that's the weather, for now

9th May

No idea how long this has been going on for, but I've only just discovered there are now two daily updates to MetService TV. More Dan!

Severe Weather Update AM
Notice how the cloud is rather lumpy, almost like bits of porridge being thrown at the weather map.

There's a severe weather update video on this Nelson Mail page.

National AM
The weather system:
It's almost like a bit of an octopus going like this [bends arms back - see pic].

Auckland AM
You can see the low ... spinning around almost like a washing machine on the spin cycle.

Different parts of the weather system:
Almost like on a washing machine, different lumps of clothing spinning about, different spokes of little areas of moisture.

Auckland PM
This chap, spinning around [spinning gesture], like a car in the mud for a couple of days.

Christchurch PM
It looks like this; it's gonna be a mucky sort of day, you'll wake up and you're gonna go [pulls face - see pic] 'uurgh, gosh'. And you look at the map and say, 'gee, gosh,' you couldn't put any more blue on.

Weather Bomb

The deep low that hit New Zealand this weekend had been dubbed a 'weather bomb'. Dan had plenty to say about it.

One News
Some video featuring the spinning top analogy and a stunning line of prose:

Southern ocean starting to breathe its ugly, cold breath.

3 News
This one's amazing. The Dan-isms flow thick and fast and (the presenter) John Campbell's face is priceless.

Literally many of us would open up the door Saturday morning and probably see the rain going sideways past the window, the wind pelting the windows.

See this little curlicue here and you say, 'well, yeah, that looks nice,' [was that a laugh in the background from John?] but that's a piece of upper-level energy that's going to work into this thing and you almost think of it like the Energiser Bunny, just sort of work in and blmpf, the whole weather system is gonna deepen and explode.

Referring to the wind arrows:
It's almost like a school of fish. You'll say, 'gosh, he's been busy, hasn't he, with all those different colours?'

It's not going to be a picnic day.

Love Dan's car analogy to explain how multiple factors have contributed to New Zealand's poor summer.
It's not as easy as you go in the car repair and you look at your car and say, 'you've got a flat tyre.'

Then, at the end:
John: Lovely to have you in New Zealand, Daniel; both as a meteorologist and as a broadcaster.

Here's Dan's reaction to that.

Breakfast
Dan gives viewers an update on the developing situation:

You think of the analogy as a top. You wrap string around it [gestures doing so], you pull it [gestures doing so] and what does the top do? It just spins and spins, goes mad.

31st December

There's a video of Dan (at his desk? If so; cool view - and tidy desk!) talking about the New Year's Eve weather in this stuff.co.nz article.

Happy New Year!

14th December

National Weather Forecast
Blimey, when I said I hoped these forecasts would become a regular feature, I wasn't expecting them to be daily. Not complaining mind.

To go with the swishy new graphics, they now have a green-screen. Chroma key!
Makes it look just like a studio-based forecast.

I'd have thought Dan would've been a little more excited, but serious weather = serious Dan; heavy rain brought flooding to northern parts of the South Island.

Think of it like taking a sponge, you push it against a wall and all the moisture comes out [some off-screen gesturing here].

There's video, below UPDATE: March 2012 - MetService recently deleted all their old video forecasts from their YouTube account.

Flooding in Nelson
Wait, what's this? Yet another extreme weather event in New Zealand?

Dan appeared on TVNZ's Breakfast to discuss the flooding. Forward to around 3m 40s.

Almost imagine taking a sponge and you push it against a wall.

It's not like we can flick a switch and say, 'nasty rain band, go away!'

He's mentioned in the NZ Herald:

"It's just a pipeline of rain coming in from the Tasman," Mr Corbett said. "Instead of the weather going straight through, it's just piling in - almost like somebody with a strong garden hose continuing to spray it on the area."

and on stuff.co.nz:

MetService's Daniel Corbett said the high had been like a big boulder in a stream blocking the flow.

1st December 1998

After a short absence, look what is publicly available on YouTube again:

Put your eyes to this chap, this weather front sitting to our north. Tomorrow, what does he do? He slides his way further south and then Thursday, whoosh, like someone's opened the floodgates.

In parts of Scotland, very pleasant in fact. You might even be thinking about going outside for a walk.

Temperatures drop like rocks.

I wish I could pump up that four over the south-east.

That's the weather, for now [point and nod].

Brilliant.

30th September

Weekend Weather
There's so much going on, whatever it might be, maybe out with the family or perhaps you're going to be watching the rugby. And we've got a weather system working in, but you're already thinking, 'oh, it's gonna be a washout, it'll be horrible.'

First off, you look at this lovely lump of colour and you say, 'ah yes, that's pretty,' like we've taken some red crayon [scribbling gesture on hand] and gone, foofoofoo [painting gesture on map], like that.

A tangle of weather fronts, almost like bits of spaghetti thrown onto a plate [plate gesture].

Further south for Dunedin, of course with the roof [puts hands over head in roof gesture].

Of course, all the details for all the matches, you wanna check and maybe you've been writing them down [gestures writing on hand] for the past couple of minutes, wondering, 'what was he saying?' You can at any time go to metservice.com, all the rugby forecasts and planning the weekend, all the details for the weather there too. Have a good weekend. That's the weather, for now.

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

Chris Hawkins
As a regular listener to Chris' show, it was a pleasant surprise to hear mention of Dan this morning while Chris was chatting to Elizabeth Saary before the forecast.

Chris: Our old friend, Dan, has emailed to say, "Just a quick hello to all of you. I'm settling into life well in New Zealand. I act as the liaison for the MetService with the media, doing TV and radio interviews but I'm still keeping my hand in at weather presenting. Please say hello to you guys to you and to Producer Slev and to whoever's forecasting this morning and all of your 6Music listeners." Isn't that nice? From Dan Corbett.

Elizabeth: Aw, that is lovely. We miss Dan. We do miss him.

Chris: Everyone needs a catchphrase and he had the best one, didn't he?

Elizabeth: Yes. I shall finish with it today in tribute.

And she does. Listen on the iPlayer, 42 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

Vintage Dan
There are two videos of Dan from 2006 up on TV Ark's BBC weather section. It seems that I can't link to them directly, so use the old ctrl+F trick to search for Dan's name on the page.

The first video has mention of an eclipse visible in the UK. Wikipedia tells me the only UK visible eclipse in 2006 was on 29th March.
Dan starts with,
Not the night for the stargazing tonight.

In the second clip, Dan remarks on unusual temperatures for mid-October. Delving right back into the archives, could this be the ~ism-less 18:27 forecast on 18th October in which I noted with surprise that Ms Kaplinsky did NOT talk over Dan's sign-off. For once.

13th September

Rugby World Cup
Three new Rugby World Cup forecast videos today, all embedded below. UPDATE: March 2012 - These videos are no longer available; MetService recently deleted all their old video forecasts from their YouTube account.

Hailmageddon
I'm beginning to get suspicious about how many extreme weather events have been happening in New Zealand since Dan moved there.

The latest is 'Hailmageddon', as explained in this 3News video (Dan is 1 minute in).

It’s what we call an upper level short wave in the atmosphere. Think of it like a piece of energy as it squeezes the clouds, [presses hands together in squeezing gesture - see pic], squeezes out the moisture and, in this case, developed quite a thunderstorm that was so intense it was actually able to develop this hail.

There's a similar ~ism in the Wairarapa Times-Age, where Dan is quoted as saying,
Think of it as a pair of hands squeezing the clouds together.

catchup

13th August
On TVNZ, Dan warns of an impending polar blast [42s in]:
Think of it like a layer of treacle that is oozing down from the poles.

15th August
Dan was interviewed about the snow in Wellington by the New Zealand Herald. Here's the video on their website.

Loved the clips of kids sledging on a light dusting of snow.

He also features on a couple more TVNZ videos. First up; Breakfast:

You have to almost think of these polar outbreaks ... like having a layer of treacle that sits at the top of the poles and somebody just gives it a bit of a nudge and it just starts to ooze. In this case, instead of it oozing it's just gone, brrr, straight across much of New Zealand.

Surges of moisture:
Like spokes on a bicycle wheel.

You can't always say we're done with winter until the fat lady sings.

