And who let the gammon comment?

[@a.t.c.3862]

This takes me right back to the early eighties. The shipping forecast spoke and still speaks to me of warmth and safety - and a very happy time. To all you wonderful people out there, and to your loved ones, a quiet night. Good night.

[@stevebuckley2429]

After a day of bad news, stress and worry, to get in bed and listen to this means that all is well,all is as it should be and tomorrow will be fine.

[@berlinsaintclair9100]

I was happy to read that these forecasts still serve a purpose. There's something so comforting of these voices delivering the info.

[@TheMimifur]

Thank you thank you!! I have been searching for this for years. Was babysitting my wee niece and nephew that night and watched the telly after being devotee of Sailing By and The Shipping Forecast all my life.

[@grios5530]

Dude I love this and didn't know it was a thing. I drive around here in SF bay area listening to the emergency weather channel broadcasts each city has. It's relaxing. Thanks for sharing. I thought I was only one doing this.

[@dilatedbeholder3865]

Simply divine. God bless the shipping forecast

[@test-ru2jo]

And God save The BBC, don't forget that, chap!

[@robbiewallace5268]

This is one of the most special things about British culture. It's up there with Dr Who and Stephen Fry!

[@farfisa]

Yes this is, although I wouldn't give Fry that honour yet. Dr. Who just about maybe... I would nominate Stonehenge free festival (now defunct obviously) and tarring and feathering as up there too.

[@tamhaswoods9056]

Don't forget Blackadder. 2:40 - aaagh! You have a woman's voice! I'll bet that voice has never been smashed against the rocks in a storm from the depths of hell, or capsized in the middle of shark infested waters!

[@danieljones3955]

Robbie Wallace better

[@peterturley8846]

Highly emotive music- long hot Summer days on family holiday in the sixties in South West England, me as a child, marvellous, wonderful times, tears falling now xxx

[@jackiemurray2265]

Same here Peter, brings back so many memories.

[@beaterbikechannel2538]

I listen to this as I work on bikes. Soothing, one of the great institutions to have come from this sceptered Isle.

[@johnburns6422]

This makes my DAY BBC RADIO 4 ,What more could one ask for at my age , Thank You BBC .

[@Rufinoman]

Why does this make me feel all nostalgic and homesick?

[@sprklfaz]

Makes me long for something I don't understand

[@hevski1055]

Because it has that effect, this beautiful piece of music...

[@welshpollypanad]

I still miss Finisterre

[@andrewclayton4181]

I still regard N and S Uitsire as newbies. Think they were cut out of a larger Viking about 1970 (?)

[@ketchup5344]

We come into this world to the sound of the shipping forecast....and it will still be there when we shuffle off this mortal coil.

[@jackoates6418]

Just another of those little things that I love about my homeland. Such beautiful islands.

[@tinamartin8890]

Awww that music and soothing voice. All wrapped up in my candlewick bedspread and my hot water bottle, trying to imagine what life at sea must be like :)

[@MegaBoilermaker]

You cannot imagine how much of a comfort it was to hear a lady's voice reading the forecast on that and ,any other nights.

[@weegiewarbler]

Used to love falling asleep to the shipping forecast.

[@berlinsaintclair9100]

I LOVE the theme 'Sailing By' by Walter Heller. Totally downloaded the mp3. I admit to leaving it on repeat a few times since 😊

[@HunterMann]

Beautiful song and lovely poetry spoken! Thanks for posting this great audio clip. NPR and BBC radio have done some great stories recently about the Shipping Forecast. Lovely to hear!

[@terryperring104]

its not a song. Sorry, but I AM a pedant

[@themeekwanderer]

I first heard the Shipping Forecast when I was 12 and then became very interested in meteorology. My favourite sea area has always been South East Iceland, it was always stormy and sometimes with light or moderate icing and a place that to me seemed so very exotic. I went to Iceland for the first time in May this year (2013) and it certainly didn't disappoint. I have made a few video's showing the places mentioned in the forecasts. Hear is my video of South East Iceland. :)

[@hevski1055]

I always liked Cromarty and now I've been there now..

[@deegeraghty3421]

Lovely to hear 'Finisterre' instead of 'Fitzroy'. It means 'the end of land' - last bit of terra firma before heading out to Atlantic ocean. No idea why this beautiful name was changed to 'Fitzroy', which is meaningless (but must mean something !! ). Thanks BBC for this recording.

[@orbemsolis]

It was renamed to avoid confusion with a different area used by the French and Spanish meteorological offices with the same name. Fitzroy is named for the founder of the met office

[@Grunfeld]

Ah, there it is at 4:50 Funny what you miss isn't it.

