that's the weather, for now

Dan links - from May 2011

Sigh. Has it really been a year since Dan left the Beeb?
While Dan's off at his Mountain Lair, here's a small sample of some of the online reaction to his leaving.

BBC Points Of View messageboard
AnthonyJ said:

"It's with a heavy heart that I bring you the news that Daniel Corbett the BBQ dog-walking obsessed weatherman has quit to go and work in New Zealand."

There are lots of really lovely responses there, including:

"Oh no, I really liked Daniel Corbett. He was my favourite weatherman ... He was like some kindly old uncle out of Dickens."

"Aww, will be sad to see Daniel go. I'm struggling to think of any other weatherperson who I would 'miss'."

"Whatever the weather outside Daniel always brought a little sunshine with him. Sorry to see him leave our screens."

"Good luck Dan you have been a breath of fresh air, driven in on an anti-cyclone moving west..."

"How on earth am I going to know when to get the picnic basket out now?"

Quite so.

Radio Times - Daniel Corbett: Britain's Best Weatherman
One of the most amazing pieces ever written about Dan, I cannot resist reproducing the entire article here so you can read it in its full, unadulterated glory:

Ever since Man discovered that storms weren't actually the result of Thor riding across the sky on a chariot pulled by goats, there's been a big problem with weather: it's not very funny. But if you're on TV, your duty is to entertain.

Some weatherpeople make a token effort: talking through a doggedly maintained rictus grin, wearing deliberately hilarious clothing or, if they're on ITV in the mornings, pointing to the map with their breasts instead of their hands. Yet there's only one whose performance is worth watching even if you don't care a fig for tomorrow's climate: the cult hero that is Daniel Corbett.

Dan thundered onto the precipitation prediction scene in 1997, when he first appeared on BBC News 24. Initially it was his unique two-part sign off that caught the eye: a bright "That's all the weather!" followed by a stern "…for now." It soon transpired that his whole style - a manic cross between Stanley Unwin, the Great Soprendo and Rudolf Nureyev - is gloriously idiosyncratic.

Dan's old-school. He romanticises meteorological phenomena and even days of the week into sentient, capricious forces who delight in ruining our mundane, middle-class lives. Weather fronts are personified as "he" rather than "it", and described as "troublemakers" who are "lurking" over the Atlantic, the North Sea or "the near Continent", as Dan likes to call France.

Combine this storytelling with Dan's rat-a-tat delivery and gift for malapropisms, and you get gems like: "That little troublemaker may try to put some rains on our barbecues, but I think we'll manage", "Wednesday is the day - look at this thing, it's just a mess" and "Nice day for the afternoon, maybe a picnic or so perhaps in Northern Ireland, into Scotland and 26 for Cardiff."

Dan has a number of obsessions. "Heat-of-the-day bubbly showers" appear regularly, but his chief concerns are temperatures ("let's look at the numbers"), the effect of wind on umbrellas ("hold it probably with two hands"), and what to wear on the way to work. Always on the hunt for a colourful simile, he's compared weather fronts to motorcycles stuck in mud, tumble dryers, glue and "an unwanted neighbour, just hanging there".

All this is accompanied by lithe, Bob Fosse hand gestures - Dan's arms sweeping across the map as he conducts the epic battle between us, trying to get to the office without getting wet, and the evil areas of low pressure that conspire to foil us. He hasn't blamed Thor for spoiling a golf tournament yet, but he's in that ballpark.

Details such as exactly what the weather will be like tend to get lost in Dan's flow, but to complain would be churlish. In Dan's (jazz) hands, forecasting's an art, not a science. He's the latest in a long line of great British TV eccentrics. You'll start enjoying weather almost as much as he does.

AMAZING.

Digital Spy - BBC Weather Changes
In a thread about the changes to BBC Weather, there's eventually mention of Dan's leaving. Then, in message 54, Dancc says:

"We mustn't forget though that this isn't the first time Corbett has left the BBC. Maybe he'll come back again one day when he gets bored of New Zealand. Okay, unlikely but..."

Fieldays

What a shock to discover Dan's not been on the video forecasts for most of this week because he's been off on a 'work jolly'.

On Tuesday ^JB @MetService tweeted:

Heading to Central Districts Fieldays? Visit Dan Corbett and the team @MetService site AG37

Quite rightly, there was a complaint on the MetService Facebook page:

Hopefully normal service will resume next week.

Dan links - to May 2011

It has come as quite a surprise to me that the previous edition of Dan-links was way back in November 2010. Nothing at all last year!
This latest collection covers the period up to his leaving the BBC. In chronological order...

The Hidden Glasgow Forums
In a thread questioning forecast accuracy, a lone gem:

It's maybe my imagination, but it seems to be right a lot more often when yon Dan Corbett's presenting the forecast. I like him - he always has entertaining and very flowery wee metaphors and similes, tries to get the viewer to understand the physical processes behind the weather, and advises things like brollies, thick jumpers, or picnic baskets. As you do.

As you do indeed do.

Cook'd and Bomb'd Forum
From a site dedicated to 'comedy discussion and Chris Morris news' comes 'things we hope happen to weather forecaster Dan Corbett'.
Largely exaggerated annoyance at Dan's mention of 'finishing numbers', I'd advise against reading it in its entirety. Much of it is rather unkind, even if it's supposed to be a joke. Some is much more light hearted and whimsical, for example, 'I hope the weather one day assembles into the shape of a disapproving face to surprise Dan Corbett as he turns around' and 'I hope he gets into an untenable tautology with a herring'.
However, the final two messages - and particularly the last one with the picture - made this link worth posting.

I hope you all die. There can never be enough Dan Corbett on the telly.

The Jolly Ranter - Dan Corbett megadon!
Not quite sure what to make of this - and, to be honest, I don't understand all of it. So here it is in its original, unedited and uncorrected glory:

This dude is the consummate proffessional...he`s quite literally left all the dodgy tie`rs in his wake (scuse the pun) ...this man knows how to explain a large oceanic swell to us...Check out his material , cant see him misdiagnosing a hurricane...I love this man`s squally rain , BRRRRAP!

Any the wiser?

Liverpool Daily Post
'D Frederick from Garston' was moved to write to the editor of the Liverpool Daily Post about Dan:

Weather stories
THE oldest profession in the ascent of humankind has now more than met its match with the ancient art of story-telling. The science of weather-forecasting has apparently moved into the realm of the children’s story with the BBC’s Dan Corbett narrating.