Next, Close Up:

Dan explains what graupel is:
Anyone out with maybe a magnifying glass would've looked at it [gestures doing so - see pic], it didn't have the lovely pretty shapes.

Presenter Mark Sainsbury mentions that Dan has come from the Beeb.
Dan: I've only been in the country for about six to eight weeks so people said when I first arrived the weather was fairly quiet. So literally, I've been here six, eight weeks and to have the outbreak we had in July and now the one in August and people today were tapping me on the shoulder and saying, 'is it something you've brought with you?'.

Jim Hickey [TV One forecaster]: I'm gonna get you re-orientated Daniel, because when we had the last outbreak you mentioned, and I like the turn of phrase, you talked about this cold snap being like treacle oozing, he said oozing down from the pole, and I'm thinking, 'are you still in the northern hemisphere?' we talk about it oozing up in this part of the world, so get yourself sorted will you mate.

Is it just me, or does he do it again moments later?
Dan: The polar vortex [cups hands together as if holding an invisible cup] which is that area of cold air that sits above the poles, I use the analogy to think of it as a layer of treacle, it just sits there and most of the time it's pretty happy just sort of wobbling around. But just imagine giving it a bit of a shove and it just weakens the edge of it and if you vice it enough of a shove and it just starts to ooze towards areas to the south.

Mark: Daniel, tomorrow, where would you not want to be?

Dan: Well, that depends, Mark. Would I want to be building a snowman or would I want to be sitting in my t-shirt and shorts?

Mark: Who is going to be hit the hardest?

Dan: Well, it's not going to be a picnic for anyone.

It's not a picnic by any means. It's going to be an icy blast but I think we'll all say let's put a big check [ticks] next to Thursday or Friday on the calendar and we'll say when they come we'll all have smiles on our faces because we can kick the polar blast out the back door and say goodbye to it.

Dan also appears on this 3 News video [1 minute in] about the record-breaking weather:
The way it's been going you'll probably need long lists and pieces of paper in the sense of not only snow amounts and places that haven't seen snow for a long time.

Finally, Dan talks to Marcus Lush on Radio Live. Speaking of weather systems:
There are several more, almost like buses lined up in a queue waiting to pull into a bus station, they just keep coming.

16th August
Dan talks to Marcus Lush on Radio Live again:
You almost think of a bicycle wheel, you have spokes on the bicycle wheel. This weather system, instead of it just being one big lump or one spoke, it's been several spokes or areas of moisture.

The high pressure which has been sitting, waiting, saying 'come on, give me a chance' it finally builds in and sort of slowly kicks the backside of this nasty weather system out of the way.

17th August
Peter Gibbs tweets:

Just had chat with ex colleague Dan Corbett on 5Live, now in New Zealand. Threatening to send him back cos he's brought British weather.

Many thanks to my lovely friend, Heather, for the recording his appearance on 5Live's Up All Night for me.

The funny thing is, since I've been here, about two months or so, they've actually said, 'our weather was fine until you arrived.'

What's a polar outbreak?
It's just an oozing layer of treacle, the cold air.

You can imagine everyone just sort of dressed like the Abominable Snowman.

Describing a block:
You take a car and it just sort of sits there, it spins its wheels in the sand or the mud and it doesn't move.

18th August
Powder Watch
Ridge of high pressure builds in, settles things down, it takes this weather system and just gives it a boot out the back door [does he gesture doing so?].

If you're going with the neighbours maybe skiing or they say they're going, yeah, they'll have a good time.

Bear in mind extra layers, particularly when you're sitting on that lift if you're going up you'll be [huddles] a-he! Very cold as you finish off.

So you're going skiing, you're already thinking, maybe licking your chops.

19th August
Weekend Weather
At least you won't be like that [touches head] with the hat.

Crunchy, cold, frosty [steps].

Temperatures overnight will go, chmmm, straight down.

Another cold, frosty night, great night for a fire.

Temperatures will finally recover so you'll start peeling off those abominable snowman layers [gestures doing so].

18th May

6 Music: Chris Hawkins
A weather system slowly sinking south ... you think of it like, you go to the playschool, you nick some blue plasticine, that's your lump of rain and you make a big fat blob of it of sorts.

As it eases its way south, just think about pulling it apart, you stretch it, you roll it out a bit more and you put a rolling pin on it, so by the time it gets to the Midlands, down towards the south-east, it's just a thin little thing, you can almost sort of barely see it.

Unfortunately, the plants in the garden are going to go, 'huhuhu, give us some water!'

The weather front eases through, bye bye to him, he's going away.

We clear the skies and the temperatures go, shoom, straight down.

Thursday you might even be able to put a tick next to it now and say, 'yeah, it's a packed lunch day.'

A quick peek if you want to wonder about the weekend already, maybe planning, maybe going to the neighbours for a barbecue or thinking of it or perhaps just head out to the park.

The typical up-and-down roller-coaster ride with the weather, but today is a blue plasticine day with a big lump of wet that becomes a thin skinny thing.

Chris: Intelligent, enthusiastic, entertaining and, above all, unique. Dan Corbett, for the last time, thank you very much indeed. We salute you.

Dan: That's the weather, for now.

Later:
Chris: If there are any reasons to get him on over the course of the coming months we will try and link up with him in New Zealand, get him on the show occasionally. Good man, Dan Corbett.

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

UPDATE 17/5/12: There's video (well, audio), below.

5 Live: Breakfast
30 minutes in, it's Rachel Burden's turn to be shocked at the news of Dan's departure:
This is very sad news, I was unprepared for this ... This is a bombshell, Dan Corbett.

Another hint, this time from Dan, that this isn't the last we'll hear from him:
With any luck you might know the person who's the forecaster for the Rugby World Cup.

Then the forecast:
Maybe you're sitting in the garden across the south east, you look at the veggie patch or something or just your farm and you say, 'we really could do with some rain, we really could use some rain'.

The weather front:
There's not really much oomph left on it. It's almost like having a neon light, you flick the switch, foom, turn it off, that's it.

If you're gonna stand there with the umbrella and the wellies, say, in London, you might be lucky.

Thursday, put a check next to that day, it's a dry day, it's a fine day.

1 hour 28 minutes in:
Get to about lunchtime, maybe you're heading out for a packed lunch or something, or maybe grabbing a sandwich from the office, you'll see some rain.

1 hour 59 minutes in, after a report about penguins:
Not quite penguin weather, but it's not a bad-looking day.

2 hours 29 minutes in. The weather front:
Just like pulling a piece of blue plasticine apart, it's a big thick wodge and you go, chwww, stretch it.

I think you might still need the old watering can on the garden.

Thursday though, by-and-large, it's just a decent dry day. You can put a tick next to the day and say, 'yeah, it's a good day for the outside'.

Rachel: Thank you very much for your authority and gentle eloquence.

Listen again, available for 7 days from broadcast.

5 Live: Victoria Derbyshire
Victoria tells us this was supposed to be Dan's penultimate broadcast. It ended up being his last due to Prime Minister's Questions. :'-(

Maybe you're standing there looking at the raindrops fall past the window.

The weather front:
The main energy from it is just taking a jet plane and going, fyooow, straight into the North Sea.

Listen again, 1 hour 30 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

26th April

5 Live: Morning Reports
I think some of us might step to the outside this morning and go, 'oooh, gosh!'. A different feel.

Listen again, 28 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

6 Music: Chris Hawkins
After a discussion about Twitter:
Chris: I had the pleasure of stumbling across the Dan Corbett fan tribute Twitter site.

Dan: Ah, yes.

Chris: The 'That's The Weather, For Now' pages, which lead to transcriptions of your broadcasts, Dan.

Dan: Well, this will be put down in history, this broadcast, even now as we speak.

Chris: As we speak it's being catalogued and no doubt later it will appear word-for-word online.

Woah! Meta.

After they'd finished talking about me (there was more); the forecast:

I think we're going to have to be busy with the old levers in the Weather Centre.

You might step outside, maybe across the East Midlands and you might just go, 'wooargh, gosh'.

There could be the risk of some showers for the Royal Wedding, but we are trying to work with the levers in the Weather Centre and just sort of tweak them so maybe we can slow that weather system down.