[@scottlyman3394]

This is ace! My favourite Shipping Forecast readers are Arlene Fleming and Kathy Clugston. I even named my blog after this iconic programme :-)

[@david552]

what you mean is YOU don't find the sound of a woman's voice reading it relaxing... Personally I find it enjoyable who ever reads it, and given that plenty of women have read it over the years, so obviously there aren't many of you complaining.

[@paulmairs259]

It is mysterious. I used to lie in bed at night - in the dark - listening to the shipping forecasts. There was nothing like it.

[@Sunflowers159]

As an insomniac I hear this regularly :) Thanks for posting it, I was trying to explain to some American friends about it so now I've given them this link and they can hear it for themselves :).

[@kenthemanmcmillan8965]

Writing all this down as a communications officer onboard a submarine to give to the submarine's commander. It was just in case we needed to surface. Don't want to surface in the middle of an Atlantic storm.

[@mikeford1273]

Just brilliant, send a tingle down your spine! Fishermen, lifeboat men,all other ships, with the storm roaring, this is the voice of security, all should be well!

[@diannwilde3899]

just realized I could find the shipping forecast on youtube...should have know. Magical for this American.

[@Stibsart]

I always smile at "silly automatic" (I assume it's Scilly) and "losing its identity" Makes you proud to be British.

[@foxtrotkilomike]

Its a good name for a local rock band

[@timwingham8952]

@@foxtrotkilomike Channel Light Vessel Automatic....now there's a name for 70s prog rock band!!!

[@vicsaul5459]

Of course, c; carry on chaps

[@albertodillon]

I used to listen the Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4 when it was audible in North East of France now very difficult to receive Radio 4 on LW here

[@trut52]

albert odillon you can try the application for BBC on your phone.

[@holyislandexile]

My favourite part of the broadcast is where she mentions Newcastle and Berwick-Upon-Tweed.

[@deltakilo75bon4]

I'm not British although have lived in England for nearly 20 years. I will be moving to New Zealand later this year however will still listen to podcasts of the Shipping Forecast when I settle down for the night

[@cockleshellzero3893]

Explaining the "Fisher - German Bight" reference in the Barry Hines book "Kes" to one of my American friends, brought me here. :-)

[@Gwailo54]

We came back by sea from Aden on the Anchor Line’s RMS Caledonia. We disembarked at Port Suez, saw the Pyramids, the treasures of Tutenkhamen, saw beautiful intricate geometric designs inside a mosque, then rejoined the ship at Port Said. Our next stop was Gibraltar. Our cabin was next door to the radio room and as we sailed through a very calm Baybof Biscay, as we were going to sleeep we heard the shipping forecast, finallly arriving in a cold and foggy Liverpool. We knewxwecearlybhome with the shipping forecast, something we hadn’t heard in about two years or so.

[@robster773]

Charlotte Green was so soothing at reading the late night Shipping Forecast originally at 12.33am now at 12.48am really did settle me to sleep

[@janeburrows3172]

Thank you Laurie and the BBC. Lovely delivery; great video compilation.

[@katemoon2676]

The late and great Laurie Macmillan.

[@joylethbridge5361]

I love to listen to this piece of music when I can’t sleep and watching the waves with the birds swooping over it

[@davidwoods7720]

we used to use Sailing by to tune in the radio in the radio room every night,but then got to love it so tuned in 5 minutes earlier so we could listen to it every night very sooting before my radio watch finished. Fair winds and following seas

[@ianmonahan4582]

RIP Laurie Macmillan 1947-2001

[@davidjanson9900]

Good night listeners ,and sweet dreams

[@azshaw123]

I love listening too this at night..So relaxing..Thank you.

[@farfisa]

...and the film that followed was 'The Next Voice You Hear' which starred Nancy Davis who, as Laurie mentioned, went on to become an even bigger name later. I miss the days when they showed 'old' films on TV.

[@crazyferret9409]

Really well put together. Shame that your page is no longer running.

[@RandomRadioJottings]

Thanks Gregg. I've updated the blog link.

[@GGiblet]

This, on a loop, eternally. Sea, coast and weather. So much love!

[@alanxgale]

I have "radio night" on VHS and c90 cassettes. I no longer have a player for either!!

[@RandomRadioJottings]

I also recorded both the Tv and radio but hung onto players for both.

[@timj6121]

*britishness intensifies*

[@MicrobyteAlan]

I rate this moderate becoming good.

[@madhousetoobah]

Hahaha...!

[@morriganravenchild6613]

I love "Sailing By" and the shipping forecast - it's a unique British institution, I hope the BBC in there "progressive" approach never get rid of this.

[@peterturley8846]

Morrigan Ravenchild indeed- quintessentially English.

[@sylviaroberts8103]

Peter Turley Quintessentially British, not English. It’s transmitted throughout the entire island/islands.

[@MarkPentler]

This smacks of faux nostalgia getting in the way of actual progress. Especially with those scare quotes. It's going. Long wave is going. People are going to have to get used to this. Technology has progressed. Next year it'll be done. People will still get their info from radio via HF or VHF marine band, or via satellite, and that's going to be more reliable.

[@lorenzoboyd6889]

"...wishing you a quiet night" *sigh* ...Lorenzo

[@po2313]

Such a classy lady. I hope to visit the UK one day. I'm American, but of British and Irish descent.

[@jeremyroberts39]

A beautiful, beautiful piece of music 😊

[@terrydawson1153]

I read Kestrel for a Knave with my pupils. In the book, the Shipping Forecast is mentioned and how Casper loves the area called 'German Bight'. It is brilliant that I can educate those at the start of their secondary education about The Shipping Forecast and the role it plays in the psyche of the nation. (Thurs 21st Dec, 2023).

[@TheKonga88]

I remember listening to this on BBC World Service when I used to sit by the swamp behind our motel.😈😈🛀🏄🏂🏂🏄🚢🛅🚣⛵⛵⛵

[@slowdivebreeze1]

Love sailing by.......and im a punk

[@natanianunubiznez]

me too. Also, it is instantly naps for my dog when she hears it and gets all cozy.

[@sv9102]

slowdivebreeze1 I love sailing by, and I’m a US Coast Guard responsible for boarding drug submarines in rough weather.

[@sv9102]

natania nunubiznez this makes my iguana calm down.

[@beaterbikechannel2538]

Same here. 😊

[@SamHodkin23]

Jarvis Cocker, late of Pulp had it as one of his Desert Island Discs, so there's no limit!

[@geoffaldwinckle1096]

I want a football results- shipping forecast crossover. Dogger 2 Biscay 1, Trafalgar 0 Finisterre 1......

[@2010gtoner]

its kind of fluffy,sort of glad your tucked up under the 13.5 tog with a whiskey.

[@Celticbhoy13s]

Dear james. It is quite simple visibility is good bad or moderate. Wind is in 1-9 and rain as well

[@gallitron7803]

Prefer the softer, gentler, perfectly vocally executed tones of the announcers like this lady’s voice. Not at all keen on the ‘delivery’ of today’s shipping forecast announcers on Radio 4.

[@mickdunne981]

That tune is played on radio over here in ireland also.Its a beautiful tune

[@helenpaynter5731]

This beautiful music makes me feel sick - I couldn't work out why, then I realised, I used to hear it when I was up very late trying to get a restless baby to sleep. It's the sound of me thinking, 'Oh hell, that's how late it is'...

[@wellesradio]

No explanation as to why this was the only time it was ever broadcast on television? If only this has become more regular, we could have had hours of wonderful footage.

[@RandomRadioJottings]

It was part of the Arena Radio Night broadcast on both BBC2 TV and BBC Radio 4

[@gloriahowe454]

This beautiful melody is haunting me,

[@berlinsaintclair9100]

I liked the clips that coincided with the forecast. The viking battle part gave me a laugh!

[@frankmccarthy925]

This reminds me of a very rough passage from Azores to Ireland in80s in a small yacht the forecast was our only weather forecast

[@AntPDC]

Just lovely RRJ thank you. Would you mind if I include this in a crosspost?

[@RandomRadioJottings]

Not a problem, feel free. Andy (RRJ)

[@AntPDC]

RandomRadioJottings Many thanks Andy. Best.

[@jimduffy1967]

OK Mike you win,I just love bum notes in a melody,it makes it so much more interesting for the listener.seriously though is that important.

[@DavidChristieCareerCafe]

This is so other-worldly and would be marvellous in a big open space.

[@guybutler5305]

Was heading across the Atlantic then enroute from sept isles to Redcar on the British Steel. Listening to this on watch

[@carpmad22]

nostalgia of fishing days

[@newtonnewton7181]

The Forecast used to also have a compilation of Sea Shanties, whether before or after, I can't recall. I should very much like to know from where the compilation tracks were obtained. Does anyone have some inside knowledge ?

[@Gleysh]

Perhaps the Radio 4 UK Theme?

[@RandomRadioJottings]

Gleysh I think so too. There were snatch of What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor in Fritz Spiegel's arrangement of the Radio 4 Theme used every morning between 1978 and 2006. This would have preceded the first reading of the Shipping Forecast.

[@yoodoo122]

Love the shipping forecast....makes no sense to me but it sounds great!

[@mikemcguinness7265]

What a beautiful voice ! I miss royal sovereign

[@gentsw13]

Yes, Laurie MacMillan had a beautiful voice.

[@curiousuranus810]

I'm still waiting for the classic shipping forecast, with Charlotte Green!

[@yoodoo122]

I havn't got a clue what this means but I love it !!!!

[@jacksugden8190]

I used to listen to this before closedown, unless your at sea, then it’s nonsense to those like me on the land.