To listen to his Radio 5 Live weather reports is to be taken back to childhood; with his soft cadence and onomatopoeic inflexion, one could almost be listening to something from Watch With Mother, or Tales From The Riverbank.

I’ve no idea what he’s going on about; and just like Hammy the Hamster, I have to venture outside to discover if we might just be due a spot of rain.

Sigh.

TV Forum's Weather Thread

The Great Daniel Corbett has been on BBC World all week this week, so far. Isn't he splendid?

Yes.

Digital Spy Forums
In a thread titled 'excessive hand waving by TV reporters, weather people', Dan's name is mentioned:

Dan Corbett's arm movements aren't excessive, they're art.

TV Newsroom - Daniel Corbett biography and images
Although this page claims to have been updated within the past 48 hours, the information and photos appear a little outdated - some from the days when the BBC News channel was still called News 24. No mention of The Move either.

The Daniel Corbett Tribute
It's been some time since we've had a new Facebook group. This one's a closed group and, as I haven't joined, there's nothing more I can tell you about it apart from the title.

There was to be a link to yet another new Facebook group (something about Dan being awesome, IIRC) but it has vanished since I first squirrelled it away.

Merry Christmas!

Dan and his colleague Bob McDavitt bring you seasonal greetings in this short video on Facebook.

Dan even manages to slip the classic 'Grandma' -ism in.

Merry Christmas!

MetService TV

MetService has launched Metservice TV, not a TV channel as such, but a page on their website for all their forecast videos (instead of using YouTube).

To add to the lovely new graphics and green-screen, we now have even more forecasts! There seems to be a national forecast as well as three regional ones almost on a daily basis.

Perhaps I've been spoiled by having videos so easily accessible on YouTube, because now I'm missing a way to link to (or embed) a specific video.
Ah well, we have more Dan, we can't have everything.

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...

24th March

6 Music: Chris Hawkins
Chris asks Dan what his middle name is. It's Patrick.
Dan: You have to have something.

Chris tells Dan he likes seeing him on the telly and suggests starting a campaign.
Dan: I have a better face for radio these days.

NO! I do love hearing Dan on the radio - no, let me rephrase that - I love hearing Dan on Chris' 6 Music show, but we do need to see more of him on the telly. Yes, we still have the wonderful sound-effects and incredible ~isms on the radio, but I do miss the gestures and smiles :-(

Then the forecast:
The weekend will be a bit cooler so you might not be sort of tempted to throw the deckchairs into the garden.

Try and get out and grab a packed lunch in the middle of the day or something.

We've still got our ridge of high pressure. Remember on Monday we put some glue on the back of it, it's still sitting on the weather map but the glue is just starting to dry up a bit so the high is just slowly easing away and I think he's going to drip off the weather map.

Spring is always one of those funny times, you think you're done with the cold air but it's always sort of sitting up there saying, 'ha ha, I'm coming back'.

Chris: Thanks, Dan. And that's what?

Dan: That's the weather, for now.

There's a little of what I can only assume is the Texan accent right at the end.

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

5Live: Gabby Logan
One of those days where you just want to be outside, have a packed lunch.

High pressure, that's easing away, almost waving it goodbye for the time being.

The screengrab there was taken from the 5Live webcam, allowing us a television-style peek inside the studio.

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

Facebook
The following ~ism was posted on the Facebook group 'BBC Weather Man Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society' today:

"It's one of those days where you walk outside and say 'oh hello sun', let's go to the park and have a packed lunch together, it really is most delightful out there!!!" ♥ him... the man is a genius.

I've listened to all Thursday morning's 5Live programmes on the iPlayer (including Breakfast!) and can't find this gem anywhere. Anyone?

21st February

6 Music
Chris Hawkins tells Dan he's been missed, and Dan tells us he's been away:
They let me out for a couple of hours, I just sort of go round the park in the front of the building and then I come back in. No, I'm just kidding.

Chris uses Loose Women and Antiques Roadshow to help him get to sleep. Dan has another suggestion:
If you're ever looking for something to help you fall asleep at night, just take one of my weather broadcasts, run it back and just play about the first thirty seconds. Most people; bing, click, right off.

The only circumstance in which I can imagine this might be true is in the Dan-ism free Shipping Forecast. It's his calm, reassuring tone.

The Arctic air is just sort of oozing- anyone walked off to the- maybe, somewhere like Norwich or Bridlington, they'd look in the North Sea, you can just imagine the Arctic air as a big blue ugly bloke sort of sitting there, 'urrrrr', waiting.

You've just got a grey, uuurgh, start to the day as you sort of stand at the bus stop and you look at your neighbour and say, 'yeah, it's yucky isn't it?'.

There may be rain at lunchtime:
Maybe if you're out for that packed lunch or something if you are planning.

How ever you want to slice it, as I say, it's just sort of a grey, wet sort of day; the umbrella in hand; sunglasses, they'll be stashed in the back of the cupboard maybe in the bureau or something, they might come out later in the week. They might.

Remember the big blue guy sitting in the North Sea, the cold Arctic air? It's almost like somebody says, 'ha ha, go away' and it finally does.

Imagine somebody like flicking a switch and then, all of a sudden it just works its way in ... a different sort of feel to the day by Wednesday, voom, double figures, very different.

And that's the weather, for now.

Chris: A work of art.

So true.

Listen again, 40 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

5Live
The interesting thing about both Victoria Derbyshire's and Gabby Logan's shows is that you can watch online as you listen - and so you get to see Dan in the studio delivering his forecast.

I've long been fascinated by other people's reactions to Dan, so it was wonderful to see on Gabby Logan's show that the entire studio was listening intently to his forecast [see pic]. Gabby seemed to enjoy it so much she even attempted to join in...

Dan: Further south, yes, it's 'yeuth' to the outside; the cloud, the rain, the drizzle here and there-

Gabby: Is that a technical term?

Dan: It's a scientific, meteorological one actually [laughs].

Later:
Dan: Just, yes, you look to the outside, you've got it now, a 'hyuh' sort of day-

Gabby: It's a 'zhush' and a 'huh'.

Then:
Dan: By the middle of the week we'll all take the warm parkas or the extra layers, stick 'em to the back of the cupboard because Wednesday and Thursday temperatures could be easily double figures, but there's a lump of rain to get through-

Gabby: A bit more 'pffph'?

Dan: Well, it will go 'pffph' by the time it works through, the winds will pick up as well by the end of the week so-

Another sound effect interruption from Gabby and Dan has either reached the end of the forecast or has given up, finishing with, 'that's it for now.'

Gabby: Thank you very much, Dan. Extraordinary weather, I loved it ... I enjoyed the sound effects. Thank you very much.

Listen again, 33 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

I'm sure he was utterly awesome on Breakfast, but I just cannot bring myself to listen. Sorry.

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'.

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.

The Secret World

Thanks to my friend Heather for alerting me to a brief mention of Dan on the Radio 4 show 'The Secret World'; an impressions show where the listener eavesdrops on celebrity conversations.

First we hear David Beckham attempting to buy a rainbow from James Cameron. James advises him to contact a meteorologist, which David does, just before 18 minutes in.

Hello, you're through to the voicemail of Daniel Corbett at the BBC Weather Unit. Please leave a message after the tone.

It isn't entirely clear whether that was supposed to be Dan, but everyone does their own voicemail message, right?

Listen again on the iPlayer. The part with James Cameron is 3 minutes in, the voicemail is just before 18 minutes in. Available for 7 days from broadcast.

So it seems Tomasz Schafernaker still reigns supreme as Britain's premier Daniel Corbett impersonator. He was at it again the other day, this time pinching the -isms.

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.

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.

Children in Need

As I wrote this time last year, and the year before that; it's that time of year again.

eBay: BBC Weather experience
The BBC Weather team have kindly offered the opportunity to present the weather and meet some of the team. If you’ve always wanted to be a weather reporter, then this is perfect day for you as you will get to:

• Have a tour of the BBC Weather Centre at Television Centre
• Meet the weather presenters on shift and get an understanding of how the weather reports are made
• The opportunity to meet and get training by your favourite weather presenter (or one of the presenters on shift that day)
• Present a weather forecast (off air) in the BBC Weather Studio and take the recording home on DVD.

This is a fantastic experience for anyone who is keen to get into weather presenting or learn about how our presenters predict weather patterns.

As I type, the auction is up to £126.21 and ends at 8pm next Sunday, 22nd November.

As ever, if anyone reading this blog wins the auction, we expect a detailed report of your day at the Weather Centre. With photos too - or it didn't happen.

Unfortunately, unlike last year, there doesn't seem to be a weather team signed bandana up for auction. Shame. It's just been added:
BBC Weather team signed Pudsey bandana.
That's more like it.

Via BBC Weather Mail.

UPDATE:
The Weather Experience went for £820 and the bandana for £125.

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.

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.

5th July

BBCi British Isles
The air just goes fmmm [ignition gesture], like that with the heat of the day.

Then it's literally just turn the gas flame up, they [the showers] just bubble up a bit more.

16:28 BBC News
We start Monday with the showers all ready to get going out of the starting blocks.

16:55 BBC News
It'll be one of those mornings you think it'll be lovely, sunglasses [sunglasses gesture], stick the umbrella in the bag [brolly-in-bag gesture].

This mass of speckles, almost like blue measles across the British Isles.

17:27 BBC News
Eleven, twelve, to fifteen as we start Monday, with already the showers racing themselves out of the starting blocks.

17:57 BBC News
Wow, a new Dan-ism:
Notice the clumps of cloud bubbling with the heat of the day ... like almost lumps of mashed potato.

You'll probably be out there with the umbrella [umbrella gesture] as you maybe stand on the platform or waiting at the bus stop, the south coast same sort of thing and then work down to south-west England as well, look at it, like we've gone like that [throwing gesture] with the blue paint and kept on going.

With the heating of the day like almost turning the gas flame on, it goes vmmm [ignition gesture] and that's what'll happen to the showers, vmmm [raises hands] up they go.

Countryfile
Twitter alerted me to the fact that Dan had been on TV with his sleeves rolled up. Gasp!

The whole swirl of showers sort of spinning around, almost like looking at lumps of clothing spinning around a washing machine [draws circle in the air].

We'll try to bring in this weather front but he's still sitting there almost waiting on a platform sort of thing.

Watch again on the iPlayer, 49 minutes in, available for 7 days from broadcast.
Not sure how long that nifty link gadget has been hidden there in the iPlayer programme information (probably for as long as they've been keeping track of who links to their programmes), but I'm not entirely convinced that you will be whisked straight to the start of the forecast, despite having chosen that option.

UPDATE
Turns out the linky thing is new. The 'current point' button still does nothing to change the url for me Ah! Turns out you have to press it WHILE the video is playing, not when paused. Counter-intuitive? Anyhow, it works now:
Ta daa!

Dan Corbett links #18

Yahoo Answers
Grab a pen and paper, we'll start this latest collection of Dan-links with a short quiz.
These two questions appeared on Yahoo Answers within a few days of each other, both questions asked by the same person:
1) Are you a fan of the weatherman Dan Corbett?
2) Who is your favourite UK weather presenter and why?

The answers are, apparently:
1) YES! So I'm not alone!!!
I never actually know what the weather is because I'm so mesmerised by his crazy dancing and the hand gestures, not to mention the surreal weather personifications ... Can we make him our leader?

Crazy dancing?

2) I love Dan too! He always gives suggestions for what we can do - perhaps some shopping, take the dogs for a walk, have a barbecue. And he's accurate too. If that man gets any more accurate he's going to be burned as a witch/wizard (whatever) he knows his stuff!

Erm...

DigitalSpy
Moving swiftly on, a similar question has been asked recently on DigitalSpy; BBC Weather - Who's the Best Forecaster?
The first respondent replied with;

I bet Dan Corbett wins this contest.

As much as I'd like to think that was true, Laura Tobin seems to be equally popular on DS (probably for reasons mentioned in message #22). Tsk-tsk.

Professional Pilots Rumour Network
Over on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network, a discussion about news readers turns to weather presenters. A certain presenter on Sky is apparently,

Not a patch on the Shakespearean Dan Corbett. I half expect him to whip out a skull and start addressing it with a monologue about the isobars.

Facebook
As always, here's news of the latest Facebook groups.

Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society
Daniel Corbett is the BBC's premier weather reporter.
When you need the facts, when you need the charisma, when you need the weather, Dan is your man.

Quite so.
But hang on a sec, Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society? seems rather familiar somehow...

You need your sense of humour for this next one:

All Hail the Weather Goblin
A home for all those people who enjoy Dan Corbett leaping around the TV screen cursing parts of the country with bad weather. But he's just fab!

I've lost count of how many Dan-related groups there are on Facebook but I reckon it's probably in the mid-teens now.

21st May

Not quite sure what happened with the TBT today. Perhaps it hadn't been updated by the time I left for work this morning. At any rate, the only reason I knew Dan had been on today was because a little bird told me:

The weather on the Today programme is usually a very measured affair. But that all went out of the window after a shortage of forecasters meant weatherman Daniel Corbett had to sprint halfway across Television Centre to read the weather on the Today programme.

"I had to do a five or six minute walk in 40 seconds. I really sprinted," says Daniel.

"But I'd rather be there and breathy than miss it."

The people at the Today programme have kindly uploaded the clip in question.

It later got a mention on PM (but we already know Eddie Mair is a Dan-fan) with a little feature about how to talk when out of breath. Listen again, about 54 minutes in, available until 28th May.

Well, I thought his breathing was remarkably controlled. It says on his BBC bio that running is one of his hobbies, but I suspect he doesn't usually combine running with weather.

10:56 BBC News
The speckles of blue, like taking lumps of blue and going like that [flicking gesture], pfff, at the weather map.

Maybe you're going away for the bank holiday weekend, pack the kids in the back of the car [the accompanying gesture reminded me of the brolly-in-bag].

11:33 BBC News
Then they lose the heating of the day and, fmm [dropping gesture], the showers die away.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
High pressure, almost like having a pot on the stove [see pic] and the bubbles boil up.

Our clumps of showers almost like taking lumps of paint and going, fmmm [with a rather slow flicking gesture], like that at the weather map.

The main energy with this weather system is going to ease north and as it does, think of it as a piece of blue plasticine you pull it apart, it stretches [gestures doing so], fizzles out.

Got two great screengrabs during this bit. Click on the links to see 'em:
If you are going to be outside you might want to be lapping on some sun lotion [touches hand] because the UV levels they will be high, but at lest that's probably better than standing there with umbrellas [umbrella gesture].

13:56 BBC News
Well how about a nice-looking bank holiday weekend? If you're saying, 'alright', then let's get to it.

It was forecast to be unseasonably cold in Aberdeen but it seems that no-one else has noticed, unlike last time. See pic.

5th April

Radio 2: Janice Long
There's about four or five weather systems between now and Easter Sunday that will stream their way in from the Atlantic so, instead of picnic baskets, it might be more likely just the umbrella just in case. There's a weather system that's going to come in, so I think, if anything, you sort of think, 'oh, gosh, rubbish!'.

Tuesday will be one of those days, a bit of a typical April shower-y short of day; it'll be a lovely bright start and then the cloud will bubble up and [was that a bubbling sound-effect there?!] get a bit bigger into the afternoon.

There are so many weather systems heading our way;
It's almost like you need a score-card by the end of the week, you're sort of ticking them off.

Last week;
Everyone probably had the deckchairs in the garden.

When asked if he was going to be on again tomorrow, there was quite an emphatic 'no'.

Listen again, about 1h 42m in. Available until Monday 13th April.

Yet another nightshift! No wonder people are beginning to suspect Dan is a vampire ;-)

27th February

12:29 BBC News
Hello there. Not a bad looking afternoon if you're maybe heading to the outside, finishing a long week at work.
Oh yes.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
Sophie Raworth: It was rather spring-like this morning. Is it going to last?

Dan: Yes, I might have even seen the odd picnic basket around the Weather Centre.

Maybe you've been to the outside and said [looks up - see pic], 'cor, this is nice'.
Yes, I certainly did.

This little weather front, but it's just a weak little thing. Think of it like a blue piece of plasticine, you pull it apart [stretching gesture] pfft, like that.

The little snippet of news before the weather about the RTS awards reminded me that it's the time of year for the TRIC awards. Just checked the nominees and, unbelievably, Dan isn't even nominated. Again [tuts and rolls eyes].

13:55 BBC News
It's not going to be too bad for the weekend, maybe you've got outdoor plans, maybe you've just got cabin fever, you just want to be out in the park this weekend.

24th February

10:56 BBC News
And this thing, almost like you pull it apart [stretching gesture], a blue piece of plasticine, fizzling out.

13:28 BBC One and BBC News
That ridge of high pressure, it's almost like you put some glue on the back of it [gestures doing so], you stick it on the weather map [gestures doing so] and just watch it for a couple of days [waiting gesture - see pic].

Remember our ridge of high pressure stuck to the weather map? And notice as the weather front works south he just sits there saying, 'no, I'm not gonna move'.

How about the rest of the week? Remember our high pressure? It's still stuck to the weather map [see pic - Dan's exuberant enthusiasm captured at last], so it's going to be mostly dry and a mild week as well; you won't be needing that parka that's stuffed in the back of the cupboard, leave it there for the time being.

Later on in the day, this appeared on the Points of View message board.

Dan Corbett Extreme Weatherman

I abandoned the latest collection of Dan links after spending well over a week trying to wrestle them into a coherent blog post. You'll have to content yourselves with this:

Dan Corbett Extreme Weatherman
It starts off sensibly enough:

The New Year viewing schedules were enlivened by the return to our screens of Dan Corbett. What a guy! We look out for his weather reports because of the panache he brings to them.

Quite so.
However, it becomes increasingly strange...

Sometimes Dan goes missing, seemingly for months on end, and it is our fond hope that the BBC have finally seen sense and decided to commission 'Dan Corbett's Extreme Weather', a series where they send Dan into battle against various aggravating weather scenarios, usually involving a lot of wind, but occasionally snow and ice and prevailing north-westerlies (depending on the numbers and how much we want Dan to be obscured by blobs of weather).

...until we arrive at the bizarre:

You see, Dan has a previous existence as a hurricane chaser in the style of those guys in 'Twister.' There is so little to young Dan that I can imagine him being sent out into tornado country, tied to a chair (maybe not tied but I want him to be comfortable) and shot up into the swirling vortex of air. There's nothing to him, you see, and those suits he wears are made of the lightest fabric, ideal for any situation. Whoosh! And up he goes! In my head, right now, I have an image of him swirling around and around with a couple of cows and pigs caught up in the same air flow. And the smile on his face! He's having a whale of a time!

At the end the author posts a little video of 'Dan Corbett's Extreme Weather', resourcefully made using a video camera and clips from Dan's 3rd January BBCi forecast. I can't seem to link to or embed the video here though. Sorry!

And apparently I missed National Weatherman's Day last Thursday:

So don't forget to take a minute to watch your local forecast today, and appreciate what these people do in our daily lives.

Indeed.

Three cheers for Dan!

TBT

It's been a week now since the Today's Broadcasting Team page was last updated. I'm wondering whether the TBT has been a casualty of the BBC Weather site redesign, as there's no sign of it on the currently available beta version.

There's no doubt that blogging will be more difficult without the TBT. Without it I have no way of knowing when Dan's going to be on and (gasp) forecasts might be missed! Unthinkable!

I was also having trouble finding a link to the World forecast on the new site, and was concerned that this would mean being deprived of hearing Dan say 'Buenos Aires'.
However, I tried typing in that city's name in the sidebar - and up came a video forecast just for South America! Type in New York and get a forecast for North America. Sydney, Tokyo, Cairo, Berlin, Dubai; each bring up a different 'regional' world forecast. Not one World forecast - but seven!
See also: where and when?

Am now eagerly anticipating Dan's next World shift.

Of course, that is if I don't miss it, due to the lack of TBT.

17th January

So, I foolishly believed the TBT when it said Dan wasn't on today.
Turns out, he was.

There's not much to report in the way of Dan-isms. I missed him on BBCi and also on BBC One (where, if you believe what you read, he warned us that we'll be in for 'whooosh' tonight).

Also, there's no sign of Dan in this week's Radio Times.

UPDATE: 3/2/09
Found a bit of video of Dan doing the 19:30 forecast on BBC News:

Gasp! Another one not uploaded by me.
Am clearly slacking...

31st December

BBCi UK Forecast
Sounding particularly laid back:
If you're heading out this evening for festivities, it's certainly the extra layers; the mittens, the scarf, everything you can think of.

And a bit of a shade of blue there, almost like you just sort of pour some blue paint at the map [throwing gesture] and it just sort of sticks and almost sort of freezes [hunches a bit, sticking arms out].

Don't expect to be out there with the sunglasses [sunglasses gesture].

16:28 BBC News
Extra layers, the hat, the scarf and all that sort of thing. You'll probably be dressed up like the abominable snowman [hunches, as if wearing an excessive amount of clothing], but at least you'll be warm.

16:56 BBC News
Blimey, he kept the Dan-isms coming in this one...
Well, I tell you, one bit of good news at least for many of use, you'll at least keep the umbrella away [brolly-in bag gesture] you won't be needing that. But that extra-warm parka, the mittens, the scarf, grab it all - it's all going to come in handy.

All this cloud that's coming in, it's just like taking a sheet and just going, zhoom [throwing gesture] like that, across the British Isles.

Elsewhere, there is some cloud but it'll probably just linger, almost like it's stuck to the weather map. And look at the finishing numbers; one, two, three, four. Seven or eight would be typical so we're being a bit cheated on the numbers. It's because of this guy here, high pressure sitting to our north. And it more or less puts a lid over that area of cloud, it can't really move, no weather systems from the west. And look at it, it's just sort of sitting there. Come on, do something.

The warm parka perhaps you got for Christmas has been coming in handy.

2009 will sort of slowly come in [wheels it in slowly in a gesture very similar to 'the barbecue'] and 2008 will almost be frozen, you'll have to push it out of the way [pushing gesture]. More details online. That's the weather, for now.

Hmm, not at all sure about the fireworks on midnight's tedious tour.

17:29 BBC News
Hello there. Big plans tonight, big celebrations? Couple of things you'll need [two-handed point at camera], the good old warm coat, the scarf the mittens, everything in fact. Cold, frosty, we move 2008 slowly out, almost like frozen round the edges, all the cold air almost like the blue is just frozen on the map.

17:57 BBC News
Hello there. If you're wondering if 2008 is going to go out like a lamb or like a lion, more than likely it's going to go out frozen round the edges.

It's going to be a chilly one, we almost have to push the globe a bit faster because it'll be cold and frosty for the night.

This sheet of cloud has just worked in, like throwing it across the top of the bed [throwing gesture].

And our high pressure is just sitting here, almost like a big stone [holding gesture] stuck in a stream, doesn't let the weather systems come in. And you look at it and you think, 'you gonna move?', no it doesn't.

18:31 BBC News
Bear it in mind, maybe after the party you might be having to scrape the old car [scraping gesture].

18:55-ish BBC One
That cold Arctic air, like a blue layer of treacle.

UPDATE 2/1/09:
There's a very short New Year's Eve forecast of Dan's (with fireworks) embedded within this article on the BBC News website (there's a bigger version here). There are a couple of Dan-isms (ice-scraper and extra layers) but, brace yourselves, they chopped off his sign-off. Gah!

eBay
In other news, Google alerted me to this signed photo of Dan up for sale on eBay.
If you're after Dan's autograph, pick up a pen and write to him, for goodness sake. In return for you expressing your heartfelt appreciation of his amazing weather skillz, he'll probably send you a signed photo.

UPDATE: 4/1/09
It sold for £1.50
I can't decide whether I'm pleased someone wanted it or utterly appalled at the cheek of it.

Best Weather Presenter 2008

With a title like that, there can really be no doubt of what is to follow; it's Dan, of course.
And that's not just my opinion, but that of the TV Forum 2008 Newscaster of the Year poll.

Dan is (currently) leading the Best Weather Presenter category, with 13 nominations. The Schaf is runner-up with 7.

Dan was most nominated in that category in 2007, 2006 and 2005 too.

22nd December

10:56 BBC News
And notice some of the temperatures too; double figures ... you step to the outside, middle of the day, you'll notice right away, a different feel, [gestures removing coat] you'll sort of be taking the old parka off, you won't need it.

And then this fellow, here he is, a little weather front, into the north and the west, just a weak thing. Because the ridge of high pressure dominates he just fizzles out pfft [small pulling gesture], pull him apart, that's about it.

High pressure, there he is, he's still there. Just think of it like taking a big balloon, you put it in the way [gestures doing so], and it keeps all the weather systems away. And that's the way. So, Christmas Eve, if you are travelling to Grandma's or somewhere like that, at least the weather's going to be quiet.

And then the big day ... you won't be digging the old snow [gestures doing so] or building snowmen.

11:27 BBC News
Elsewhere we just keep the cloud in place, almost like just taking a sheet and, vmmm [throwing gesture], throwing it on the old weather map and it just sits there.

11:56 BBC News
Maybe you're nipping out, or maybe running round the high street [a suggestion of a run] for the last minute presents here and there.

Maybe you are off, sort of packing everyone in the car [throwing gesture, as if shoving stuff in the car], heading off to Grandma's house.

And then for Christmas Day, for Father Christmas, I don't think he'll be having to shovel [digging gesture, as before] the old walk in the drive.

12:55 BBC News
Hello there. If you're wondering what it's going to be like over Christmas, maybe the kids are going to be out building a snowman [digging gesture, as before] or perhaps you'd like to know if you'll be dong some shovelling with the snow; I don't think so.

It should be a mild start for old Father Christmas as he comes, he'll probably have the thin coat on.

13:27 BBC One and BBC News
After a piece about a purple squirrel;
You can probably imagine some of those squirrels gathering their nuts if we're going to get a lovely cold spell or perhaps some snow - and any kids that maybe have those toboggans out or perhaps on their Christmas list, you might want to hang on.

Look at this mass [of cloud]. It's like taking a white sheet and just throwing it across the map [throwing gesture].

13:55 BBC News
You might not be out with the old snowman [digging gesture, as before], our snowman [points to Christmas graphic] might be a bit lonely I think by Christmas Eve.

Oh - and thanks to Eddie Mair for the link from the PM blog. Short - but sweet

what?

From the BBC Points of View message board (with some minor correction):

I think that the weather forecast on BBC TV has become more of a dissertation rather than a pithy objective scientific assessment. Watching how Francis on Sky TV presents the weather should be compulsory viewing for all of the BBC weather forecasters, with the exception of a few, including the incomparable Dan Corbett. The worst offenders appear to be in my local BBC TV area, who often employ subjective unscientific phrases like, "It's going to be bad (or nice) today" and, "Good news, no rain today". OK if I want to sunbathe but no good if I'm a farmer with shrivelling crops!

Anyone any the wiser?

forecast forecast / news

It's that time of week when those now familiar words, there's no sign of Dan in next week's Radio Times appear.
Fingers crossed he'll be back on our screens soon - and thanks to Angela for the update.

In other news, some kind soul has added a link to this blog on Dan's Wikipedia entry. The link points to a random archive page, which is a bit odd, but thanks are due to whoever added it; I've been secretly hoping for a link from there for quite some time.

Children in Need

As I wrote this time last year; yes, it's that time of year again.

And, as last year, the BBC Weather team are again offering their BBC Weather Experience; meet your favourite weather presenter and present a weather forecast (off air) in the BBC Weather studio.

In case making a fool of yourself in front of Dan isn't your thing, you might like to bid on the Pudsey Bear Bandana signed by the Weather team.

This new Pudsey Bandana is signed by members of the esteemed BBC Weather team including: Daniel Corbett, Carol Kirkwood, Philip Avery, Chris Fawkes, Kirsty McCabe, Louise Lear, Matt Taylor, Susan Powell and Nick Miller.

There's a photo on the auction page and, although I can't really make it out clearly, to me it looks like Dan's signature is at the top right of the pic, accompanied by the immortal words, 'That's the weather, for now'.

Oh yes.

Both auctions finish on Thursday 20th November at 8pm.

Dan Corbett links #17

Dan has been particularly popular on the interwebs this past week. And, I'm afraid to say, not all of it has been complimentary. Proceed with caution.

Not A Kid and Not Friendly
If you read the comments here on TTWFN you may have noticed this comment left by Mark Sullivan, alerting us to his post, Why Daniel Corbett is either a *maverick* genius or else just slightly annoying and unnecessary. Why it's time for the jury to decide.
Again, not entirely complimentary (that c-word again!), but it all comes right in the end; the verdict is he's a national treasure.
Exactly so.

TV Scoop
I was delighted to see a post titled Why I love... BBC Weatherman Daniel Corbett pop up on TV Scoop, a blog I've been reading for some time. However, the delight soon faded; another mention of the c-word again there, and an accusation that he is smarmy.
They can't love him that much then.
However, the comment I left in reply hasn't yet surfaced on the blog, perhaps lost in their comment censorship moderation process. Anyway, it ran something along the lines of, 'Quirky, maybe. Genius, certainly. Smarmy? Never'.

That's more than enough Dan-bashing...

Misc.
Time for some other links I've been saving.
Dan is a true British Icon (a link to this blog - thank you!) and is The Best Weatherman. Yay!

Facebook
Finally, where would a collection of Dan links be without another Facebook group?

Daniel Corbett Appreciation Group
For people who admire Daniel's style of weather forcasting [sic]

The group is rather low in members at the moment, but it's early days.
Anyhow, according to my calculations, that makes seventeen Dan-related Facebook groups now.

29th October

A bit of a surprise to see him on an early shift, given the RT prediction, but early Dan is better than no Dan.

08:57 BBC News
Rachel Schofield: Dan, some people surprised by snow this morning?

Dan: Yes, just think of it, that feeling, peeling back the curtains [parting curtains gesture] and everyone, phew, gosh, snow!

A chilly start; you'll probably be out in the middle of the day with your parka - a cold sort of feel.

09:28 BBC News
Hello there. Another day for the warm parkas and you've probably been busy maybe scraping the snow off the cars, the ice as well.

BBCi UK Forecast
The parka will come in handy as you're nipping to the outside.

Quite a chilly start so, again, you might be out there with the old ice-scraper [scraping gesture].

It's still going to be a cold day, a day for your old parka.

With this one, it wasn't so much what he said, but how he said it:
These are the highs, [gestures to map, raises eyebrows] if you can call them that.

BBC Radio 4
Thanks to Em, who alerted me to this audio slideshow on the BBC News website, in which Dan features:

Unusually for October, snow has been falling across large parts of the UK - and readers of the BBC News website have been capturing the wintry scenes on camera.
Here - with the help of BBC weather forecasters on Radio 4 and Radio 5Live - take a look at some of the pictures we have been sent, from northern Scotland to Hampshire.

No snow at TTWFN Towers, unfortunately.

27th October

19:56 BBC News
After a piece promoting the return of Autumnwatch;
Autumnwatch? I'd say watch out for winter tonight, that's the way it's going to feel. You'd be tempted to take the extra eiderdown and stick it on the bed.

A speckle of cloud, that's the cold air just oozing its way down like a layer of treacle just being poured onto a plate. And vmmm, here it comes.

Good night for the telescope in a few spots.

You're heading out to the platform, the bus stop; grab the extra layer - it will come in handy and, don't be surprised, in a few spots you might even be scraping the car [scraping gesture].

Eiderdown? Not heard that one before. Perhaps he's responding to this comment on the Points of View messageboard earlier today?

Daniel Corbett has a habit of saying 'put an extra blanket on the bed' when it's cold.
Hasn't he ever heard of duvets?
I haven't had blankets on my bed since about 1980.

The comment further down in that thread about Dan and Dickens is amusing too.
And message 13; you mean there are people who only watch the weather for the presenters? Surely not.

20:31 BBC News
A chilly sort of start. One of those mornings where you nip to the outside then run back inside for an extra layer.

20:56 BBC News
An Autumnwatch forecast. Even as a nature lover, I find this feature a bit of a weird one.
Well, it's this time of the night where we look at the Autumnwatch weather and, this time of the night, the way the weather's been going, it should be more likely Winterwatch.

As Dan shows us the holly fruit sightings;
Looks like the map's got a bit of measles.

Have no idea what those pictures on the table were supposed to represent. Was it 'the lawn' that was 'more than likely getting ready for winter'?
Had a good poke about on the Autumnwatch website for an answer to this, but found nothing. If the place to submit your sightings is there, it isn't immediately obvious.

As more cold air works in, oozing down, like a layer of treacle being oozed down on the map.

21:27 BBC News
Weatherview (oh - forgot to say; no, it's not the same as the one broadcast in the early hours).
You'll be tempted to notch the old central heating up [thermostat gesture] and, I wouldn't be surprised, in the morning some of us could be scraping the car [scraping gesture].

Still a cold sort of day; one of those days where you're still keeping that parka close to hand [holding gesture].

BBCi UK Forecast
The temperatures will drop away quite quickly, like taking a lump of bricks and, pmmm, just dropping them away.

You'll definitely want some extra layers, might even be grabbing the old scraper as well for the car as you start the day.

Standing at the platform, the bus-stop; you might even be tempted to grab the mittens as well.

22:30-ish BBC One
We'll certainly be keeping handy the extra layers over the next few days and some of us even seeing some of the white stuff as well, particularly over the hills.

What, milk?

It'll be one of those days where you nip to the outside and you run back inside for an extra layer or two.

Dan did do the weather after Newsnight (BBC2 graphics, how I love thee) but it isn't available on the iPlayer.

02:50 BBC One Weatherview
Yet another Autumnwatch forecast. This time there was a little more explanation of that strange table with pictures. Yes, it was 'the lawn' I'd heard earlier; sightings of lawns being mowed.
Had another good look around on the Autumnwatch website and then searched the BBC website AND the weather website; still can't find anywhere to submit sightings / find out what the hell those pictures on that table mean.

Quite a cold Arctic blast across a good part of the British Isles, almost like having floodgates [closed floodgates gesture] and you just open them [does so], fmm, whoosh, down comes the cold Arctic air.

It's a bright but chilly start, one of those mornings where you sort of step outside and run back inside [turns to map as if going back inside] for an extra layer or two.

A Cloudy Language / forecast forecast

Angela says there's still no mention of Dan in next week's Radio Times. Gah!

To keep you occupied in his absence, I shall point you in the direction of A Cloudy Language, 'an occasional series celebrating the verbal inventiveness of our nation’s weather forecasters'.

There's a small selection of choice quotes and, surprisingly, Phil Avery has as many mentions as Dan.

However, they've not really picked the best Dan-isms Mr. Corbett has to offer, but then the authors probably don't follow the forecasts as obsessively enthusiastically as I do.

Dan Corbett links #16

Long overdue, here's another set of Dan-related links for your amusement.

Facebook
To start, let's get the inevitable out of the way; the latest crop of Facebook groups:

Daniel Corbett is my favourite weatherman
Eccentric, slightly Kraftwerk style arm action and very very excited about the weather, what more could you want from a weatherman?

And a comment on the group's wall;

What a hero!! Truly the best weatherman out there. His enthusiasm and passion for lucid communication of the week's meteorological status is legendary and inspiring!

Exactly.
And now, yet another Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society, but with a slight difference;

Daniel Corbett Appriciation Society
THE best weatherperson, like, evurrrrr

'Appriciation'? Sounds nasty.

Next up, the delightfully named,

When I watch BBC weather with Daniel Corbett I feel Comforted and Reassured
Daniel Corbett, one word, legend.

On the group's wall you are advised to watch this YouTube video 'all the way through as you will feel severly [sic] reassured by the end.'
Alas, this group is only for people in the Birmingham network, or I would have joined like a shot.

Still, his popularity isn't waning; that's sixteen different Dan-related Facebook groups now.

RaccoonAndCo
Tu parles Français? This is another site linking to a YouTube video, but this time the comment is in French. I used to be quite good at French, but I can't really make out what's being said here. Babelfish wasn't much help either.
UPDATE 16/04/11: This page no longer exists. Such is the transient nature of the internet. Ah well.

BBC News: How Tornadoes Form
More video now, this time from the BBC News website; Dan talking about how tornadoes form. See, why does the next edition of The Weather Show need Peter Gibbs? They already have a perfectly good explanation from Dan.
Gah!

Twitter
This next link comes from Twitter, (a bit like Facebook's 'status update'). @lewiswebb said:

Dan Corbett is the best BBC weatherman... and I'll fight anyone who disagrees.

Ursa Medium
Not only is he the best BBC weatherman, but also 'the singular happiest man on television', by this account.

Daniel Corbett Watch
Lisa (who had a mention on this blog in the first collection of Dan-links) now has a category on her blog devoted to Dan; Daniel Corbett Watch:

What was Daniel on last night? And I quote, "and almost like having bollards in a car park and having to drive 'round them" Then, later in the same forecast "almost a summersault or a backflip" Is he okay? I'm guessing he's been working too hard and needs a holiday as he's rambling and saying these random things.

Erm, rambling? Random? Those are finely crafted Dan-isms.
Anyway, surely the opposite would be true; stress level high = Dan-ism count low.

BBC Points of View message board
Moving swiftly on, here's further proof that Dan Is Always Right;

Congratulations to BBC weatherman, Daniel Corbett.
The other day he warned that it was going to be cold at night, and we might want to 'reach for the central heating'...
...well - I've just switched mine on. chilly down here in the wells.

In true messageboard style, the discussion goes downhill after that first post.

Wild About Britain
On the Wild About Britain weather forum, there's a discussion about favourite BBC weather presenters that doesn't degenerate into nonsense. Chris says,

I'm obsessed with BBC weather forecasts. Here are my top three forecasters:
1. Daniel Corbett (number 1 by a long way)
2. Rob McElwee
3. Nick Miller

Obsessed with BBC weather forecasts?! Who ever heard of such a thing...?

BBC Tour
And to finish, kind of off-topic, but... somebody I know and two of her weather-obsessed friends (cough) went to London last week and did the tour of BBC TV Centre.

The most interesting part of the tour was, of course, the Weather Centre, where the walls really are lined with images of the Gods.

A webcam-type shot allowed a peep inside the teeny-tiny weather studio where one of The Others was recording something. There was also a short demonstration of why weather presenters can't wear certain colours (due to the green-screen), then the tour guides roped one of the blokes on the tour into having a go with the graphics.
And although that's something you know I would never have volunteered to do in a million years, my friend and her companions thought they could've done a better job of it.
For starters, they would never have missed the golden opportunity to utter those immortal words; 'that's the weather, for now'.

octopus

Remember this?

Well, it turns out octopi do have two legs after all.

Dan is always right, don't doubt it.

UK Teachers Online

I've said this before, but it seems that there's something about Dan that captivates the teaching profession. As further proof of this, Jonathan Lecun at the UK Teacher(s) Online writes in praise of Dan (of course);

The Weathermen
Weather presenters have a language all of their own that is wonderful. I am a huge fan in particular of Daniel Corbett who has graced our screens for a few years now. Apparently he enjoys something of a cult following which he deserves.

Very true.

From a teacher's point of view he is interesting because of his dynamic presenting style... place him in front of a green (or blue) screen and he is transformed into a gesticulative bundle of energy. He gestures frantically as the BBC's animated clouds batter the country; he caresses the screen when balmy conditions predominate. All the while, he uses the most wonderful turns of phrase in describing weather and offering advice to the viewer: "Bad news for the doggy I'm afraid today", "Great day to do a little shopping perhaps", "Busy little things almost like a two-legged octopus".

He's even got a decent catchphrase "That's the weather - for now" accompanied by a point at the viewer which I have to admit used to look and sound a little sinister but which I now look forward to with relish. Daniel manages to make the weather sing no matter what the conditions.

The point-and-nod sinister? Never!

I urge Microsoft to consider removing those animated help characters from their Office software range and replace them with little Daniel Corbetts as a training aid. Powerpoint will never be the same again.

What, you mean like this? (created with help from the Clippy Office Assistant generator)

Wouldn't that just be the best Office Assistant EVER?!

Jonathan, you are a genius.

Dan Corbett links #15

I've recently discovered my Google alerts aren't very effective but, with a little additional searching, I've still managed to cobble together another set of Dan-related links for your enjoyment.

Facebook
Let's start with the perennial favourite, Facebook, and three more 'Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society'-type groups (two of which are network-specific).

The University of Bristol presents:

The Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society
A fifteen! A twenty two! Maybe a picnic in Portsmouth. Cold day, wrap the dog up warm if you're going out, maybe an extra jumper at the bus-stop. This blue, the rain, a drizzle, maybe a ten, a twelve, sunshine here, grey there, a fifteen, a sixteen. That's the weather... for now.

They've overdone it with the Dan-isms there, but you get the drift I suppose.

King's (London) presents:

Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society
This group pays homage to the greatest weather presenter of all time (step aside Michael Fish, there's a new king in town)!
Anyone who can make the weather forecast into a mini-drama deserves recognition. How can you not join?

Erm, probably because we're not in the King's (London) network..?

It seems to me that many of these groups are under the impression that they are the only group filling the Dan-shaped niche on Facebook (or even on the internet as a whole). Why do people create new groups without first checking to see if other similar ones already exist?

However, this next one is certainly unique:

Daniel Corbett/Chris Kamara Appreciation Society
Look at them move!
Daneil [sic] Corbett - Is this the greatest weatherman of all time? I think he just might be. He's all weatherman with an added 10% Ballerina. He presents weather as modern dance. And he's so eloquent. He certainly cacks all over Carol Kirkwood (not literally, that would be deeply unsound and wrong).

I've never heard of the other guy, who is apparently a presenter on Sky Sports (I have no interest in sport so that's hardly surprising) but it seems that most people in the group have never heard of either of them. Never heard of Dan?! Even Husband is incredulous.

Dan-related Facebook groups total: thur-teen (sorry, couldn't resist).

Fiction
Despite the fact there are people in the UK who have never heard of him, it seems Dan's fame has spread (via BBC World?) as far as the Phillipines, the place of residence of the author of this short story about a cat who survives Hurricane Katrina:

(BBC Opening Song) Dan Corbett reporting: Good evening. In exactly two days, it will be two years after the catastrophe that Hurricane Katrina brought to New Orleans. In a matter of days this hurricane left hundreds of thousands homeless, and the same amount to animals that got deserted. We made a special clip in remembrance of all who didn’t make it, both humans and animals.

‘I could see the pictures; but somehow, it didn’t terrify me.’ The warmth of mom and dad being close by blurred the memory of the storm.

“You don’t have to watch, Jersey”, Shameeka said, stroking my back.

“I’ll change the channel,” added Sawyer.

Change the channel when Dan's on?! Unimaginable! It must be a different 'Dan Corbett', it's the only explanation ;-)

Best Before: December 39th 2005
Yet more fiction, this time with Dan predicting the trends of 2008:

The Hype with Daniel Corbett
Greetings. As you may know I was invited to write the alternative Christmas message this year, exclusive to this website but, fate stepped in and decided to give me a touch of flu so like melting whipped cream on hot apple pie, I dribble sweet fanciful apologies. Not to fret, though. I've been asked to give you the lowdown on the hot spots and not spots for next year.

When I'm not surveying Great Britain from my domed palace in the clouds, making sure that the evil of weather of 1987 doesn't hurt my children again, I'm quite the connoisseur. My friends will tell you that I adore, simply adore, making jam and baking scones. But I also find popular music and the arts fascinating. When I'm not munching away on my jam and cream scones in my own private weather centre, in between bouts, of shoving the westerly winds back into the north sea, I also adore social networking. So let's have a look at the 'real deals' of 2008. