that's the weather, for now

7th October

Twitter
A warning from @MetService:

Anyone following @WeatherCorbett beware - this is NOT Dan Corbett but an IMPOSTER! ^JB

And not a very good imposter at that. No -isms?! Schoolboy error.

Still, it wouldn't have happened if the REAL Dan had been on Twitter in the first place. Tweets from @MetService don't count, ^DC.

Weekend Weather
We can finally say goodbye to that area of low pressure that was just spinning around [spinning gesture] for days, almost like you drive off to the beach and the car gets stuck in the sand.

Video, below. UPDATE: March 2012 - The video is no longer available; MetService recently deleted all their old video forecasts from their YouTube account.

22nd July

Weekend Weather
Some of us, by the end of the weekend, might even be using the snow shovels [shovelling gesture], you never know.

You might start off, particularly, say, on the North Island for Saturday, probably like this [two-handed umbrella gesture - squee!] with the umbrella.

You almost open the floodgates here, VHUM! [floodgates gesture] and the cold air works through.

Sunday night into Monday:
Maybe that's when you're going to be heading home from Grandma's or going somewhere.

Nifty move to the other side of the screen to reveal the MetService website:
And any time you can, please, just head to the website. That's the weather [point] for now [nod].

The video is embedded below. UPDATE: March 2012 - The video is no longer available; MetService recently deleted all their old video forecasts from their YouTube account.

Twitter
Then there was this ^DC tweet:

NEWS: Get the extra blankets ready a bitter cold blast is heading our way! ^DC

Comment
Finally, I came home from work this evening to discover that Dan had left a comment on the blog.

*faints*

15th July

Weekend Weather
No Powder Watch forecast for us this week, unfortunately - but we do get a brilliant Weekend Weather forecast instead:

Some showers:
Not a plan-spoiler by any means.

Whatever you're going to be doing, maybe taking the kids away for the holiday break, you've got some great-looking weather.

Don't be surprised as well, Saturday morning, you might be out there with the scraper [scraping gesture] on the car.

If you're going to maybe take the family out to the park for the day, always the details on the website, any time you need them. That's the weather, for now.

Am swooning over the return of 'that's the weather, for now', (in fact, I actually cheered) although no point-and-nod... yet.

The video is embedded below. UPDATE: March 2012 - The video is no longer available; MetService recently deleted all their old video forecasts from their YouTube account.

Twitter
Also, there's finally been a tweet from ^DC on the @MetService Twitter account.

Great British Weather
In off-topic news, this week's Great British Weather show on BBC1 was a huge disappointment, so much so that I might not even bother to watch next week. I realise that not everybody has GCSE or O Level geography, but this was dumbed down in the extreme. Perhaps if they'd had better presenters...

7th July

Powder Watch
The air is very unstable and just, vmph [ignition gesture?], wants to go like that.

Maybe you'll look at the website and say, 'yeah, that's interesting, what does it mean?'

The isobars:
Almost like tram-lines of sorts.

Maybe those of you out there with the wax [waxing gesture], maybe Mother Nature has been listening.

The video is embedded below. UPDATE: March 2012 - The video is no longer available; MetService recently deleted all their old video forecasts from their YouTube account.

Twitter
Still no sign of any tweets from ^DC. Gah!

23rd June

Thanks again to Jacqui Bridges @MetService for the heads up about Dan's first video blog for them, a 'Powder Watch' forecast. (

There are ~isms!

I think you've already been busy waxing the skis [waxing gesture].

You might at least start getting that wax on the skis [waxing gesture] and at least maybe half a smile.

Half a smile? I was grinning from ear to ear.

However, there were grumblings on Twitter about the lack of point & nod / 'that's the weather for now' sign off. I was just happy to see Dan.

Those of you on Twitter may wish to follow @MetService because, if their newly updated Twitter background is anything to go by [see pic], it appears that Dan may soon be one of the people tweeting from their account. Watch out for tweets with ^DC.

Twitter

There was a query on Twitter about Dan's whereabouts. I replied, mentioning that he's gone to New Zealand to work for MetService. Jacqui Bridges @MetService responded:

@ttwfn Yes, he starts tomorrow as our Media & Communications Meteorologist. ^JB

Good luck, Dan! Those lucky Kiwis.

Great British Weather

While we wait (some of us more patiently than others) for news of Dan, more details have been announced about the forthcoming BBC One programme on the weather (formerly known as 'Weather Show Live'). From Mr. Schafernaker's website:

Great British Weather
The on-screen team for The Great British Weather, a new and live 4 x 60 [minutes?] series for BBC One has been announced.

The programme is to be presented by Alexander Armstrong (Have I got News for You, Armstrong and Miller), Carol Kirkwood (BBC Weather) and Chris Hollins (BBC Breakfast, Watchdog) alongside veteran weather presenters John Kettley, Michael Fish MBE and Bill Giles OBE and meteorologist Tomasz Schafernaker.

The Great British Weather is an interactive live series set to tap in to the nation's obsession with weather, as we find out which clouds mean we should dig out our brollies and where to head for the most sunshine in Britain. It also helps to answer our annoying weather questions, does it really rain cats and dogs – or does it actually rain frogs? Does red sky at night really mean shepherd’s delight? Why are there so many types of clouds and why are they so different?

We will see Chris Hollins get up close and personal with the Basking Shark in Cornwall, all in aid of discovering why this enormous creature is attracted to the Gulf Stream.

Carol Kirkwood will also report on the weather, not from the safety of a BBC Studio - but from 15,000 feet in the air as she paraglides into the heart of an enormous Cumulus cloud. How vast is it? How much does it weigh? What does it taste like? Carol gets her head in the clouds to find out.

Specialist Meteorological Reporter and 2010 winner of the TRIC award for “Best Weather Presenter”, Tomasz Schafernaker will also join the The Great British Weather team across the country as they visit Cornwall, the Lake District and Greenwich (London) on its tour with a live and local audience at each destination.

No news of a broadcast date though.

Goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway); this programme would obviously be much better if Dan was on it. Gah! [forlorn sigh]

UPDATE 20/6/11:
Someone on Twitter asked El Schaf when the first episode airs. He replied 'first one is July 13 or 14....I think.'

The End?

Even though Dan has left the BBC and will soon be living on the other side of the planet working for MetService, I'm hoping this won't spell the end for this blog, that we might still hear the occasional snippet or two from him from time-to-time.

There were a couple of hints yesterday that this might be the case. On BBC 6 Music, Chris Hawkins said he'd try to find an excuse to contact him in New Zealand for the show, then on BBC 5 Live he told Rachel Burden that we may recognise the forecaster for the Rugby World Cup (it's being held in New Zealand this September and October).

If any news of him comes my way, I'll be sure to post about it here and on Twitter too (speaking of Twitter, there have been some really lovely tweets about Dan over the past couple of days).

So, this may not be the end of the blog, but it most certainly is the end of an era. Those lucky Kiwis are gaining a national treasure.

To tide us over until we hear from him again, Dan has given us a little leaving present; his own website! There are rare glimpses of him at his mountain lair and an intriguing mention of a cookbook in the 'Dan's Cooking' section.
Let's hope he continues to update it over the coming months with photos of his adventures in New Zealand.

Until then; that's the weather, for now...

12th May

6 Music: Chris Hawkins
There was a brilliant e-mail from a listener for Dan at the start, made solely of Dan-ish sound-effects.

Chris then asked if Dan could put a washing machine into today's forecast. Dan had planned to put a bicycle in:
This is just a pretty ordinary bicycle of sorts but you have to think about when you have a nice new bicycle for instance, you have the wheels, you've got the centre of the wheel, you've got the spokes.

You might remember, two or three days ago we took some of the glue, we nicked it from the Blue Peter garden, from the workshop there and we put it on the back of the low and went, pppt, right on the weather map.

You almost think of the centre of the low as maybe the middle of a bicycle wheel and you've obviously got the spokes. The bicycle wheel's been spinning for the past couple of days, it's just the one wheel, and all the little spokes represent little lumps of cloud, little lumps of rain and little lumps of energy spinning around. The bicycle wheel, or the low, is stuck on the weather map so that's the weather today and yesterday and even tomorrow, the bicycle wheel will spin round spokes of little areas of cloud and some showers will work round, not all of us seeing them and the closer you are to the centre of the bicycle wheel ... the better chance you have of seeing the showers.

If you're looking in the garden or you've been out there in the last couple of days sort of sitting there next to the plants and sort of saying, 'come on, yeah, yeah, let's get some rain! How about some rain?!' and you don't really get any. Well, it'll again be one of those days where there'll just be hit-and-miss showers, you'll almost look at the clouds and they almost start off as flat pancakes into the afternoon, two-, three o'clock they get lumpy and bulbous and those are the bigger ones that start to develop as showers and sometimes even in the atmosphere they're thinking about it, they're thinking of developing as showers and they're saying, 'nah, not today, we'll just do it another day or something' and the showers don't develop.

The bicycle wheel is still stuck on the weather map of sorts with the spokes of showers spinning around. By the weekend, yeah, maybe just in time we might dislodge the low, the little bicycle wheel and just take it and throw it in the back of the garden or something.

Car-wash day; I'd pick Sunday of the two days if you are washing the car or maybe, in my case, the car just gets mucky and doesn't get washed.

That's the weather, bicycle wheel and all, for now.

Chris: It's like listening to a man have a breakdown.

Chris says he'll reveal who he thinks Dan sounds like tomorrow.

Listen again, 41 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

5 Live: Breakfast
29 minutes in:
It's almost like, think of a bicycle wheel, you have the wheel, you have the spokes and that low sitting there is the centre of the bicycle wheel and the spokes are little pieces of energy or little areas of showers spinning their way round across the British Isles.

59 minutes in, before the forecast:
Rachel Burden: That was Ian Lloyd, royal historian, on the Queen, now the world's second longest reigning monarch in a thousand years of British history. Daniel Corbett, reigning [or did she mean 'raining'?] weatherman here at 5 Live.

After the forecast, Mr Campbell calls him 'the earl of the isobars'.

1 hour 30 minutes in:
We still have the same area of low pressure that's been sitting to the north of Scotland over the past couple of days, spinning around, almost like a bicycle wheel.

1 hour 58 minutes in:
High pressure is sitting off to the west and it's just sitting there, almost like waiting for a bus.

2 hours 33 minutes in:
Showers, think of it almost like boiling a pot on the stove. Where do the first bubbles pop up? They're all hit and miss, they're random - and that's what showers are like.

Through the day, the showers will bubble up. Just think of them like bubbles in a saucepan and through the afternoon they'll grow.

Listen again, available for 7 days from broadcast.

5 Live: Your Call
Low pressure:
It will still be spinning around, almost like a car that is stuck in the mud.

Listen again, 34 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

5 Live: Shelagh Fogarty
If you look at the weather map right now you'd almost say, 'well, it looks like the radar's got some measles or something.'

You look at the cloud, they look like big lumps of cauliflower, those are the meatier showers developing.

Listen again, 30 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

25th March

6 Music: Chris Hawkins
Sixteen, seventeen; it's a packed lunch day. Enjoy it, it will be changing on the weekend, not a wash-out but that cold air is coming back, those big blue men from the North Sea, 'ha ha ha, here they come' type thing. So Saturday, you'll wake up, you'll pull back the bedroom curtains, you might go, 'eurrgh!'.

Some interesting weather presentation chat at the start from a listener's question, plus more of the Texan accent again at the end.

Listen again, 41 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

5Live: Breakfast
For the second time in a week I'm breaking my golden rule of never listening to this programme. Today it's because a little bird told me to.

1 hour 30 minutes in:
If you're already thinking, 'ah, maybe I'll put the deckchairs in the garden', you might just want to say, 'ah, hold on a sec'.

A cooler sort of feel, maybe a fleece or something like that.

Mr. Campbell comments on this: Weather and fashion advice. I love that.

1 hour 59 minutes in:
Rachel Burden: Dan the weatherman is a different kind of legend according to one of our texters. "I'm off to New Zealand soon. I will miss his chirpy, informative broadcasts." Get chirpy with us, Dan.

Dan: Well, it's a nice chirpy day. The birds'd be singing if you could see them today, they'll be sort of saying, 'oooh, it's colder for the weekend'.

2 hours 31 minutes in:
After discussing dancing:
Dan: Don't ask me about dancing. I tried doing a rain dance once, it was very bad - actually an anti-rain dance.

Listen again, available for 7 days from broadcast.

5Live: Gabby Logan
This one was a real delight to watch on the 5Live webcam. I never fail to be fascinated by other people's reactions to Dan's broadcasts (see pic) and there were many shared smiles in the studio as Dan was weaving his magic. And there were gestures!

We bring the cloud in, just like pulling a sheet over the bed [there was a definite pulling gesture here].

Different sort of day, you might pull back the bedroom curtains [gestures doing so] and go, 'wow, yeah'.

Gabby: Daniel, I love your lifestyle and clothing tips that are just weaved into your reports ... You've not mentioned parkas for ages, is it parka weather tomorrow?

There then ensues a fleece vs parka debate.

Dan: No, the parkas are the one- you ever seen somebody in the winter dressed up like an Abominable Snowman?

Gabby: We're on different parka wavelengths here, Daniel.

Listen again, 30 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

23rd February

6 Music: Chris Hawkins
Chris is looking for examples of people's qualifications not being put to use. As we know, this doesn't apply to Dan:
I more-or-less do what it says on the tin.

Chris invites himself round for a meal after hearing Dan likes to cook. Why am I not surprised to hear Dan suggesting a barbecue?

Then the forecast:
By the afternoon, as you're maybe stepping to the outside for lunch or something like that, you'll go with your friends, "uurgh, God, it's still raining."

We push the weather front through and, he-hey, sunglasses might come out.

Sometimes with all these wet days you sort of think you're going to come home from work afterwards and almost feel like you've got webbed feet or something like that.

Chris: Dan, you're amazing. Thank you so much.

We hear he's back tomorrow morning too. Yay!

Listen again, 39 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

5Live: Stephen Nolan
Stephen was sitting in for Victoria Derbyshire today. He was pleased to see Dan:
Here's my favourite weatherman now, Daniel Corbett!

So pleased, he even tweeted about it.

Two-Legged Octopussy

With the passing of John Barry, today seems like an appropriate day to mention some recent Dan-related shenanigans you may have missed if you don't follow me on Twitter.

It began when my husband thought I was going to say 'Corbett' instead of 'Craig' when I read the following tweet aloud:

@IMDb Bond23 is back on! It will be released in Nov. 2012 Daniel Craig as James Bond!

After mentioning Husband's response on Twitter, @samt77 replied:

Let's begin the campaign for Dan to have a cameo! The man with the golden hands!

...which soon resulted in her singing 'Dan Corbett' to the tune of Goldfinger:

..."he's the man, the man with the Midas touch"

@Nasalhair replied:

"Dan Corbett! He's the man, the man with the point and nod... the climate god!"

He then was gripped with it, refusing to let go until he'd re-written the entire song. And so, Goldfinger became 'Corbfinger'.

And then Bond theme fever took over.

From his website:

It will help if you know that I've a theory Dan has a secret mountain lair where he rests between forecasts and plots the next step in his plan for world domination, and he has an invisible falcon which accompanies him on his broadcasts.

The Man With The Golden Gun became 'The Man With The Point and Nod'.

Live And Let Die became 'Frankly Absurd'.

Diamonds Are Forever became 'Dan Corbett Is Forever'

Licence To Kill became 'Man With A Ranch' - you may need to read Dan's BBC biography to understand some of the references in this one.

A View To A Kill became 'Dan Corbett Is Brill' [my personal favourite].

For Your Eyes Only became 'Let's Check The Numbers'.

The Goldfinger theme was played on BBC News tonight as part of their tribute to John Barry. All I could hear was, 'Dan Corbett, he's the man, the man with the point-and-nod...'

Two-legged Octopussy indeed.

UPDATE: 2/2/11
There's another: Nobody Does It Better became 'Dan Corbett Does It Better'.

1st January

10:29 BBC News
It's not one of those days where you'd all grab the sunglasses [sunglasses gesture] and go outside [looks up, shielding eyes] and go, 'oh gosh', like that.

There's video, below.

11:31 BBC News
If you've got plans for the afternoon, maybe a nice walk as you head to the outside to greet 2011, not a bad-looking day.

11:57 BBC News
That's the clearer air behind the weather front, almost like taking a squeegee and just going like that [pushes it south], chhhwww, like that, it'll clear the weather map.

12:30-ish BBC One
This is the day when we step to the outside with the sunglasses [holds one gestured lens to his eye - a monocle?].

13:29 BBC News
We say goodbye to all the cloud, off it goes [pushes it aside with a sweep of his arm].

13:55 BBC News
Just like pulling down a screen [gestures doing so], zzhhuh, like that, you clear away the cloud.

At least the sunshine returns, maybe step to the outside, take the dog for a walk in the morning [dog-walking gesture], he'll bolt out the door.

It's almost like you sort of go like that [puts hand on the weather front], the weather front is trying to ease away and it's, 'no, no, no', so a piece of it lingers over the south and the west.

There's video, below.

14:27 BBC News
And then it's almost like taking a squeegee and just going [pushes it south], sshwww, like that, cleaning away the cloud.

Sunday's a decent-looking bright day; get the old sunglasses out.

Twitter
Seeing as I'm so useless at transferring the things people are saying about Dan from Twitter to here, I now have a widget to do it automatically (scroll down, it's on the sidebar to your right). It displays the 10 most recent tweets added to my favourites. If you want to read more, click on 'Join the conversation' at the bottom of the box.

If you're on Twitter, feel free to follow me. Again, excuse the avatar; it's supposed to be an animated gif of the point-and-nod but it's still not working properly.

24th December

10:57 BBC News
Christmas Eve; maybe you're travelling or perhaps going to be huddled round the fire with everyone, the family and everything.

Here's how it looks after Father Christmas has gone, he's left all the presents and he's probably had all the mince pies.

Cold Arctic air is stubborn, so it'll sort of see this weather system move in from the Atlantic and say, 'haha, no'.

There's video, below - keep watching after the point-and-nod.

11:56 BBC News
Maybe you're sort of packing everyone in the car, you are heading to Grandma's or all the relatives are coming round to the house.

At the end of the forecast, Dan advertised his snow update video on the BBC Weather website but, by the time I got to check it, he'd gone.

12:28 BBC News
Hope by now you've put a nice warm parka on your Christmas list for Father Christmas and hopefully he brings it as well.

It's a pretty quiet start, maybe you're going to be having everyone round.

That's not my definition of a quiet start.

Temperatures on the chilly side, so if you're going to be out-and-about obviously the extra layers through the afternoon if you're walking off a nice meal.

13:35-ish BBC One
Father Christmas will certainly need a nice warm red coat as he heads to the British Isles this evening.

13:56 BBC News
After a report from Geneva:
Tim Willcox: We don't need to go to the Alps for snow, do we, Dan?

Dan: No, that's right. For many of it's just the front garden, the toboggan and you're all set in fact, but for Santa as well, he'll be quite happy just to come in [was that a sleigh landing gesture he made with his hand?] with that nice covering of snow in many areas.

Twitter
There's been some good stuff on Twitter about Dan lately - as usual they're squirrelled away in my favourites, do take a look. However, these are worth particular mention:

Firstly, @chrisckmedia with two tweets with pictures - of Dan with a bear. Yes:

Meeting a legend... http://plixi.com/p/65051868

and

The weather.... http://plixi.com/p/65053947

Secondly, @MatthewJRudd with an excellent gift idea:

I want a DVD of Daniel Corbett's weather forecasts for Christmas.

YES! The BBC should definitely do one. With extras, a commentary by Dan and special features.

Thirdly, @Amber_rabbit and @MeganAliceWard both expressed a similar sentiment; Dan doing the Christmas Eve weather was the perfect Christmas present.

17th December

22:56 BBC News
Another weather system comes in:
Like little bits of washing spinning around a washing machine.

23:30 BBC News
As far as weekend plans, if you do have them, maybe keeping warm would be a good one and, maybe for some of us, it might even be the chance to build a snowman.

00:27 BBC News
The snow:
Certainly something to bear in mind if you are going to be travelling out-and-about, maybe heading away to Grandma's or something.

01:57 BBC News
If you've made a Christmas list by now, you've probably put a snow shovel on there or at least a nice warm parka, which will certainly come in handy through the course of the weekend.

Not much point it being on your Christmas list if you need it this weekend.

Shipping Forecast
Dan read the Shipping Forecast. Unfailingly reassuring.
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

BBC Breakfast
My spies tell me Dan was interviewed on BBC Breakfast this morning. I didn't record it as I hadn't expected he'd still be around after an overnight shift. Overnight then Breakfast; I hope he doesn't overdo it.

Russell Howard

A clip of Dan was shown on this week's Russell Howard's Good News.
Thanks to @Nasalhair for the heads up:

Glimpse of Corb on that Russell Howard show on BBC3, comparing American weathermen (manic) to ours (Corb: suave + debonaire)

The clip was from one of Tuesday's forecasts that I missed due to the snow interfering with the satellite signal:

You're out-and-about for the day, it will certainly be the scarf and the mittens and, more than likely, the old snow shovel [snow shovel gesture] into a few spots as well.

Excellent.

Here's the clip on the iPlayer (available until Thursday 16th December) and on YouTube (1m32s in).

Ironically, Dan used to work in the States (remember this great anecdote?).
Wonder if he's had to tone down his presentation style for British audiences?

30th November

Pfft. All but two of last night's recordings failed, I assume due to the snow interfering with the satellite signal.

22:28 BBC News
You'll want to be bundled up like the Abominable Snowman [hunches shoulders] if you are going to be outside through the course of the day.

23:30 BBC News
We're trying to bring in some weather systems from the west, but cold Arctic air just sort of sits there [waiting gesture] and says, 'no.'

There's video, below.

04:26 BBC News
The snow:
Just like we're sort of throwing some flour at the weather map [throwing gesture, twice].

Cold air is stubborn. It's like a concrete block, it doesn't really want to move and it stays cold. That's the weather, for now.

Shipping Forecast
Dan read the Shipping Forecast:
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

Twitter
Sounds like I missed some good stuff last night:

@RohitV05:
Funny stuff from the weatherman on the BBC news channel. 'Weather system wants to come, haha not yet!' Lol, brilliant! #funnyweatherman

@chrisahamer:
The most enthusiastic weatherman ever on BBC News 24 just now! Seriously amusing!

Wonder if he'll be on again tonight.

Dan links - November 2010

Well, we haven't seen Dan for over a week, so perhaps he's gone to his secret mountain lair to devise new Dan-isms for our delectation and delight. Let's see what's been said about him online recently.

Roughly in chronological order:

Matt's Blog
Dan Corbett – Weather man!

I've gotten into watching the 1 o'clock news just to help keep up to date with world events. However, this isn’t the main reason I watch...
Dan Corbett the weather man is possibly the funniest person on TV these days. It's not down to the information he's given about the weather but more so the way in which he puts it across. Even making suggestions as to what you could do with your day based around his weather report. For example, he once suggested how it may be quite an enjoyable activity to go and mow your grass due to the sunny weather before making sure that he covered health and safety by reminding us to wear suncream. People obviously agree with me on this topic as there are quite a few videos of his weather reports on YouTube.

Dan is certainly the only reason I watch the News at One.

Volkszone
This guy is a legend - BBC weatherman Dan Corbett
Derryandtoms wrote:

His 'polar bear' is legendary. Him and Rob McElwee have really upped the mentalist ratio at the BBC Weather Centre.

Ugly Bloke replied:

McElwee is semi-skimmed mental, Corbett is full fat mental.

Ah, the polar bear. Classic.

Bardiness
Lets talk about the weather!
In a post mainly about The Schaf, Dan is given a special mention:

My own particular favourite is "Diddy" Daniel Corbett. Now here's a chap who relishes his job.
Unlike Shufflepants, who appears to have been surgically squeezed into his suit, Diddy Dave always looks like he fell into his as it always looks two sizes too big.

Dave?! Who Hell He? Dan can't be much of a favourite if he can't even get his name right. I don't agree with the comment about the suits either. Pfft.

Doctorvee
Are weather forecasters the most entertaining people on the news?

For some reason, I always find myself paying attention to weather presenters. Perhaps it is the fact that I have had an interest in meteorology since I was a small child.
Or maybe it’s the break in style compared with the rest of the news bulletin. Weather forecasters have much more freedom to express their personality than news, sport or business presenters do. Whatever it is, some weather forecasters are among my favourite television personalities.

The granddaddy of weather presenting personalities has to be Daniel Corbett. His enthusiasm for any kind of weather event is surely unrivalled, and his descriptions are without question the most entertaining around.

Quite so.

Nothing Special
The recent storm at the Weather Centre prompted the following blog post, We Weren't Expecting Rain, which said such lovely things about this blog it made me blush.

The Met Office's recent decision to save money by taking three of their star weather presenters off our screens caused something of a brouhaha, not least round here where we are devoted to the forecast. We'll put up with a lot in these austere times - whether that is the idiotic plan to run aircraft carriers without aircraft or our leaders taking an axe to child benefits. But this is a bridge too far. We love our foggy prophets, you tamper with them at your peril. Forecast-fanaticism is not a new phenomenon - hard to believe but it was in 1988 that the Tribe of Toffs' were inspired to write the deathless lines:

John Kettley is a weatherman
A weatherman, a weatherman
John Kettley is a weatherman
And so is Michael Fish

I've yet to find a musical tribute to Daniel Corbett (he too has an appreciation society) but then it's hardly necessary given his own lyricism: describing the spread of cloud as "a tablecloth being thrown across a table" or the southward drift of a cold front as "a layer of treacle working its way across a plate of dessert".

As I pointed out in the comments, a musical tribute to Dan does exist; the wonderful Brackish Water.

YouTube
Speaking of musical tributes to Dan, YouTube user 'boblflef' wrote 'a random piano song':

'I decided to make it a tribute to Dan Corbett the best Weatherman since Noah'.

Some great Dan-isms in there to keep you going until Dan returns to our screens.

Twitter
As usual, I've been utterly useless at blogging the things people have been tweeting about Dan, so I shall direct you to my favourites where you can read 'em all, (good and bad - you've been warned).
If you're on Twitter, feel free to follow me.
Excuse the avatar - it's supposed to be an animated gif of the point-and-nod but it's not working properly.

8th October

Dan was on 5Live this morning. Thanks to @marxroadrunner for the tip-off:

OMG epic BBC weather dude Dan Corbett is on 5live this morning! =D Fantastic start to my day! Love this guy so much!

Regular readers will know I'm not fond of 5Live, particularly not on weekday mornings.

1st September

Sigh. September already.
At least Dan's here to ease the pain.

10:57 BBC News
After a piece about salvaging vintage champagne from a wreck:
They're off for a picnic, you can tell already, they've got their picnic basket set up.

The sunshine just that bit more hazy if you are going to be out-and-about maybe taking the kids out to the park or something. This is the area of cloud and you say, 'gosh, it looks quite a lot'.

Outdoor plans? A tick next to this day.

There's video, below.

11:32 BBC News
A decent-looking day, a packed lunch sort of day.

11:57 BBC News
We've got a good-looking day. If you've been to the outside already, maybe sort of thinking, looking out the office window or the window in the lounge saying, 'a nice-looking day', yes it is, for the most part.

12:28 BBC News
Many of us might be thinking about a picnic basket over the next couple of days.

12:56 BBC News
This little bubble here, that's our ridge of high pressure. Notice how the weather system is just sort of sitting there waiting because this is sort of sitting in place saying, 'ha ha, no, it's my turn'.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
You can almost imagine taking some glue [glueing gesture], stick it on the high [gestures doing so] and leave it there.

I think sunglasses, sun hats in order for many.

13:56 BBC News
Very pleasant through the afternoon, so if you are just about to nip outside for a stroll in the afternoon, very pleasant.

Now cannot hear him say this without thinking of Janet Street-Porter;
Just a few little spits and spots to mainly northern and western areas.

This thing [the high pressure] if anything just sort of flexing its muscles and keeping the weather systems at bay.

Twitter
My favourite Dan-related tweet of the day:

@RachelHeaton
Daniel Corbett is the king of weathermen. His hand movements indicating areas of high pressure are like watching ballet.

18th August

22:27 BBC News
You'll step to the outside and you'll go [looks up] 'mmm lovely, nice day'.

The trailing weather front still sort of lingers, like a bit of a wobbly blue snake [wobbles hand along its length].

If you need some more details on the weather, of course, keep the umbrella handy [umbrella gesture], of course, just go online. That's the weather, for now.

22:56 BBC News
For some of us it wasn't a bad-looking day, in other spots maybe you were out-and-about splashing through some puddles.

If you're already thinking, already planning, put an umbrella in that bag [brolly-in-bag gesture] and the picnic basket, well, might sort of sit off on the edge, we'll have to see how things go.

Still our wiggling weather front here, like a little blue snake of sorts.

23:32 BBC News
You'll step to the outside and say, 'hmm, very good-looking day' for the most part.

There's video, below.

23:56 BBC News
For some of us today it was a bit of everything; you had some brighter skies and then into the afternoon, late evening, vmmm [dropping gesture] - in come the showers.

The wet weather will be with us as well the next couple of days so keep the old umbrella [umbrella gesture, slight pause] handy. That's the weather, for now.

01:26 BBC News
Looks like the old umbrella [umbrella gesture] will come in handy into a few spots.

Fairly bright; head to the outside with the old sunglasses on [looks up, monocle-esque sunglasses gesture].

British Isles video forecast
Certainly as we work through the first part of the morning, many of you will step to the outside and say [looks up] 'yeah, nice-looking day'.

We push the whole weather system through, almost looks like a bit of a two-legged octopus of sorts.

Europe
You can imagine the deckchairs will be out, fairly pleasant across southern parts of Italy.

Shipping Forecast
Dan read the shipping forecast on Radio 4 this morning. Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.
Ahh, that's better.

Twitter
There have been a few tweets about Dan in the wake of the Gaffenaker finger incident:

@markminto
He should've pretended to be doing an impression of Dan Corbett, who ends every report "that's the weather (points at camera) for now (nod)"

@callummay
It would have been funnier if it had been Daniel Corbett.

@marxroadrunner
LOL!! I always knew his weatherman skills couldn't measure up to Dan Corbett's. He'd style this out way better

@jaffathecake
He's no Daniel Corbett, but BBC weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker wins 100 comedy points for this

@Nasalhair
Dan would never show someone the finger though - he'd just unleash the Corbatron from his secret mountain lair with a point & nod

@iflicks
Ok, just seen the BBC weatherman video. It is actually funny. And also reaffirms my lifelong love of Daniel Corbett (dreamy silver FOX)

@mikewhills (in a conversation with @charlottecook about the aforementioned incident)
Yeah, it's genius. just makes me love him even more. He'll never be Daniel Corbett though [with a link to this blog - yay!]

@charlottecook responds with:
No-one can ever match Daniel Corbett. His ability to make the weather both exciting & terrifying through enthusiasm is unmatched

Exactly.

15th August

Wow - Dan was absolutely on fire today! Loved every minute! Genius.

10:56 BBC News
If you watched the rain patter against the window panes yesterday, a better-looking day for the outside today, you might even be grabbing a picnic basket, you never know.

A dry start to Monday, a bit of a weather sandwich; one from one side, one from the other [indicates areas of rain at either end of the British Isles].

There's video, below.

11:30 BBC News
Better-looking afternoon for the most part, you should be in good shape. Maybe you've already been to the outside and gone, 'ooh yes, nice day'.

Monday is still a dry day but we're getting squeezed from both sides, two different weather systems. This chappie is going to win, he'll slowly barrel his way in.

There's video, below.

Country Tracks
Today might be the day many of us might get the sunglasses out. Over the course of the week the wet-weather gear will certainly come in handy.

It's almost like a weather sandwich; two bits of bread [indicates areas of rain at either end of the British Isles], in-between you've got the middle, that's the drier, brighter weather.

You will be grabbing the umbrella probably from time-to-time through the course of the week.

The first weather system to come in from the west is this one. You'll notice the other one, he'll be very close but I think this chap wins out, almost like a bull in a china shop saying, 'hmm, it's my turn' and he will come through [see pic]. Tuesday, put a tick next to it [ticking gesture] and just say, 'it is a wet day'.

There's video, below.

13:26 BBC News
Caution: this forecast is made of awesome.
After a piece about a car once owned by Diana Dors:
One of those days where you might want to be taking the open-topped car out, maybe sort of put a nice picnic basket in it and off you go.

Maybe you're out-and-about for a walk, say across parts of Kent, along the coast. That breeze there, just making you feel [looks up] ooh yes, I do notice it.

Our little ridge of high pressure just sits and nestles across the British Isles and gives us a fine day. Notice all that lump of blue there, like you've gone like that [painting gesture] with some blue paint and said, 'ha ha!'. That's quite a storm system, maybe you're sort of packing the kids in the car, heading over to the continent.

And then, bfff, here it comes [pushed in the weather system], wet weather. So Tuesday, it's going to be the umbrella day [umbrella gesture] if you're going to be out-and-about at the bus stop perhaps, or wherever you might be, heading out.

13:57 BBC News
If maybe you're out-and-about for that walk in the afternoon you should see numbers up around twenty or so.

Our ridge of high pressure just sort of sits here and sort of hangs out for the course of the day, gives us a fairly pleasant day. Notice the colour to the continent, like we've gone mad with the blue crayon [scribbling gesture].

This guy [the weather system off to the west], he's coming, watch him just spread his way in. Tuesday's the day you circle it [gestures doing so] and say, 'that's the umbrella day for sure'.

14:27 BBC News
We'll all be grabbing the umbrellas [umbrella gesture] as we work through the next couple of days.

It's a decent afternoon, fine for the outside, maybe the friends coming round, good-looking afternoon for the garden.

Almost looks like a bit of a weather sandwich of sorts ... our two little lumps of blue, our two slices of bread, in-between we've got the little sliver of high pressure. So it is a mainly fine, dry day but we are getting a bit of a squeeze, like taking the two bits of bread on a sandwich and going, chwww [gestures squashing it], like that.

So there it is [the weather system off to the west], this one just says, 'na-ha, I'm going to come in' - and he does.

Tuesday, big ring round it [gestures doing so] saying it's a wet day.

The plants will be smiling at least on Tuesday. Top numbers around twenty. That's the weather, for now.

Weather News
Thanks to @JamSeven for the heads up about a video on the BBC Weather site in which Dan tells us about heavy rain forecast for Italy.

Lumps of cloud spinning round like a big washing machine throwing round bits of clothing.

You can really see the colours there, like we've gone mad with some crayons [scribbling gesture].

13th August

10:57 BBC News
After a report about beavers:
If those beavers saw the forecast they'd probably go back to their den, their homes, and they'd sort of be huddling for the course of the afternoon.

Heavy, perhaps thundery downpours, watch for them if you're going to be out maybe at the park.

The unstable air, the heat of the day and, vmm [ignition gesture], there go the showers again, like turning on the gas flame.

That's the troublemaker, let's get it away [gestures pushing it away], bye bye, off it goes. And then, bring in high pressure, but it'll be a north-east flow, so it won't be outside in the garden just baking [leans back, arms outstretched as if sunbathing].

Sunday is the drier day, tick that day of the two days, if you're cutting the grass or something.

More details for the weather, or perhaps you are planning the holiday, of course, just head online. That's the weather, for now.

There's video, below.

11:28 BBC News
All the bubbly bits of cloud are bubbling up.

11:58 BBC News
The heat of the day, with the unstable air round the low, vmmm [ignition gesture], bubble up the showers.

13:29 BBC One and BBC News
This main slice of blue here, like you've gone like that [throwing gesture] with some blue.

The air here not as mean, not as nasty, not as oomphy into the afternoon.

Ten, eleven, twelve to thirteen; those are the numbers that will greet us maybe if we start off early and head out to Saturday morning.

And then, what is left of that thing, bye bye [waves], say goodbye to it.

It's not going to be all the deckchairs in the garden [deckchair gesture].

13:55 BBC News
You're out in the morning, just take the dog for a walk [dog-walking gesture], you might see some of the wet weather.

Sunday:
This is the decent dry day, enjoy it, for the outdoor plans, maybe even pull out the picnic basket, you never know. More details for the weather, of course, perhaps the holiday away next week or something, just go online. That's the weather, for now.

Twitter
It seems Genelle Aldred, BBC Midlands weather presenter, has a soft spot for Dan:

I ♥ Dan Corbett, he's so engaging when he does the weather.

1st August

10:58 BBC News
If you've been out for the day so far you've probably seen the cloud and said, [looks up] 'gosh, what a funny sort of day' and it is.

There's video, below.

11:30 BBC News
A fair bit of cloud across the British Isles. You might not be the first one to dust off the picnic basket [gestures doing so] and say, 'oh, what a lovely day'.

We still have this cloud working its way across the British Isles, so you may not be out there with the old telescope [looks up].

There's video, below.

Country Tracks
We'll keep a fair bit of cloud oozing its way through so the old telescope won't really get much use for the night.

Then we get to the end of the week, this system here, bit of a troublemaker. His speed and where he actually goes, he's almost like playing a bit of a game.

There's video, below.

13:57 BBC News
It's not been one of those weekends where we've all been like this [holds one hand up to his eye] with the sunglasses.

Maybe Monday's the day you're packing everyone in the back of the car [gestures doing so] and you're heading off on your holiday.

There's video, below.

14:58 BBC News
It's probably been a day when many of us have left the old sunglasses at home.

You can see the lumps of cloud bubbling up, almost looks like a bit of a doily of sorts.

Twitter
As usual, I've been useless at transferring what people have been saying about Dan on Twitter from there to here, but they're all squirrelled away in my favourites. To say they actually are all favourites would be wrong (I re-tweet my favourites); it's more like bookmarking what people are saying about him, the good and the bad. Mostly good, of course.

11th July

22:32 BBC News
So the main area of wet weather, which could give us ten, twenty millimetres of rain as it works its way through, which would be some great news for the gardens across southern Britain, the plants are probably looking like this [wilting(?) gesture].

Just a weak-ish system though for the course of Tuesday, just bending himself in [bends backwards], almost like pulling back a reclining chair.

Judging by the sudden rush of pro-Dan tweets at just gone 11pm, I suspect I missed him on BBC One after the main evening news.

23:28 BBC News
Martine Croxall: Let's look at the weather forecast with Dan Corbett. Dan, that's looking a whole lot better than Peter Gibbs was showing us earlier.

Dan: I always like to show the optimistic side, even though there is going to be some heavy rain on Monday and some of us might trip out to the bus stop and go [looks up] 'oh my gosh!'.

Look to the south as this weather system starts to work in and all of a sudden you just watch the areas of blue come to life, like turning on a gas stove and, vvmmm [ignition gesture], there it is.

00:28 BBC News
Driving back to work you'll be like this [gestures driving through the rain; gripping steering wheel and peering through the windscreen] with the old windshield wipers going [waves finger].

01:56 BBC News
As we work our way into Wednesday, just like taking lumps of blue and going like that [throwing gesture], some unstable air, some showers and temperatures lower twenties. That's the weather, for now.

Shipping Forecast
Always a pleasure to hear Dan's dulcet tones on the Shipping Forecast. Not sure what happened at the start (about 1 minute in), but it sounded like someone dropped something:
Listen again. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

20th June

10:56 BBC News
As temperatures creep up it's one of those days where you might be looking out of the office window and be tempted to have a picnic outside in the park for lunchtime.

This weather system off to the west, we're just going to sort of say, 'hold on [holds up hand in 'stop' gesture], hang on for a couple of days'.

12:05-ish BBC One
Many of us will be grabbing the shorts as temperatures certainly warm up as we work our way though the course of the week.

Look at this weather system; it looks a bit ragged, almost like you're pulling the weather front like that [stretching gesture].

The ridge of high pressure is more-or-less saying, 'ha ha, you don't have a chance' - and it doesn't.

Video, below.

12:28 BBC News
A decent day, fairly pleasant in fact, a day you almost want to stick a packed lunch in the bag [gestures doing so] as you head to work.

12:56 BBC News
It's a decent day for the outside, maybe just push the deckchairs into the garden [deckchair gesture], you'll have a fine day.

A nice day for the outside, maybe going for a walk along the cliff-top or something.

You'll be sort of tempted maybe looking out the window [gestures doing so] in the office to head out for that lunch at midday.

13:27 BBC News
As a ridge of high pressure builds in across the British Isles we'll get a good-looking spell of weather for the next few days, so plan accordingly, maybe even dust off a picnic basket [gestures doing so], you never know.

It's a fairly pleasant Sunday afternoon, just sort of sitting in the garden, you've got a good-looking day.

Twitter
According to @TweeterofWit, Dan was on Country Tracks today. Not quite sure what that's all about because it didn't show up on my EPG when I was looking for it - and doesn't seem to be on the iPlayer either.

7th June

It would be fair to say I wasn't having a very good day at work. Then I remembered Dan might be on, so I checked the online forecast, and it cheered me right up...

British Isles video forecast
If you're heading out-and-about you want to grab the wet-weather gear [umbrella gesture]. A couple of showers will work through, some heavier ones too, you might be caught beneath one so definitely keep the old umbrella in hand [umbrella gesture].

And you can see there's quite an extensive blue as well, like you've just sort of, fmmm [throwing gesture], gone like that with a big mass of blue paint.

This broad area of low pressure just sort of starts to work in and it's going to take up residence. Think of it like it's coming in and you shift the car into park [indescribable gesture - see pic, above] and it doesn't move.

So the numbers down and not sort of, huuurgh [another indescribable gesture - see pic] hot, sort of stifling as we finish off.

Dan looked very happy to be back.
And we're very happy to see him back.

14:27 BBC News
Oh dear, graphics fail. Not a good start. But Dan has an explanation:
You can see sometimes the graphics are a bit slow, it's getting into the afternoon [looks at watch], it probably needs its cup of tea.

It feels that bit fresher and not, urgh [I can't describe the accompanying gesture - watch the video, below to see it for yourself], as humid.

Heat of the day and, vvv [ignition gesture] there they go, the showers bubble up.

15:56 BBC News
It'll be one of those mornings, put the umbrella in the bag [gestures doing so], it'll probably come in use.

There'll be that risk for some showers over the next couple of days you're going to keep that umbrella fairly close to hand.

Twitter
I wasn't the only one pleased to see the return of Dan.
@CollectorManiac took a celebratory photograph:

Hurray! It's Dan Corbett! http://tweetphoto.com/26082464

Australasia
The extra layers certainly coming in handy across the south-eastern parts of Australia and New Zealand as well.

Let's see what he means...

Melbourne, you'll see the wet weather, notice the numbers tumble away [down to a nippy twelve degrees, bless 'em] and Wellington as well, keep the umbrella handy, and obviously a couple of extra layers too. That's the weather, for now.

UPDATE:
Thanks to @sirjamesuk for alerting me to this great video on the BBC Weather site of Dan talking about the heatwave in the States.

You look at the weather map to start with and nothing really jumps out at you and says, 'wow, look at that'.

More details on the weather, all sorts of weather if you like, just head online. That's the weather, for now.

Dan links - June 2010

While Dan is off in his alabaster palace, concocting new Dan-isms to amuse and delight, let's see what's been said about him online recently.

Facebook
Oh, what a surprise, another Facebook group.

Daniel Corbett BBC Weatherman fan club
For everyone who appreciates Daniel's unique style of presenting the weather.

On the group's wall:

Cat: I feel very deprived: Dancing Dan hasn't been on the radio lately! has he gone on holiday?

Lynne: He is so dynamic, I can't listen to the forecast I just gawp in amazement.

Chloe: I love it when he clicks his fingers and points at the screen.

Clicks his fingers? Are you sure you have the right weatherman?

Next!

Facebook page: Daniel Corbett
Our goal is to make this Community Page the best collection of shared knowledge on this topic.

There's not much to see on there at the moment bar information harvested from Wikipedia and a couple of bits taken from elsewhere on Facebook. Perhaps it will evolve with time.

And finally, the obligatory joke entry:

Daniel Corbett is a werewolf & I have proof
Weatherwolf.

Ahem.
Moving swiftly on...

BBC Points of View Message Board

The Weather
I would like to let Daniel Corbett know that he is the best weather presenter. He makes it interesting, and I actually feel he is telling me personally. Long may you reign.

In usual with a message board style, there is a mix of Dan-appreciation and Dan-bashing - and a rather odd suggestion that he should appear on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Not sure about that one, myself.

Gay Gym Rat
Some serious admiration of Dan going on in this blog entry.
It's probably fair to say that the author's admiration is not primarily based on Dan's weather skills.

BBC School Report
As part of their School Report feature, the Beeb have devised a series of lesson plans designed to give pupils insights into presenting the weather.

From lesson 3:

SOC is called a 'Standard out cue'. This means it is how the broadcast, report, forecast or programme should always end.

Some presenters have their own. For example BBC Weather's Dan Corbett always ends with "That's the weather for now".

Well, well; so it's not a sign-off after all, but a 'standard out cue'.

Deviant Art
iwanttorentawombat has made another animated gif of Dan.

And still the world still waits for Dan's sign-off SOC to be giffed.

Twitter
Apologies again for the intermittent Twitter coverage on the blog. However, you can see what people have been saying about Dan by looking at my favourites or, if you've got a Twitter account, follow me.

17th April

10:26 BBC News
Gardeners, maybe you're going to be busy through the day, bear in mind tonight, with clearer skies, light winds, temperatures are going to go, fmmm [dropping gesture], straight down.

Video, below.

12:10-ish BBC One
Fair bit of sunshine if you are going to be outdoors with the outdoor plans.

Our little weather front, you squint and say, 'where is it?'.

13:57 BBC News
If it's a day out for a sporting event or family to the park, you'll be in fine shape.

14:57 BBC News
A fairly pleasant afternoon. You might even be tempted to wheel the odd deckchair into the garden [deckchair gesture].

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@LeeConti
I'm sure if Dan Corbett swept his hands across his magical weather-map, he could cast the ash away.

Keep up with what people are saying about Dan on Twitter; follow me - I usually retweet (and favourite) the good ones.

21st March

10:57 BBC News
[Unintelligible] or just a trip to the park, you'll be in pretty good shape.

That strip of cloud, there is our weak-ish weather front and you say, 'is that it?' Yeah, it's just really.

Country Tracks
You'll probably need a scorecard to keep track of all the different weather systems [scorecard gesture].

That's how the week goes, as I say, you almost need a scorecard [scorecard gesture - see pic] because we'll have spells of rain. It will be a mild week but quite a few weather systems to work their way through. Let's look at the first one, this little chappie here, he's going to work in.

That system, there he goes, bye bye to him.

Where does the weather front go? Not really anywhere.

If you want to keep up-to-date or even grab a scorecard for the wet weather [scorecard gesture], as always, more details on the website. That's the weather, for now [point and nod].

Well, I had a good look about on the BBC Weather website but couldn't find my handy downloadable scorecard anywhere ;-)

There's video, below.

11:56 BBC News
A quieter, drier sort of day. Maybe you want to be perhaps out in the garden.

Yes, I was. How does he know these things?

Fairly pleasant through the afternoon. Maybe it's a trip out to the park with the family, you'll be in fine shape.

As you step out to work in the morning, put the old brolly in the bag [brolly-in-bag gesture] because this is what's going to greet you as you head to the outside.

13:30 BBC News
If you're sort of planning already, you want to put the umbrella in the bag [brolly-in-bag gesture] for the trip back to work on Monday.

14:30 BBC News
I think by the end of this week we'll be sick and tired of seeing our raincoats and umbrellas [umbrella gesture].

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@conn1231
I do love how my mum just shouted me because Dan was doing the weather

20th March

10:58 BBC News
Dan stumbles over his words a little at the end of this one. I didn't pick up on it at the time, but someone on Twitter did:

@olivereast Weather man on BBC says "Fine looking gay" rather than "day". Carried on like a true pro though.

There's video, below.

11:30 BBC News
For many of us through the day it will be cloudy and damp so if you are trudging out-and-about [looks down at feet] you might even be grabbing the wellies as well.

13:29 BBC News
Maxinne Mawhinney: Let's catch up on the weather and Dan, you're bringing me raindrops.

Dan: No, well, I'll get rid of it, don't worry. But it's been there through the afternoon, if you've been out maybe for Saturday shopping and you've been sort of trudging through the puddles, yeah, it's been a bit wet.

13:56 BBC News
Temperatures dropping away, perhaps you might grab an extra blanket [blanket gesture] into parts of Scotland.

Saturday's a decent-looking day; instead of one of those mornings where you peel back the bedroom curtains [gestures doing so], say across England and Wales, and sort of see grey, it'll be fine bright skies.

Video, below.

14:56 BBC News
Sunday's your day for the outside, a fine-looking day, a trip to the park, whatever you have planned, very pleasant.

We work into Monday; ah, there's another system working in towards the west.

18th February

British Isles video forecast
Some of us might be digging out the snow scrapers this evening.

You'll be out there with the scraper again [scraping gesture].

A cold sort of day, you'll be out there with the warm coat for sure [huddles - see pic]. Three, seven, that's about it in the brighter skies as we finish off Friday. Then we get ready for the weekend. I think you'll be grabbing that warm coat for sure. It'll be cold, it'll be frosty, probably scenes like that Saturday morning [points to frosty backdrop] as you crunch out-and-about [steps] for, say, the paper, maybe taking the dog out for a walk.

16:55 BBC News
It'll be a day for that extra warm coat, the big thick parka [huddles slightly], three, four, maybe a six, that's about it as we finish off. There's the low, instead of it just going 'vvvv [pushes it away], there it goes', just going to linger a bit.

Video, below.

17:57 BBC News
There he is, there's the low. And look what he does, just sort of spinning around.

18:56 BBC News
Swishy Olympics graphics there at the start and end of that forecast. Will attempt to get a screengrab at some point in time.

Twitter
I wasn't the only one glad to see the return of Dan to our screens:

@EthanRayne Welcome back Dan. Next time don't stay away so long.

And my favourite tweet of the day:

@stefp Dan the weatherman could make the worst weather imaginable sound like jolly good fun.

best weatherperson?

To solve a disagreement on Twitter, @BexBailey6 has set up a poll:

Which of the following is the best weatherperson?
Dan Corbett or Rob McElwee?

VOTE!
The poll is open until February 15th.
As I type, Dan has 88% of the vote.

UPDATE:
The poll closed with Dan taking 89% of the vote. WIN!

Dan Corbett links - February 2010

While we eagerly await his return to our screens, here's the latest collection of Dan-related links.

Facebook
Let's begin in the traditional manner; the latest Facebook group:

Daniel Corbett is a LEGEND
The best weatherman who ever did walk the earth. Daniel Corbett is a legend. His outrageoues [sic] gestures and facial expressions brighten up even the dullest weather report. JOIN!

Crowth
This is a link to the gem of video from 9th December last year. Underneath, it is simply stated:

Daniel Corbett. Half weatherman. Half performance artist. Totally smooth.

Yorkshire Post
Ey up, it's the BBC's Met Office contract renewal saga. However, there was one particular line in this article that caught my eye:

We are accustomed to the appearance of such figures as Susan Powell and Dan Corbett on our screens, arms waving like water-weed in a swift current.

Also loved @creativeview's response to this saga on twitter:

But will Dan Corbett get to stay? This is the most important thing.

Fiction
Too long to quote here, but Dan gets mentioned in a work of fiction. Again.
Can't quite see him having an on-screen bust up with Huw Edwards somehow. Or swearing.

Deviant Art
iwanttorentawombat has made an animated gif of Dan's head (taken from the end of this video?)

Its creator writes:

This guy is one of my favourite weather men ... I've been meaning to make some gifs of him for aggggesss. He just oozes giffage O.O

If I had the skillz, I'd definitely gif his signature sign off.

UPDATE: November 2010
I acquired giffage skillz from Professor Google.
Here's Dan, pointing and nodding in perpetuity.

10th January

British Isles video forecast
Perhaps you're fed up with the cold air, could do with some warmer air, we're trying to work on it.

Twos, threes, fours; the numbers gradually getting out of the cellar where they've been for the past few days.

16:32 BBC News
With that blanket of cloud in place, just like a big thick eiderdown on the bed [indicates thickness], the numbers perhaps won't get as chilly.

The Atlantic is trying to knock on our door over the next couple of days.

The cold air, think of it like a big lump of cement, it doesn't want to move and more than likely will win the battle.

Video, below.

16:56 BBC News
The warm parka will still come in handy. We've had a subtle change through the course of the day, we've brought in some slightly less cold air and you say, 'less cold?!', well, not as bone-chilling as it could be.

Loved the delivery of this one:
Finishing numbers just creeping up there slowly. One, two, three, come on, a bit more, maybe four to the south and west.

Video, below.

17:26 BBC News
For that trip back to work, hopefully you want to just take the parka and stash it in the back of the cupboard [coat-in-cupboard gesture] for a while. Hang on to it for the time being.

With our blanket of cloud like a big thick eiderdown, [temperatures] probably just above [freezing].

This area of moisture that's come in just looks like bits of colour being thrown at the weather map [flicking gesture].

And then a subtle change, finally, come on [beckons the weather system in], the Atlantic, the milder air. But then, as it meets the colder air, bang, the two of them collide.

It's a bit of a battle between the two; the milder air wants to come in but the colder air sits there and says, 'h-hm, try it, no'.

Video, below.

Countryfile
After the weeks we've had we probably could all enjoy twenty degrees and some sunshine, but we still have the cold Arctic air to contend with, but the Atlantic is nibbling on its heels so to speak through the course of the week.

Through the week it will stay cloudy and it will be cold, even though we'll have little nuances of the Atlantic trying to nibble at the heels of this cold Arctic air sitting in place.

Just sneaking in to the picture, this lump of colour here, this is some milder air knocking on the doorstep of the Atlantic.

With a blanket of cloud just like a thick blanket at the end of the bed [indicates thickness] we may just stay above freezing.

Our cold Arctic air in place, think of it like a lump of concrete [holding gesture], just doesn't want to move.

The energy from this system, one bit goes there and the other bit just sits, dawdles. It's trying to come in but remember we've got a lump of concrete the cold Arctic air sitting there that just says, 'ha ha [shakes head - see pic], you can't come in'.

Think of the weather front, you pull it apart [stretching gesture], pppt.

Watch on the iPlayer, available for 7 days from broadcast.

Video, below.

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@LeeConti
At the BBC, 30,000 people work around the clock to fill the space between Dan Corbett's weather forecasts

Feel free to follow me on Twitter.

5th January

Serious weather; serious Dan.

16:33 BBC News
The snow that's fallen, probably be quite sticky if you're trying to clear it off the car or something [scraping gesture].

16:57 BBC News
We finally push the troublemaker, him [points to low], away. Bye-bye, go away.

Video, below.

18:26 BBC One and BBC News
It's certainly one of those nights where we sit in the Weather Centre and we go, 'oh my gosh'.

Watch on the iPlayer, available for 24 hours from broadcast.

19:28 BBC News
Dan appeared at the desk to talk about the wintry weather.
There's video of this below. Yay!

Twitter
Plenty of love for Dan on Twitter tonight.

25th December

Dan was on 5Live again, apparently. Didn't hear him myself, but a shocked twitterer noted a distinct lack of sign-off.

Hooray! The Weather Show! Plus, Dan was on more than once.

Part One - Indian Ocean Dipole.

Part Two - Cockermouth.

For some strange reason, it's only available on the iPlayer for 24 hours from broadcast, so catch it while you can.

Oh, and watch it all the way to the end, even the end credits.
You wouldn't want to miss Dan's dog impression, would you?

There's video of the relevant parts, below.

signed photo

A great signed photo of Dan popped up on Twitter this past week:

@DamonQuerry
http://twitpic.com/tnfau - A treasured family heirloom - a rare signed picture of the BBC's Daniel Corbett.

Truly, it's a must-see.

16th December

Disappointingly, Dan wasn't on the full afternoon/evening shift as advertised on the TBT.

British Isles
Where some of us do get some snow, it won't be disappearing, ffft [dismissive gesture], like that.

18:56 BBC News
The weekend? I wish I could say it's going to be lovely and twenty degrees. I'd be lying, unfortunately.

5Live and Radio 4
a little bird told me he was on 5Live this afternoon, talking about the snowy weather.

Colder air, think of it like a big cement block, it's a bit stubborn to move.

If it's still cold and there still might be some wintry showers around for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, I don't think anyone's going to complain as long as they're indoors maybe unwrapping presents or something.

Listen on the iPlayer, 56 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

Thanks, @EthanRayne!

He also managed to slip a Dan-ism in on the new-style Radio 4 forecast:
The snow scrapers will be coming in handy across parts of the British Isles over the next couple of days.

Listen on the iPlayer, 57 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

Europe
The weather across Europe feels like a bit of a inside of a deep freeze.

Look at the numbers by night, just going [dropping gesture], fmmm, straight down.

Certainly staying in the deep freeze across much of Europe for the next couple of days. That's the weather, for now.

Dan Corbett links #19

We haven't seen Dan for a few days, so let's see what's been said about him on the interwebs lately.

Facebook
Starting off on a familiar note; not one, not two, but THREE new Dan-related Facebook groups...

Dan Corbett the Weather Man

Dan is the most entertaining weather man ever!!

Daniel Corbett for Prime Minister
Here's a selection of quotes from the group's founder:

Well into autumn now, not a good looking weekend coming along, one of those where you look out the window on Saturday morning with a king-sized hangover and say 'Oh Christ', time to dig out the doggies' coats perhaps, put some oil on the cat flap, watch out for those spiky chestnut pods falling on your bonce - oooch! - don't go for the lemonade and Auntie Edna's walnut cake in the park for lunch, not cold enough for the old long johns yet at least so let's be thankful for small mercies - that's the weather - for now

Dan's Manifesto to be published soon! Not seen it but I have it on good authority that highlights will include pledges to cut capital transfer tax on beach huts, higher thresholds on parasol import duties AND - best of all perhaps - the proposed abolition of all work on Friday afternoons and Monday mornings from May to September for those agreeing to perform a twice-weekly sun dance to make it worthwhile.

Get the brollies down from the loft for the weekend, barbecues dusted off, there's a low that's a bit of a troublemaker coming in from the Azores, something of a picnic spoiler, have the factor fifteen at the ready ... that's your weather - for now

Cough.
Well, I'd vote for him.

Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society

A group for the true followers of BBC Weather Presenter Dan Corbett.
His down to earth, amusing, descriptive anecdotes and colourful metaphors create happiness right the way up the country.

And back down again. Hooray!

Not only have I lost count of the number of Dan-related Facebook groups, but I have also lost count of how many are named 'Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society'.

BBC Points of View Message Board
Who is your favourite BBC weather person?
Message #1:

Mine has to be Daniel Corbett. He is always so enthusiastic and cheery.

From such a promising start things rapidly descend into the usual message board nonsense; a mix of Dan-bashing (consider yourself duly warned) and amusing replies. For example, message #8:

I love Daniel Corbett. I call him 'The Bot' because he always closes like a robot with that outstretched arm of his.

The Bot!? o.O
Daniel Corbot...?

And though this isn't really the place to pass comment on The Others;
#9: Neutral? The Schaf?? Pfft!
#10: Nice to see a bit of Des appreciation.
#26: 'John McElwee'?! Who Hell He?
#29: Poula Fisch - scorchio!

'Diddy' Daniel Corbett!!
Yes, a thread devoted entirely to Dan! But beware, there are a few anti-Dan comments - and the c-word raises its ugly head again. Message #1:

He's back!! Our favourite camp weatherman was back on our screens tonight. An exquisite hand ballet and the synopsis is showers tomorrow and fine for the rest of the week. Good to see you back Danny.

You can see me rolling my eyes, can't you?
This is yet another thread that rapidly descends into nonsense. I'm still trying to decide whether the reference to 'Thomas Shaveanacker' in message #28 is deliberate or an unfortunate spelling error.

News/weather forecasts
This thread starts off with a complaint about Dan.
A complaint?! Outrageous. Best avert your eyes and skip straight to message #3:

Dan Corbett is actually one of the best weather men to appear on the BBC for the last 20 years, I wish the Beeb would dispense with their other weather presenters and stick solely with Mr Corbett. I also think he could branch out into presenting shows such as Escape To The Country & Cooking In The Sun.

In this day and age you'd think the BBC would've come up with a way to have Dan present every forecast, using CGI or somesuch.
And, as much as I look forward to Dan's occasional appearance on The Weather Show, I'm not entirely convinced about him presenting other programmes. However...

DigitalSpy
Campaign - Dan Corbett for New Blockbusters Host!

If they ever bring back Blockbusters I vote for Dan Corbett to switch from weather presenting to becoming host. Anyone agree?
"That's a nice little P there, just look at the little fellow, nestling rather like a cuckoo in a nest, just waiting for the early morning dew of Spring... Ah, fingers on the buzzers for this question..."

Waxing Void
Dan Corbett - Weather presenter, Grandma obsessive

For a year or so I have always listened carefully to Dan Corbett's weather reports, not particularly for the weather, but for further evidence of a particular presenting tic he seems to have developed, which gives me a Stephen King style glimpse of his soul.

The fact is, he keeps mentioning "Granny".

For example "It's going to be cloudless and cold tonight, resulting in a little ground frost, so if you're popping over to Granny's house remember to take care".

He just said something similar a minute ago, prompting this post, but I was so busy laughing I didn't catch quite how Grandma was referenced.

I mention Stephen King, because he always seems to paint familiar matriarchs with a degree of reverence and spookiness, has Old Mother Corbett some mystical grasp over young Danny? Does she know he drives a 57 Plymouth Fury in Red? Is her care home built on an old Indian Burial Ground... possibly in Bolton?

Anyhow, I think I shall be noting these Granny references in more detail. It's just odd.

Odd? Charming, more like.
Always makes me think of Little Red Riding Hood.

I Don't Know Do I?
Mr Corbett

What's that, who's my favourite weather presenter? Good question, thanks for asking me. I thought I'd left all that "pretending to like weather presenter" stuff behind me at university and maybe I have for here's a specimen I genuinely admire. First brought to my attention when I went round to my friends house but then reaffirmed by my father, it proves this chap really does appeal to a wide demographic. His name is Daniel Corbett (or 'Dan' to his colleagues) and he's a cut above the rest. His arm movements are generally more animated than your average presenter but graceful with it, no one wants Kris Akabusi telling them it's going to rain tomorrow do they?

He gives you something deliciously different every time, until he signs off that is, then he's consistently resolute as a Beefeater during Lent. Daniel will always say "That's the weather (points at camera) for now."

Daily Mail
Quentin Letts: 50 people who have wrecked Britain
In at 28; Helen Willets. Yeah, WTF?!

It is naive to believe that weather forecasters are there simply to predict the following day's climatic conditions in as quick and clear a way as possible. Forecasters have become some of the most familiar faces and voices in national life. They have become celebrities and entertainers, but most of all symbols of what society - or its string pullers in the metropolis - accepts as the ruling average. Culturally, this makes them powerful.

However, where we once had Fish, Kettley and stick-on cloud symbols, the BBC has now inserted a cadre of pushy modernisers - many of them northern-accented show-offs who speak to the viewers as though they were sub-teen morons.

Ey, there's nowt wrong wi' a northern accent.

Mr. Letts then proceeds to bash most of the BBC Weather Team. Dan is not exempt. You may wish to avert your eyes again:

There's wide-eyed, camp-as-a-daisy Daniel Corbett, clapping his hands together with cruise-ship entertainer relish at the prospect of an incoming front of high pressure.

Ugh. Daily Fail indeed.

Anyhow, speaking of stick-on cloud symbols...

Merchandise
Off-topic, but relevant to your interests: Retro weather fridge magnets and weather symbol t-shirts!

Here's some video, in case you're too young to remember such things on the BBC.

Teaching Expertise
Primary Assembly: Weather Forecasting
Yet again, Dan's name is mentioned in conjunction with teaching. Really, what's going on there? I'm beginning to suspect all teachers are obsessed with Dan.

This primary assembly looks at the work of the meteorological office and the people who are involved with forecasting the weather as part of their career.

In Britain, debating the weather is a national pastime. At this time of the year we’re all pondering the important question – is it going to be a hot summer?

One of the most popular weathermen is Dan Corbett. He’s a hit on YouTube for his flamboyant and exciting style of speaking. He even has several fanblog sites! Dan is the man who has described bad weather as being 'like cold treacle running down fudge pie' or 'like a two-legged octopus'. I’d like to see one of those!

Why does he find the weather so fascinating?
‘I loved the weather and wanted to learn more about it, especially having grown up in the U.S. with its big snowstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes... Every day is different.’

There's even a suggestion that a clip of Dan could be shown to the pupils;

Go to YouTube and search 'Dan Corbett' and 'treacle'.

It needs to be done.

Alistair McGowan
According to Alan Cooper, writing in Portsmouth Today, Alistair McGowan had everyone in stitches during his recent appearance at the Kings Theatre, Southsea.

My particular favourites were Jools Holland and BBC weatherman Daniel Corbett.

Dare we take this to mean Alistair's impression of Dan has improved since May? Let's hope so.

Twitter
Apologies for the intermittent Twitter coverage on the blog. I keep forgetting to add relevant tweets here. However, you can see what people have been saying about Dan by looking at the ttwfn favourites or, if you've got a Twitter account, follow me.

22nd October

We were expecting to see Dan on the News Channel overnight and, when he didn't appear, there was some concern that he wouldn't be able to get into the building after the protests at the BBC ("We are in lockdown, I repeat, Television Centre is in lockdown. Nothing in, nothing out."). Gasp!

However, either Dan had swapped shifts or the TBT was wrong - he was on the radio.

BBC Radio Bristol
I think the umbrella is still going to come in handy ... we can't put it all the way to the back of the cupboard.

Sunday is at least the day we'll start and finish on a dry note. Fine-looking day, that is the one to circle on the calendar as far as outdoor plans.

Listen again, about 58 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

BBC Radio Devon
Saturday is:
One of the days when you take the dog out for a walk but he sits at the door and says, 'no, not yet, mate. Let's wait 'til the afternoon'.

Listen again, 1h 49m in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

Radio 2: Janice Long
We hear Dan was being phoned by colleagues saying, 'you can't come in!' and that his wife was trying to get in for another programme but was stuck half a mile from the building.
By the time I finally came in they said, 'you can't come in and park!'. I finally just came in and they were waving me through.

Wow, just as predicted on Twitter:

@LeeConti
I'm sure when Dan Corbett arrives at Television Centre, the unruly crowd will fall silent and part to allow him access.

While we're on the subject, another tweet worth a mention:

@EthanRayne
If that unwashed mob at the BBC as much as ruffle a hair on Dan Corbett's head I'll be down there with a Supersoaker filled with dog piss.

Plenty of Dan-isms in the forecast:
Through the day some of us might actually let the umbrella just dry out for a spell, until you grab it again for Saturday. Saturday is another weather system working through. Of the two days of the weekend, Saturday's kind of 'uurgh, don't look at that one'.

Just sort of a yucky day, unless you want to grab your wellies and go splashing in the puddles, then it's your day, Saturday.

Sunday is:
A day for taking the family out to the park, something like that.

Janice seems surprised to learn that Dan's wife works at the BBC. But of course, we already knew that.

Listen again, 1h 42m in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

5Live: Up All Night
Not the day for the outside, unless you want to go stromping about in the wellies or something like that.

Listen again, 3h 34m in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

This weekend is looking busy (out to the park with my family, of course), so updates to the blog will follow at some point next week. But don't forget to watch The Weather Show!

7th October

BBCi British Isles
It's been a slow-moving weather system that's kept the umbrellas in hand [umbrella gesture - see pic] for some of us again today.

Temperatures won't hang about, fmmm [dropping gesture], dropping right away.

Down over much of northern England it'll be a chilly start. You probably will be tempted to not the central heating on [thermostat gesture] for the overnight as well.

The dribs and drabs [of rain], come on, clear away [shoos it away], we've had enough already.

Relying on my hastily jotted notes again...

16:29 BBC News
This is the day you've sort of marked on the calendar with a check mark [ticks air].

16:57 BBC News
It's been a slow-moving weather system just sort of dawdling its feet across the southern parts of Britain; if indeed it did have feet.

Some wet weather tonight ... then it turns chilly, maybe the central heating [thermostat gesture]. That's the weather, for now.

Video of this under the cut, below.

UPDATE 26/5/12:
The video is no longer available on YouTube

17:30 BBC News
After Jon Sopel asked Dan if he was going to get wet as he left work this evening:
I hope you've got a big umbrella that spreads all the way across [gestures distance].

17:56 BBC News
Reaches into his jacket to retrieve his clicker ;-) The camera work was a bit dodgy on this one too, all over the place.

Probably out with the sunglasses [sunglasses gesture].

19:28 BBC News
Some of us could be digging out a few extra blankets over the next couple of nights.

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@EthanRayne:
Daniel Corbett controls the Weather Map with the skill of a Jedi Master.

6th October

16:27 BBC News
After a piece about newlyweds compensated for their poor wedding photos:
Anyone who was having a wedding today, you'll probably be with the umbrellas [umbrella gesture] and wet-weather gear.

16:56 BBC News
Almost the day for the wellies for some of us.

Thursday's the day on the calendar, mark it with the tick mark [ticks air].

The weather's going to be up and down a bit weather-wise [roller coaster gesture].

17:56 BBC News
In the studio:
Any weddings today, you'll probably see them with the umbrella [umbrella gesture] in the photos today.

Some spots might be having the central heating [thermostat gesture], other spots maybe tossing the blankets off the bed [gestures doing so].

The air still fairly moist and almost juicy. Go like that [swimming gesture?!] in the morning.

We bring in the high pressure, come on, work your way in [beckons it in]. A decent-looking Thursday. This is the day we've probably marked on the calendar with a nice little check [ticks air].

There's video of this one (under the cut, below).

UPDATE 26/5/12:
The video is no longer available on YouTube, so I removed the dead link - and the cut.

18:25 BBC One and BBC News
Thursday's a decent-looking day, put a tick next to that day [ticks air].

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@dalekwidow:
BBC weatherman just talked about a "little wiggle in the weather front". His tone of voice said: "you sexy weather front, you"

5th October

No Sky signal again, News at Six on the iPlayer is weatherless, BBCi (online) not updated since lunchtime and only caught two forecasts online. Gah!

17:56 BBC News
You look at it [the weather map?] and say, where do you start?'.

You'll get outside in the morning and you'll be like this [parting curtains gesture] with the air.

It's almost like you're pulling it [the long strip of rain?] and it doesn't want to leave.

Thursday's our fine day, put a circle round it.

19:26 BBC Four
Some of us may not have hauled out the old raincoat for quite a while, it'll probably come in handy for many of us over the next couple of days.

Watch on the iPlayer, available for 24 hours from broadcast.

19:30 BBC News
Some of us might even be grabbing the wellies tomorrow.

Twitter
@Chillly gives me a glimpse of what was missed on the Six [shakes fist at iPlayer]:

Dan Corbett (BBC weatherman) said "almost as if I've gone mad with a green crayon". I can imagine him with crayons.

UPDATE 26/5/12:
There used to be video of the 18:56, but it has since been removed from YouTube.
Shame; now we won't know why I liked the way Dan said 'ladies' football'.

28th September

16:28 BBC News
You can see the cloud in place, almost like taking a sheet and going, fmmm, [throwing gesture], like that across the weather map.

17:29 BBC News
You look at it [the cloud] and say, 'ha, gah, where's the bright spells?'

17:56 BBC News
Maybe some of us could be out in the garden enjoying the book, by the end of the week it might be more likely the fleece.

See the lovely yellows, the oranges? That's the warmer air. Then the greens behind our weather front, almost like opening the floodgates, [dropping gesture] whoosh, down comes the cooler air. You might be turning on the central heating by the end of the week, believe it or not.

Central heating? Thermostat cat still does not approve.

UPDATE 26/5/12:
There used to be a video of this, but it has since vanished from YouTube.

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@charbrum:
I love this weatherman on BBC1 news at 6. He looks like a conductor with his pretty hand and arm choreography!

27th September

5Live: Weekend Breakfast
28 minutes in:
Thank goodness Weekend Breakfast is much less hazardous to your health than its weekday counterpart, or I'd have missed some interesting discussion about how Dan does his radio forecasts. It's worth a listen, and too long to transcribe.

Then, the forecast:
If you're peeling back the curtains fairly soon, when things get light, and you say, 'uurgh, God, it's grey', give it a couple of hours.

1 hour 29 minutes in:
Wow, they say they're going to get Dan to do a piece on the 5Live blog about his forecasts - along with his scribbled-on charts. No sign of anything yet but will add a link to it here if/when it appears.
(UPDATE 15th Nov: I haven't forgotten about this, but it seems that the people at 5Live have - I do keep checking on a regular basis!),

2 hours 29 minutes in:
You pull back the kitchen window curtains or something and say, 'wow, a nice day!'.

Listen on the iPlayer, available for 7 days from broadcast.

North America
Watch the overnight temperatures really tumble ... you can see them sort of pulling out some blankets [gestures doing so - see pic].

Also, my friend Heather sent me a message to say she heard Dan on Radio 4 today - and I read on Twitter that he was on TV this afternoon too.

There's a short forecast for Northern Ireland available on the BBC website.

23rd September

Nothing recorded at all on the Sky+ today and wasn't able to watch online. Thank goodness for the iPlayer, BBCi and YouTube:

16:57 BBC News
A decent-looking start, you'll be back indoors for the sunglasses [brief sunglasses gesture].

It's a decent day, one of the days where you're packing your bag [gestures doing so], stick a sandwich in there, sort of head out to the park for the middle of the day.

And you can see this thing [high pressure] too, think of it like taking a bubble, you just pump it up, vvvv [expanding gesture], there it goes. High pressure building in, a couple of weather systems dancing to the north.

There's video of this one under the cut.

18:25 BBC One and BBC News
Nice spell of weather. I think we're going to take the umbrellas, many of us, stick 'em in the back of the cupboard [gestures doing so - see pic] for a couple of days as a lovely ridge of high pressure builds in.

Our ridge of high pressure, think of it like a big balloon, we just sort of take some air and go, fwwwww [pumping gesture], just build it up.

I can already see a few spots, people putting deckchairs [deckchair gesture] back in the garden.

Watch on the iPlayer, available for 24 hours from broadcast.

BBCi British Isles
You step to the outside in Norwich and you go, 'phew, very good'. You'll probably grab the sunglasses as well [sunglasses gesture].

That ridge of high pressure, it's going to hang on for the next couple of days, so the old umbrellas, stick it in the back of the cupboard [very energetic throwing gesture].

Twitter
Forgot to mention, there were several excellent Dan-related tweets on Twitter yesterday. A couple of good ones today too:

@LeeConti
Dan Corbett has just eased the weather upon the nation in such a loving, sexy way. I feel a little used, but in a nice way. :)

@EthanRayne
Daniel Corbett: The Michelangelo of Weathermen!

1st August

16:56 BBC News
Outdoor plans - deckchairs in the garden, trip to the park; you're in fine shape.

It was pointed out on Twitter how rarely BBC1 viewers get to see Dan's trademark sign-off. There were no Dan-isms of note on his BBC1 forecast today, but at least we got the point-and-nod.

BBCi British Isles
Of the two days it's finally the day where you can say, 'let's put the deckchairs into the garden' [deckchair gesture - see pic], maybe a trip to the park, it's a good-looking day.

30th July

On early today, for some reason.

14:57 BBC News
Jon Sopel: Dan Corbett is here - and it's another fine day for an indoor barbecue.

Dan: Well, Jon, you haven't seen the way you barbecue in the summer; you go like this with the umbrella [umbrella gesture with his left hand], like that with the spatula [gestures holding one in his right hand] and you're all set [see pic].

BBCi British Isles
And then we get to the weekend, you say, 'rain at times [closes eyes - see pic], ohhh gosh'.

16:29 BBC News
If you're out, maybe thinking about the picnic, there have been a few showers that have bubbled up.

16:55 BBC News
This system; bye bye, off you go [shoos it away]. And how about a little ridge of high pressure? A decent day for the outside, circle this one with a red marker, Sunday is your day.

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@EthanRayne
Daniel Corbett is the Ultimate Forecaster. The Master Prognosticator. The Yoda of Weathermen.

26th July

22:28 BBC News
What's left of our little weather system of the weekend, this little finger of blue here, notice how it just sort of thins, almost like you pull it apart [pulling gesture], like that [blows raspberry], that's it.

22:55 BBC News
What's left of our little weather front, the little line of blue ... you just sort of pull it apart, almost like a piece of blue plasticine [pulling gesture].

UPDATE 26/5/12
The video of Dan's 05:54 forecast has recently been removed from YouTube

Shipping Forecast
Dan read the shipping forecast this morning.
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

Australasia
Weather system moving across most of New Zealand for Tuesday, so the umbrellas [umbrella gesture - see pic] probably coming in handy through the day.

Twitter
Today's top tweet:

@WeeMcG
Wow. BBC weatherman appears to be bringing us the weather tonight via the medium of interpretive dance.