We bring in that weather system that's sort of sitting across the near continent and now he's going to slowly march his way in almost like sort of just bending his arm breuugh, like that.

The twenties, we've just sort of taken, put them on the side and they're just gonna sit there on the shelf for a few days.

Later, Chris tells us that was Dan's last 6 Music forecast for a while.

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

5 Live: Breakfast
30 minutes in:
Remember last week we had that lovely warm conveyor of air feeding the warm air from the continent? It's almost like somebody today, they've turned it round, put it into reverse and now it's the cooler air working in across the British Isles. And some of you might step outside this morning and ... you might go, 'phwoo, boy! I think I need a fleece.'

59 minutes in:
Michael Fish does the weather with Dan apparently 'hiding under the desk if I go and say anything wrong.'

Legends, the pair of 'em.

Listen again, available for 7 days from broadcast.

And there's video:

2nd April

5Live: Breakfast
You think of a big neon light, that's our weather system that's coming across, glowing, zzzzh, and all of a sudden you just pull the plug on it, chwww, and it just stops.

Listen again, 27 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.

5Live: Christian O'Connell
The weather front further south, there's nothing really on it, it's almost like having a neon light, you sort of plug it in, it goes zzzh, and then you let it go and, tsss, and that's what it is, it dies out.

I was watching this live on the 5Live website (you know my love of watching others' reactions to Dan) and, at this ~ism, show guest Dermot O'Leary punched his chest twice and pointed at Dan, then after the forecast leaned over and gave him a thumbs up.

Listen again, about 32 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

Watch carefully for a brief glimpse or two of Dan:

Dan's also on the World video forecasts today.

10th March

UK Video Forecast
See that area of white there, like I've gone pthoom with a big white paintbrush.

Europe forecast
This little finger here, like I've just sort of been busy with my artwork; that's a lump of wet weather.

Australasia forecast
Almost like you've taken some blue paint and gone, fmmm [throwing gesture] like that.

23:29 BBC News
The weather's having a bit of a battle. You've got some cold Arctic air that's trying to work into the northern parts of the British Isles, further south it's not too bad but the two different air masses certainly having a bit of a go at each other.

23:56 BBC News
It's one of those mixed sort of days. For some of us, the snow shovel [snow shovel gesture], in other spots probably a light jacket will be fine. In a few other places, yes, the wet-weather gear will probably come in handy.

00:56 BBC News
The weather's having a bit of a tug-of-war with the calendar. I think at the moment it's trying to say March, but it's almost like going like that [gestures jumbling up calendar], trying to flip the pages and more than likely for some of us it feels perhaps like January or February.

Remember the cold air? It's trying to ooze down and it's almost like you go, fffff [hose gesture], you spray it with a big white cannon of sorts.

01:26 BBC News
The main weather system is this lump of colour here. It's like a big blue sausage of sorts, sort of oozing its way up.

These lumps of white, like I've put some cotton wool in it [gestures dabbing screen]. No, that's the cold air.

There's video, below.

Radio 2: Janice Long
I imagine this picture of somebody taking a calendar, you have two people, one on either side saying, 'no, put it on March', 'no, January', 'no, March'.

The cold Arctic air or, as I call it, the big blue men who are just sort of sitting there, 'huhurr, we're coming'.

You head out the door in the morning and it's just sort of like, right, what do I need this morning? You need the warm coat, you need the snow shovel in some spots and in other places it might just be an umbrella and in a few places today ... a light jacket, maybe hold onto your hat and you'll be fine.

The cold air is sort of working into it and going, 'haha, I'm coming!'

As I say, it's one of those, 'no it's January', 'no, it's March', you know, on the calendar.

Listen again, about 1h 15m in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

Shipping Forecast
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

5th March

23:29 BBC News
Tomorrow we'll say, 'off you go, bye bye' to the weather system [dismissive sweep of the arm].

Outdoor plans? Maybe even a trip to the park, nice as we finish off the day.

00:27 BBC News
Maybe heading to France for the day? Germany? Nice weather. Heading to eastern parts of Europe? Take your warm coat. Look at Bucharest, three degrees [sharp intake of breath, huddles], ugh, cold.

Tuesday; some subtle changes. That warm coat; you might want to think about where it is.

01:26 BBC News
Step to the outside across the East Midlands, it looks like a bit of Swiss cheese really, lumps of cloud here and there [waves hands across the map].

The cloud is just sort of floating around [more hand waving] like taking some checkers and moving them round a checkerboard of sorts. It's a decent dry day. Head to the outside, wash the car, should be OK.

Not bad for the afternoon if you're maybe out-and-about, maybe go see the neighbours or something like that, they're coming round.

By Tuesday, oh, things start to change.

05:57 BBC News
With a ridge of high pressure sitting across the British Isles for the day, it might be one of those days where you peel back the bedroom curtains [gestures doing so] and go, 'oooh, wow, a good-looking day'.

UK Video Forecast
It's just a decent afternoon, maybe you're outside washing the car [gestures doing so] or something.

Europe
Across the western parts of Europe it looks like a lovely Spring day for the most part, a fine day for the gardens in many areas.

Across eastern parts of Europe yes, you can see, it's like [energetic salt-cellar gesture - see pic] that, just shaking a salt shaker, this is the cold Arctic air.

See the awesome salt-cellar gesture in action here.

North America
A storm system:
A good little oomph there.

On its northern edge we've gone mad with a big white roller [paint-roller gesture - see pic].

It's a soggy old day maybe heading out-and-about towards the beach for parts of Florida.

Central America and Caribbean
It won't be the day for the sunbathing in Nassau.

No sound on the South America forecast!

5Live: Up All Night
Rain in the Philippines:
Think of it like squeeezing a sponge.

In Italy:
There's been a low that's been lingering like an unwanted house guest.

In the UK:
High pressure has come to visit us for the day.

Listen again, 3h 27m in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

Shipping Forecast
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

4th March

UK Video Forecast
This is it really and you'll say, 'wow, that's the weather front'.

As we go in to the evening hours, what is the weather front [see pic] yeah, what is the weather front?, slowly sinks away.

23:29 BBC News
Maybe you step outside in the morning and you might go, 'phew, wow'.

There's video, below.

23:56 BBC News
THIS is why I've missed Dan on the TV. Genius:

There's a weak weather system spreading across the British Isles for the weekend. You blink, you miss it and then you look at the weather map and you probably say, 'is that it?!'.

It will feel chilly though, so you might grab those extra layers, maybe you're in the high street for Saturday shopping.

The main energy has gone well east, so it's really just- think of it like a piece of cloud, you pull it apart [gestures doing so].

Temperatures don't hang about with clearer skies, phooom [dropping gesture], straight down.

It's a grey start here, it might be sort of eee [looks up, pulls face] as you step out.

It just sort of, uh [gestures trying to push a stubborn area of cloud south], come on, move it, slooowly, there it goes.

What is the little weather front sinking south and there he goes [nods], he's getting the hint now, off he goes, that's it [pushes it away].

00:27 BBC News
You might see the odd bit of patchy fog early on if you're out early sort of taking the dog out for a walk or something [dog-walking gesture].

Bits and pieces of cloud floating around [waves hands around the map] like bits of er- checkers floating around a checkerboard of sorts.

01:55 BBC News
You look at it and you say, 'wow, is that it?' because the main energy on the weather front is well east, so think of it like taking a little blue string and you go, 'wooooargh', like pull it apart [gestures doing so].

There's video, below.

North America Video Forecast
On its top edge, yes, it looks lovely, doesn't it? Like painting it white [painting gesture], a decent area of snow.

Central America Video Forecast
One little cluster of storms sitting well east, all really just affecting seagulls.

5Live: Up All Night
Indian Summer in Argentina:
You can imagine them dancing around there.

In Australia:
It's been so wet that all the people are probably starting to grow webs on their fingers, believe it or not.

Listen again, 3h 29m in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

Shipping Forecast
Read in Dan's ever-reassuring tones.
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

2nd March

For the first time, we have Dan on every single one of the World video forecasts today.

However, I noted he wasn't wearing the same tie in all of them, so I suspect he was probably on World yesterday (none of the World forecasts would play when I tried them last night).

Europe
Orange tie, probably yesterday.
There's the area of low pressure - and, look; through the day it more-or-less just sort of sits there, like it's got a bit of glue stuck on the back of it.

There's video of this forecast here. Not sure why I can't embed it.

Africa
Orange tie again.
Those showers of the day, as we work towards the night, you flick a switch [gestures doing so], fmmm, like turning off the gas flame, they'll disappear, but a few little renegades. And then by day the cloud bubbles up and, boom, there they go again.

British Forces News (21 minutes in, grey tie)
Good lump of colour, like we've been flicking blue paint at the weather map.

UPDATE 4/3/11
I hear he's been on World all week.

17th February

More World video forecasts again today.

Europe
Further north and east, notice how the temperatures go, feeeeeuuu [makes downward slide gesture], straight down.

The cold air is just sort of having a bit of a think.

The cold air is sitting there and it's sort of just thinking, hu-hurr, it's going to start sinking its way slowly south and west.

There's video of this forecast here which I can't seem to be able to embed.

North America
Prepare to be awed by Dan's genius:
Look at this area of white here. It's almost like you've just gone mad with a big white roller [energetic roller gesture], that's some decent snow for the Sierra Nevadas. You can see the skiers going, 'yeh-he-hey!' [shakes both fists in celebration].

L.A., probably standing at the bus stop with the old umbrella [umbrella gesture].

East and South-East Asia
The low winding up, vmmm, off it goes.

Working south and east we'll just see a smattering of showers, almost like you flick a few on the weather map like lumps of paint [flicking gesture].

British Forces News
For many of us across much of Europe, the warm parkas have probably been stashed to the back of the cupboard [coat-in-cupboard gesture].

Notice a few little specks of white, it's not like somebody with a salt shaker [gestures shaking salt cellar].

More cyclones batter Australia
Further news on the cyclones in Australia.

7th January

11:56 BBC News
It's either wellies or it's snow shovels into a few spots.

12:55 BBC News
It's a mixed sort of day for us today. For some of us it's the wellies [looks down], in other spots you've had the old snow scraper out [scraping gesture].

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
The snowmen might sort of be going like that [indicates melting with dropping gesture] by the end of the day.

This weather system, we've had enough of him, come on, off you go, bye bye [pushes it off to the west]

There's video of the 10:56, below.

6th January

10:56 BBC News
Not quite sure what Simon McCoy was up to at the start of this, but there was clearly something amusing. There's video, below.

Today's one of those days, you step to the outside you'll certainly want the extra layers, maybe you even nipped back in for an extra one or two.

12:56 BBC News
Today's one of those days where that parka would certainly come in handy. For a few of us it's the umbrella [umbrella gesture] and in a few other spots you might even need the old snow scraper [scraping gesture].

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
The cold air is trying to come back down, you think of it like a big layer of blue treacle, it's oozing its way south.

The cold air oozes its way south, like our layer of blue treacle.

13:56 BBC News
We take the first lump of blue, that goes away, bye bye [pushes it off to the Continent], then we bring in the next thing, all sort of connected like a piece of garland on a Christmas tree.

5th January

10:56 BBC News
The extra layers certainly coming in handy for some of us through the course of the day, you might even need the old snow scraper on the car [scraping gesture?].

There's video, below.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
The snow shovels and the parkas will certainly come in handy.

2nd January

Peppered throughout today's forecasts were several references to weather systems as chappies, guys or fellows. Excellent.

10:55 BBC News
The stubborn low cloud across the British Isles is a bit like an unwanted house guest; it comes for Sunday lunch, a week later still eating the left-overs - that's the case with the cloud.

A chilly feel if you are out for that Sunday walk, you'll certainly want an extra layer or two.

That little system, he's going to skip away, bye bye.

11:15 BBC One
This system just sort of slowly eases its way down, trying to open the floodgates for the cold air, but it's almost like, just a little bit, of sorts.

Between the two of them they have a bit of a weather sandwich going on.

This little chappie skips across parts of Scotland, some rain, some sleet, some snow. There he goes.

There's video, below.

11:28 BBC News
You step to the outside or maybe peel back the bedroom curtains [parting curtains gesture], it still looks a bit 'eeee' to the outside.

13:27 BBC News
It's been a grey sort of day. If you happened to sleep in, as you pulled back the bedroom curtains [parting curtains gesture] you might've gone, [pulls face] 'ooh, gosh'.

13:55 BBC News
If you've been out for a walk and you've come back and you've gone [looks up], 'mmm, yeah'.

One weak weather front, it just looks like a mess, almost like we've just gone [throwing gesture], brrr, like that with a big lump of grey paint of sorts.

14:29 BBC News
Look at this, it's almost like we've just gone like that [throwing gesture], bmph, with a big lump of flour and spread it across the British Isles.

What is this weak little system just spinning around, he's just going to more-or-less sit there, almost like you stick some glue on him [rubs map] and leave him alone.

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.

31st December

10:56 BBC News
So there's that little weather front, just sort of going like this, shooom [pushes it south], just clearing away the cloud.

11:30 BBC News
It's almost like taking a big sheet and just sort of going, foomph [throwing gesture], like that.

12:27 BBC News
Weather front, pushing him south, almost with a squeegee sort of cleaning the plate [pushes it south].

13:05-ish BBC One
For two-thousand-eleven you might want to keep a couple of extra layers handy.

There's video of the 11:58, below.

Happy New Year!

26th December

Blimey, another day of Dan! Not that I'm complaining, mind.

11:25-ish BBC One
Catch your breath, then the rest of the week; a brief thaw, probably about that big [indicates size with hands - approximately 15cm I reckon].

This high pressure saying, 'haha, I'm back!'.

13:25 BBC News
We've got a bit of a battle going on over the next couple of days. We've got the cold Arctic air sitting in place, think of that like a cement block; we've got some air from the Atlantic trying to work in and the two having a bit of a shoving match.

Maybe you've been out through the day, you've probably come back in going, [looks frozen solid] 'gosh'. You'll still need the extra layers.

Dan presented a snow update again. I managed to watch it while it was still Dan on the video but, like the paintings at Hogwarts, by the time I got round to blogging today's Dan-isms he'd gone.

There's video of him presenting a forecast here. It's labelled as a national forecast, which I would take to be one broadcast on BBC1, but it doesn't seem to be the 11:25. Perhaps it's one of the News Channel ones. Not quite sure why I can't see the video URL to embed it here.

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.

23rd December

10:56 BBC News
Everyone, perhaps, packing the children in the car [gestures doing so] over the next few minutes or maybe you're heading away tomorrow, you want to know what the roads are going to be like.

You'll probably be bundled up like this [hunches shoulders] if you're going to Grandma's maybe today or tomorrow.

There's video, below.

Christmas Day:
Could be one of the coldest nights ... so crunching out-and-about [steps].

11:31 BBC News
Anyone probably taking everyone, packing everyone into the back of the cars, you want to bear-in-mind what the weather has been.

11:56 BBC News
Brace yourselves for this potential 'Dan-ism of the Year' candidate. After a piece about fossils:
If you had any dinosaurs about they would take one look at the cold, they would look like that [hunches shoulders], literally frozen in time.

As Father Christmas comes through the course of the night, it'll be a bone-chilling night, you might hear him scraping off the sled [scraping gesture].

If you are out after [slight pause, holding his stomach like he's going to burp] quite a big meal, it'll be bone-chilling, you might want the extra layers.

12:56 BBC News
Hopefully you've put a nice warm parka on your Christmas list. It would certainly come in handy, if not perhaps a couple of weeks ago.

If you're heading out, maybe that lovely walk in the afternoon, certainly the extra layers.

13:15-ish BBC One and BBC News
At least when Father Christmas comes, I think he'll have at least a lovely nice white patch on the front garden to land the sleigh in [gestures smoothness of the snow] and enjoy things.

Christmas Day, after nice lovely warm meal you'll probably have a [slight pause, during which the word 'nap' sprang to mind] perhaps a chilly step to the outside. You'll want the extra layers.

There's video of that first Dan-ism, below.

13:55 BBC News
Maybe you are planning, heading out for the evening, maybe you are going to Grandma's or taking the family away.

Crunchy [steps] as you step to the outside maybe for early service perhaps on Christmas Day.

15th December

UK Snow Update
Looks like many of us could be digging out the snow shovels and snow scrapers over the next couple of days.

You can see the cold Arctic air just coming in, oozing down like somebody's tipped some treacle on the weather map.

Watch it on the BBC Weather site.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
We bring in a northerly wind and, as you've gone like that [throwing gesture?] shaking some talcum powder, but that is snow.

13:55 BBC News
Temperatures; like flicking a switch [gestures doing so], vmmm, they drop away.

There's video, below.
Daily Fail reporters: avert your eyes when he gets to Devon.

14th December

10:55 BBC News
Carrie Gracie: Now what's Dan betting on a white Christmas? Here he is.

Dan: Well I tell you, I was doing a snow dance the other day and God knows what'll happen.

Then we go towards the course of Thursday, and it's like a big two-legged spider. This is the thing. Cold air here and you open the floodgates, there they are [indicates floodgates?] and vmmm [dropping gesture], down you bring the cold air.

Excellent, it's on YouTube (embedded below).

11:29 BBC News
Quite a change in temperature. This air that's not too bad [pulls face] and that air, nah, that's rather cold, that's cold Arctic stuff ... and the whole thing's going to go, vmmm [pushes it through], straight through. By Friday we'll all be like this [hunches shoulders, looking cold] at the bus stop.

11:56 BBC News
Met Office early warning for snow and for ice. You go, 'ohhh gosh'. Yeah. Bear it in mind.

What is initially rain, you say, 'ah, it's just some wet weather.' Look at this, the snow coming down.

So Thursday into Friday, all the mittens, the parkas and maybe even the snow shovel [snow shovel gesture].

12:37 BBC News
Dan's name popped up during an interview with David Williams from Ladbrokes about the odds of a white Christmas:

Rachel Schofield: When you're working out your odds, are you just watching Dan Corbett like we are, our weather presenters on the BBC, or have you got special scientific advisers dotted around in clever places.

[Hmm, don't like the implication that Dan isn't scientific. Shakes fist at Rachel.]

David: Where Dan Corbett leads, the nation follows [they both laugh], simple as that. It's true. The thing is, because we had the cold snap in November and now we're coming to another one, this has been on the radar of customers for much longer. Normally it's around about now that people start, 'you know, will it be a white Christmas?', people were talking about this in November because we had that cold snap. Of course, every single word that Dan issues, every single bulletin we get on the BBC, on the weather forecast, that is what is changing our odds because people are behaving on the back of that. It's not quite science but it's not a million miles off.

Proof that I'm not the only one hanging on Dan's every word.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
Sophie Raworth: Dan Corbett with the weather. Are we going to have a white Christmas?

Dan: Everyone wants to know and all the children are probably going, 'yes, yes, yes' [rubs hands together?]. It's actually still too early to tell but, the way it's going with the cold air we would say oh my gosh, the snowmen are probably putting smiles on their faces if they could.

The cold air comes, fmmm, straight down [dropping gesture], that is the change by the end of the week - Arctic air. So all those warm parkas, pull them back out.

Did anyone seriously put them away?!

13:55 BBC News
And all the children are saying, 'yes, white Christmas' [rubs hands together].

There was a -99 on the map during this forecast. I wouldn't have mentioned it (like I didn't mention it when there was a -99 the other week, in almost the same location) but the Daily Fail chose to pick up on it.

Notice the image there; the -99 isn't in a coloured box, therefore it isn't temperature. Daily Fail indeed.
The comments are worth a read though.

7th December

11:57 BBC News
The snow, it's still a bit of a headache. Instead of a nice snowman in the garden, it's rather bit of a menace if you are planning on travelling over the course of the next twenty-four hours.

With the clearer skies the numbers will go, phooom [one-handed dropping gesture], straight down.

Temperatures set to rise above freezing:
So maybe the snowman in the garden will be going like this [bobs down and indicates height of melting snowman].

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
By the end of the week we bring in some slightly less cold air ... that'll help melt the snowman.

At least the snowman in the garden might finally melt.

There's video of the 13:56 below. Watch out for the 'voila!'.

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?

1st December

22:28 BBC News
Further north we keep the easterly flow going, almost like a snow cannon, just feeding in these snow showers.

Remember, cold air is rather stubborn; it's like having a cement block and you're trying to move it [gestures doing so], it doesn't really want to.

22:57 BBC News
What will it feel like [stands straight, looking frozen, sucks air through teeth] standing at the bus stop? Well below freezing.

There's the low. Bye bye, off he goes.

23:31 BBC News
The snow:
Could make the drive into work a real pain in the bottom.

Cold air's like a big old stubborn whatsit; it doesn't like to move.

I actually gasped.
There's video of those strong words, below.

00:28 BBC News
The snow:
It's still there. It's like we've just gone like that [painting gesture] with white paint and left it there.

It's that easterly flow, there's the low and then notice, follow the lines, it finally changes, boom, it's like you turn off the snow machine [flicking switch gesture], fmmm, there it goes.

Remember, cold Arctic air is rather stubborn, almost like a cement block when you're trying to move it [gestures doing so].

There's video, below.

02:57 BBC News
For some it might be just sitting indoors watching the snow fall.

03:56 BBC News
The stubborn cold and snow continues the British Isles, almost like sounding like a broken record.

What will it feel like standing at the bus stop? [frozen gesture] Don't be there long.

We lose the easterly flow, it's like turning off the snow guns, [flicking switch gesture], fmmm, there they go.

Cold air is rather stubborn, it likes to sit around and say, 'uh-uh [shakes head], not yet'.

Shipping Forecast
Delivered in Dan's ever-reassuring dulcet tones.
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

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.

28th November

Freezing weather? Let Dan defrost you; he was on fire today:

Country Tracks
Cold air is rather stubborn, it's like a big cement block, it doesn't really want to move.

There's video, below.

11:57 BBC News
See this area of white here, that pipeline of moisture working in, almost like having a snow gun at a ski area, going [gestures holding one] like that.

There's video, below.

13:29 BBC News
Some have probably got sore backs [bends slightly and touches back] from shovelling the snow. Don't put the snow shovels away just yet.

See this haze of blue? You almost think we've gone like that [painting gesture] with some blue paint and just left it there [waiting gesture], that's the cold, frosty, [lets out breath], that's how it feels to the outside in some spots, maybe behind some of the bushes [gestures moving bush to look behind it] you might not've even lost the frost.

So this main area of snow across parts of Scotland, potentially ten- maybe twenty-five centimetres. It's all because you pick up moisture, think of it like a snow cannon at a ski area [gestures holding one], shhhh, like that, picking up the moisture and, vmmm, there it goes.

Cold and frosty again, all the thick blankets on the bed [indicates depth of blankets].

It's that cold, biting wind that'll make it feel [hunches shoulders, screws up face], huuurgh, like that at the bus stop.

13:57 BBC News
If you've been making your Christmas list, perhaps you'll be putting a nice warm parka on it and by now probably a snow shovel or two, or maybe three.

If you are to the outside through the day, maybe you've been out for a walk, you've probably come back like that [looks frozen] if you haven't had your warm coat on.

Snow in Northern Ireland;
Could cause a bit of a pest if you are maybe heading home from Grandma's here.

More details and even our snow video forecast [presented by Dan: "keep the snow shovels at the ready"], that bloke you might recognise [points to picture of himself on the BBC Weather news page on backdrop], all of that online. That's the weather, for now.

There's video, below.

15:55 BBC News
Notice the haze of blue, like I've tipped some paint on the weather map [gestures doing so].

Ones and twos; yeah, you've seen those numbers before.

27th November

12:10-ish BBC One
Dan got a little tongue-tied at the start here.
The snow hats and the so snovels, er, snow shovels rather, will be quite widely across the British Isles over the course of the next twenty-four hours.

There's (very poor quality) video of that, here.

12:26 BBC News
You're out-and-about for the day, it will be the scarf and the mittens and, more than likely, the old snow shovel [snow shovel gesture] into a few spots as well.

Look at that lump of white, like we've gone like that [scribbling gesture] with some white paint.

13:56 BBC News
After a report about shopping:
A good night for a fire tonight and you're probably shopping as well, by now you've probably got a nice ice-scraper [scraping gesture] and maybe a snow shovel as well, probably came in handy this morning.

Twenty-five centimetres here, even to lower levels, so bear that in mind, heading home or heading to Grandma's in the morning.

There's video, below.

26th November

11:15 BBC News
A rare glimpse of Dan at the BBC News desk talking to Ben Brown about the snow. He even managed to slip some Dan-isms in there too.

Probably all the children out there will say, 'ooh, let's wait, Christmas [rubs hands together?] and it'd be lovely'.

If you remember last year it was more into December when we had that cold, it was like somebody flicked a light switch and, vmmm, and there we were into winter.

It's this cold Arctic air that's just coming in and saying, 'ha ha, I'm here'.

Now quite sure how Ben manages to keep an entirely straight face - not even a smile for the Dan-isms.
Gah!

There's video of this and the 10:56 below.

11:57 BBC News
After a piece about exercises for children:
Weather-wise it's certainly on the chilly side. If you looked for a hot-footed lizard it'll be more likely this [puts arms out] it'll be frozen if it was outside over the past twenty-four hours or even the next twenty-four as well.

Remember this clump of trouble here, that area of rain, sleet and snow, will work its way away, so after it does you say goodbye to it, you say, 'yep, fine'.

A night again for the old scraper [scraping gesture] and in some spots you could be out with the snow shovel [snow shovel gesture] as we start Saturday.

12:29 BBC News
Look at the temperatures by morning, well below freezing, the old scrapers [scraping gesture], perhaps even the old snow shovel [snow shovel gesture] as well.

12:57 BBC News
It looks like our snow scrapers will certainly be coming in handy over the course of the next couple of days.

13:27 BBC One and BBC News
An easterly flow just working in that moisture from the North Sea and, vmmm [parting curtains gesture?!] just dropping it across north-eastern areas.

See the speckles of white? [Nods head] Yes, it's snow.

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

13:57 BBC News
After the same piece about exercises as before:
Ben Brown: Dan Corbett's got the weather, he's pretty fit, aren't you Dan?

Dan: One thing we could've probably all do if we were sitting outside, we'll probably be like this [hunches shoulders] and freeze.

You'll be out there like the Abominable Snowman [hunches shoulders] with the big warm parka.

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.

2nd November

There were only THREE weather forecasts on the News Channel overnight due to some boring FOREIGN political event. Gah and double Gah!

22:29 BBC News
Breeze going to be blowing the leaves about if you're going to be out-and-about at the bus stop.

You look at Friday, you say, 'it looks the same'. Well, it's still the same weather front just wavering about [bounces up and down] like a big blue snake.

22:56 BBC News
We'll keep the old wind going through the night as well, the old dustbin lids might be wobbling about.

05:56 BBC News
The squeeze of the lines, like an accordion there.

There's video, below.

Europe
Fine-looking weather for the outside, the deckchairs into the garden [deckchair gesture - see pic] say, across much of Spain.

Weather systems, almost like a little blue snake easing their way into the north of the British Isles.

Australasia forecast
Not a day for the beach to say the least.

Africa
All the showers that bubble up through the day, it's like you flick a switch [gestures doing so], vummm, they're gone, that's it.

Shipping Forecast
Listen again, 1 minute in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

1st November

10:57 BBC News
Working south and west, looking a bit like Swiss cheese the cloud.

Look at the lines [isobars] close together, like you've gone like that [makes crocodile-type movement with arms], fwww, like an accordion.

Loved that accordion one. Watch it for yourself, there's video below.

11:30 BBC News
Quite an interesting week, you'll need a scorecard [scorecard gesture] to keep an eye on all the different weather systems.

With our weather front easing away, bye bye to him, and then we bring in another one. Here it is, how about this one?

12:57 BBC News
Big lump of blue, like you've gone like that with some blue paint [painting gesture].

13:56 BBC News
The speckled colour, almost looking a bit like Swiss cheese; the cloud with some brighter spells working their way through.

Notice how this big lump of blue sits there and almost like you pull a switch [gestures doing so] and go, shoom, and it just thins out.

So this little chappie, that's the little lump of moisture easing through. The squeeze of the lines almost like bringing [?] an accordion together.

31st October

10:55 BBC News
Perhaps you're planning for the week [scorecard gesture], a lot of weather systems, you almost need a scorecard, just go online. That's the weather, for now.

There's video, below.

Country Tracks
Quite an interesting week, you almost want a scorecard handy [scorecard gesture - see pic] just to keep an eye on all the different weather systems.

It's a different sort of Sunday, maybe if you are going to be out-and-about for a walk after, say, visiting with the family or something.

And then, before you can say 'hello', the next weather system, that's into the north and the west.

Like I said, you almost need a scorecard [scorecard gesture].

And it's almost like a rippling blue snake of sorts, that is the weather front.

There's video, below.

13:57 BBC News
It's going to be fairly mild [deep breath, umbrella gesture] but you're going to keep the umbrella, with probably both hands on it as well [adds another hand to umbrella gesture], it'll be windy at times. That's the weather, for now.

14:27 BBC News
It just looks like some spots of rain really, like flicking a paintbrush with some blue on it really [flicking gesture].

30th October

10:56 BBC News
There's a couple of different weather systems and I think through the week you'll almost need a scorecard [scorecard gesture] to keep track of the different ones that are going to work in.

If you are out-and-about looking at the leaves or maybe raking them on the ground [raking gesture] or just out Saturday shopping, it should be fine.

And where you have cloud it's like putting a big thick duvet on the bed [throwing gesture], so not as chilly.

And this low will just sort of wind around, almost like a broken-armed octopus bending around.

I think Monday's the leftovers day, almost like what's left over after dinner on a Sunday.

I like the nifty clock graphic in the weather globe at the end, to remind us to put our clocks back tonight. Dan then brings us some excellent news:
Remember tonight, an extra night in bed.

Result!

Relive the awesome; the video is below.

11:29 BBC News
A different start to the day when we peel back the bedroom curtains [curtain gesture] and see the brighter skies.

12:15-ish BBC One
Put the clocks back, an extra night's sleep. That's the weather, for now.

12:26 BBC News
The main chappie is this bloke here, he's going to start working in.

13:29 BBC News
You peel back the kitchen window [curtain gesture] and go, [pulls face] 'eurgh, gosh'. A different day.

14:56 BBC News
You'll step to the outside on Sunday and you'll [sharp intake of breath] oooh, wow.

27th October

10:57 BBC News
The main low, the troublemaker, sits out to the west. It's like you pull a string, [gestures doing so] fwiiing! off it goes, you wind-up the low.

There's video, below. Worth watching for the fwiiing!

11:26 BBC News
Another mild day; keep the warm coat at home.

11:57 BBC News
It's quite a low sitting west and it's almost like you pull a lawnmower string [gestures doing so], voom, off it goes.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
If you see scenes like this over the course of this week, take advantage of them because there are so many different weather systems lined up in the Atlantic it's almost like a Saturday at a car wash, with all the different weather systems, cars, working in.

And there's that next low, look at this thing winding up, like you pull a string [gestures doing so] and voom, off it goes.

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

26th October

10:56 BBC News
A soggy day for us today, a day the ducks'll be smiling at the duck pond, if they could.

Fairly breezy; hold onto the hats [touches head] for the next couple of days.

There's video of this and the 11:57 Autumnwatch forecast below. Dan presents an additional Autumnwatch update on the BBC Weather site.

11:31 BBC News
The ducks'll be happy, they'll be swimming about through the day.

13:28 BBC News
It is mild, so you won't be bundled up [huddles] like that if you're at the bus stop over the next couple of days.

I think like that [umbrella gesture - see pic] at the bus stop with the umbrella in hand next couple of days.

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

19th October

10:55 BBC News
I tell you what, you know, I think over the next couple of nights, couple of days, you'll be certainly looking for the extra layers if you haven't already, the blanket on the bed.

Quite a chilly start; the old scraper [scraping gesture] will be out on the car in the morning.

Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven; these are the highs. So, Wednesday, it's sort of a day to be bundled up [huddles], a different sort of day.

11:57 BBC News
Autumnwatch!
Dan explains why the leaves change colour:

What happens is, the chlorophyll breaks down as the temperatures drop away at night.

So now you know.

You might be out with the old scraper on the car [scraping gesture].

There's video of this forecast below, and a different Autumnwatch update on the BBC Weather site.

Don't faint; I think I've FINALLY figured out how to contribute to those Autumnwatch sightings.

12:56 BBC News
The extra warm layers will certainly come in handy over the next couple of days.

That little line of cloud, that's the weather front that has eased through, now it's like, open the floodgates, vmmm [dropping gesture], down comes the cold, Arctic air.

So, ice-scrapers out in the morning [scraping gesture].

A chilly sort of day. You'll notice that as you step to the outside [unusual low parting curtains-esque gesture] and you'll be, 'pfffw, boy!'

13:29 BBC One and BBC News
I think we'll be grabbing the extra layers if we haven't done so already over the next twenty-four hours to say the least.

Look at the clouds. You see this swirl, the big 'U'? That's the cold air plunging south. Think of it like the floodgates opening and, whoosh, down comes the cold air.

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

13:57 BBC News
A chilly night. You might be tempted to reach into the cupboard [gestures doing so] for two extra blankets.

What looks like speckles of blue paint just being thrown at the weather map [flicking gesture], one little cluster of showers here.

17th October

10:57 BBC News
It was a chilly start to this morning wasn't it? Perhaps you were outside taking the dog for a walk [dog-walking gesture]. One of those mornings where he sat at the door and said [holds up hand], 'let's wait a few minutes - or an hour or two'.

The area of cloud comes in, just like sticking a big thick blanket on the bed, so not as chilly.

There's video, below.

11:28 BBC News
Because of a blanket of cloud, just like you took the big thick blanket last night and you stuck it on the bed [gestures doing so], not as chilly.

Then we start to all grab the warm coats ... this guy here, think of it like a big dam holding back some water or, in this case, some much colder air and all of a sudden you open it and, vvvrmmm [vigorous dropping gesture], down comes the cold air.

11:51 BBC One
Just like putting a big thick blanket on the bed, we bring in the cloud.

Put your eyes to that one there, that's the one we're going to watch and say, 'yes, OK'.

And that weather front there, follow the lines, that's always a good indication of the source of the air. And where are they coming from? Vmmm, straight down from the north. And it will literally be like that, just like somebody flicking a switch [switch gesture], you open the floodgates and, vmmm [dropping gesture], down comes the cold air, so you'll be reaching into the cupboard to grab a couple of extra layers.

There could be some question marks later in the week depending on how mean and how lingering the cold air wants to be.

There's video, below.

13:28 BBC News
A fine afternoon, very pleasant, go out for a nice long afternoon walk in the park or something.

There's the first front there and then this one. It's like opening the floodgates of a dam and, vhum [dropping gesture], down comes the colder air.

Turning breezy as well and there they come, the big blue things [arrows showing wind direction], colder air working its way through.

Look at the temperatures; seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. You can see that warm coat in the cupboard and you're probably looking at it the next couple of days too and maybe using it.

13:56 BBC News
Then this guy here, like you open the floodgates and, pmmm [dropping gesture], down comes the cold air.

Quite a change to Tuesday as well, like somebody flicks a switch [gestures doing so] and you sort of notice and you run back inside and grab a couple of extra layers.

14:26 BBC News
There's that first weather front, just like a little fellow of sorts, he's going to ease through and the next one, almost like opening the floodgates and then, vmmm [dropping gesture], down comes the cold air and you'll certainly notice it as we go through the course of Tuesday, like flicking a switch [gestures doing so] and, pwww, hello, it'll be quite a change temperature-wise.

16th October

10:28 BBC News
Maybe you've already looked outside the kitchen window and said, 'gosh, that looks nice'. Go outside and enjoy it. Fairly pleasant-looking day, scenes like this [looks at backdrop] in fact, a good-looking day for watching the leaves change colour in many spots.

Then the winds go light, the skies go clear and vmmm [dropping gesture], down go the temperatures.

A cold, chilly night. You might be tempted to reach into the cupboard for a few extra blankets.

10:56 BBC News
You might be tempted to grab a couple of extra blankets and stick them on the bed [gestures doing so].

There's video, below.

12:15-ish BBC One
That haze of blue, it's not blue paint; no, it's a chilly, frosty night for many of us.

Get the warm coats handy because look at this, the cold colours*, the blue, like you've tipped [throwing gesture] some blue paint on the weather map.

* Erm, that might not be what he said - I'm struggling to read my hastily scribbled notes!

12:28 BBC News
You head to the outside today you might be tempted to grab a couple of extra layers.

It should be fine if you're maybe gonna be heading out-and-about Saturday shopping or perhaps just a day out to the park.

Bear in mind the plants outside [was he holding an imaginary plant pot there?] and you might even be tempted to say grab an extra blanket or two on the bed.

And then, the cold air sitting up here, almost like tipping a can of blue paint [gestures doing so], vmmm, there it's gonna come.

13:30 BBC News
If you're thinking about tonight you might want to think about, perhaps, a log fire because a cold, chilly night on the way. But it's a decent afternoon; sunny spells, the cows [on the backdrop] are happy out-and-about.

13:56 BBC News
As the winds go light and the skies clear, notice this haze of blue on the map, not like we're tipping some paint on it, that's a cold, frosty night.

Hopefully you know where the old warm coat is, because it will be coming in handy.

14:28 BBC News
Fairly pleasant sort of day for the outdoor plans, very nice for a trip to the park but through the course of the night you'll be wanting to grab the extra layers.

You might be tempted to turn the old heating on [thermostat gesture] if you haven't already.

14:55 BBC News
Ridge of high pressure sitting across the British Isles giving us a fine-looking day. Fairly pleasant in fact, decent for the most part if you do have the outdoor plans; sunny spells and, of course, seeing the colour in the trees starting to do their turn as well. Very nice afternoon for the most part.

15th October

09:28 BBC News
A chilly night, some of us might be tempted for a couple of blankets [gestures arranging blankets on the bed?].

09:56 BBC News
Not a day when you pull back the curtains [gestures doing so] and go, 'oooh, lovely bright skies'.

This lump of blue here, this is our weather system that's going to ease its way through and, almost just sort of like cleaning a slate, you go, 'vmmm' [wipes hand down the map], like that.

You'll be out-and-about saying, 'I'm glad I've got the extra layers', because it will come in handy.

There's video, below. That last Dan-ism is certainly worth a watch.

10:33 BBC News
A fair bit of cloud for the course of the morning. You probably didn't head to the outside with the sunglasses [sunglasses gesture, but doesn't hold his hands up to his face] saying, 'yes, they'll come in handy'.

There's video, below.

10/10/10

10:55 BBC News
Better-looking day for us; maybe you sat yesterday in the lounge, looking outside, seeing the grey skies.

This strip of cloud, weather front, don't worry about him, but it's the lower cloud and the drier air just sort of sweeping it away, almost like it's being sucked up by a sponge.

Notice this lump of cloud here, it's just going to spin round the actual high and it just sort of spills, almost like you're tipping some darker paint across the British Isles [gestures doing so].

There's video, below.

11:28 BBC News
You're still going to notice that breeze ... which, at times, could even touch gale force ... bear that in mind, you could be out-and-about for a walk on the cliff-top or something.

One thing that does happen through the night, the flow coming around the high just brings in a bit more cloud, that's the darker area here, that oozes its way in like spilling a bit of darker paint on the weather map of sorts.

Step back to work, you won't need your brolly.

Monday's a decent-looking day, a packed lunch sort of day really.

12:00 BBC One
Notice the darker areas, some cloud that has been sitting across the British Isles. As we come in closer, notice how it clears away as the drier air works in, almost like having a sponge and just mopping up [frenzied mopping gesture] some milk that is spilled, perhaps, on a counter.

High pressure sitting about there and, almost like you can take some glue [glueing gesture] and leave it there and say, 'oh well, just dry off', it won't really move.

The high, still sitting there, if anything it's almost like flexing its muscles [see pic].

There's video, below.

13:28 BBC News
Today's one of those days, maybe you're just sort of sitting inside after a couple of grey days, you look outside the kitchen window and go, 'woo! wow!', quite a nice day. Maybe that's the view to the outside [webcam on backdrop] and you say, 'yeah, let's go outside and enjoy the afternoon'. Bright or sunny spells and look at the cloud, almost like going, 'fwww' like that [no idea what that ignition-esque gesture was supposed to represent], and there it goes, melting away as dry air works in from the continent.

13:57 BBC News
That was the cloud to start with and almost just like sopping it up win a big sponge, shhwww, there it goes [pulls hands back across the map].

15:56 BBC News
It's a fairly pleasant afternoon, you might be tempted to keep the old deckchairs in the garden [deckchair gesture], very nice in fact.

Here's our ridge of high pressure, a little bubble of sorts, there. It's just sort of been sitting there like you've sort of put some glue on it, you leave it there for a couple of days. We keep the flow in from the east and that brings in some cooler air. As we head to Tuesday look at the numbers; eighteen, nineteen? No, sorry; thirteen, maybe fifteen, that's about it.

9th October

10:28 BBC News
If many of you have perhaps been to the outside already for the paper and you've seen the cloud and said, 'oooh, it's a bit of a funny morning', hang on, it'll brighten.

There's the layer of cloud, like throwing a sheet on the bed [gestures doing so].

Bring in some drier air from the continent. Just like a sponge, you sort of sup up all the cloud [gestures mopping up the cloud with a sponge].

10:58 BBC News
The cloud will ooze back in, just like pulling a sheet along the bed [gestures doing so] here and there.

Drier air works in from the continent as we work towards Sunday, like pulling that sheet back [same sheet-pulling gesture as before].

There's video, below.

11:30 BBC News
Got big plans for the weekend?

The cloud oo-oozes back in [sheet-pulling gesture].

Some drier air says, 'bmmm, bye bye' to the cloud.

11:56 BBC News
Maybe you stepped out this morning, saw the cloud and went, [looks up, frowning] 'oooh, gosh', quite a different sort of day.

Notice the cloud starting to look a bit like Swiss cheese.

Maybe you're going to be out-and-about with the family here and there through the afternoon.

A greyish start; you peel back the bedroom curtains [gestures doing so], you might go [frowns], 'oooh' once again. But the change, though, will be drier air coming in from the continent, just like taking a sponge and sopping up all the cloud [same sponge gesture as before].

There's video, below.

12:10-ish BBC One
That starts us into Sunday, and then you think [parting curtains gesture, frowning], starts off the same way, a grey start. But, a difference; drier air works in from the continent, almost like taking a sponge [gestures holding one] and just sop up the areas of cloud [sponge gesture].

13:55 BBC News
Peel back the curtains [gestures doing so] and you'll go [pulls face], 'urgh, yes', again.

14:56 BBC News
Maybe you're out-and-about with the family at the park.

We're going to bring in some drier air from the continent [sheet-pulling gesture] just like pulling back the sheet on the bed, schkww, here we go.

There's video, below.

15:29 BBC News
If you have plans for the day, maybe thinking of that picnic, there's been a fair bit of cloud.

That's the mass of cloud, like you've gone like that [gestures painting with a roller] with a roller of white paint.

One change though for Sunday, drier air starts to work in and all that cloud, bye bye, there it goes, like sweeping it away.

2nd October

10:26 BBC News
Northern England; looks good doesn't it?

Fine for the outside, maybe it's family out for the day or maybe Saturday shopping, you're in fine shape.

We look to the south and the west, that's the wet weather and then, vmmm [ignition gesture], here it comes. Do bear it in mind, the south-western parts, that lump of green, green crayon? [scribbling gesture] No, that's some heavy downpours.

Watch out again for another belt of rain. It's almost like having a big string [moves hands along an invisible piece of string] with bits and pieces of sponge on it. There's the first sponge, there's the second sponge [points to their location on the map].

So there's the little wiggly old thing [wiggles hand up the weather front], the little piece of string [string gesture] with our sponges, our lumps of wet weather.

Trying to get better, but it's just taking its time. You almost want to say, 'come on, clear out of the way' [gestures pushing the area of wet weather off to the continent] but taking some time.

10:55 BBC News
We're finished? No, not yet; another lump of blue, there it is, just following behind, almost like it's connected with a piece of string [string gesture].

You think we're done but it's almost like having a bit of blue plasticine, you sort of bend it in different bits [gestures doing so].

There's video, below.

11:31 BBC News
Then we bring in the next one, almost like lumps of blue following themselves on a piece of string.

12:10-ish BBC One
They're almost like tied together, the two areas of moisture, with a string.

13:30 BBC One
Dan was looking very tall during this broadcast. Perhaps he used Matt Taylor's camera settings.
Notice the darker blues, the green, like we've gone like that [scribbling gesture] with some crayon.

Say goodbye to that. You think we're done? No, there's another one just waiting in the wings.

14:56 BBC News
There's the centre of the low, like you pull a top [spinning top gesture], vmmm, and off it goes.

It's quite a lump of moisture as well, like you've sort of taken the crayons out [scribbling gesture on hand] and gone like that [scribbling gesture on map].

That first lump of moisture, they're all tied in [string gesture]. It's like you've got one connected to the other on a piece of string.

Maybe some local flooding in places, just bear it in mind, maybe out-and-about in the car to Grandma's or something on Sunday.

That wiggle eases away. Bye bye, off it goes.

15:29 BBC News
With low pressure spinning around to the north of the British Isles you'll want to keep the wet-weather gear handy [umbrella gesture] over the course of the next day or so.

29th September

We were cheated out of a couple of forecasts today due to some boring political event.
Gah.

10:56 BBC News
Clive Myrie: Is it good weather for football, golf or just ducks? Dan Corbett has the details.

Dan: The ducks'll be happy over the next couple of days.

No surprise, the old umbrella in the bag [brolly-in-bag gesture], the wet-weather gear, you'll certainly be needing it.

There's video, below.

11:57 BBC News
That's the view to the outside, you almost want to go like that [parting curtains gesture], that's the view to the outside in Plymouth.

12:56 BBC News
Not the old day for the sunglasses [sunglasses gesture] if you're going to be out-and-about.

As we finish off the late afternoon then into the evening, it looks like a bit of a mess, like we've taken some paint on a paintbrush and gone like that [flicking gesture].

Wednesday;
No surprise, it'll be a day for the umbrella [two-handed umbrella gesture].

13:27 BBC One and BBC News
That big old brolly you've got in the cupboard, you're probably gonna grab it and hold onto it with both hands [gestures doing so].

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

27th September

11:56 BBC News
A big mass of cloud, just like taking a sheet and going [gestures pulling the cloud back], fmm, like that.

Tuesday;
Is a grey start. You'll peel back the curtains [gestures doing so] or maybe head to the outside in a similar fashion with a grey, fairly cloudy start to the day.

From Mike's video description (the video is below):
Although not used all the time, the 'end graphic' makes an early appearance near the end of this particular forecast, but Dan copes with it superbly, "...popped away, but we're back...".

12:30 BBC News
For many of us it's not the day for the sunglasses.

A grey start to the day, you'll peel back the curtains again [gestures doing so] and you'll go, [pulls face] 'oooh, gosh' as we start off.

12:57 BBC News
Some of you might've woke up [fairly sure that's what he said] this morning, stepped to the outside and you sort of looked at it and gone, [pulls face] 'eurgh, gosh'.

Fourteen, maybe further south, ha ha, maybe even a twenty.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
After a piece about an emergency landing in New York:
No sparks in the weather today.

The cloud:
You can see how it's expanding, almost like you pull a sheet across the bed [gestures doing so].

Peel back the bedroom curtains [gestures doing so], you'll go 'ugh, a grey start'.

This is the weather system. Notice the good lump of blue on it as well, like we've gone like that with a good old blue roller [gestures painting with a roller].

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

13:57 BBC News
It's a cloudy sort of day, if you've been to the outside the sunglasses can probably stay in the old packet.

Just a grey, yucky sort of day in places. Not the day for the outside maybe with the kids.

He vanished briefly again at the end of this one.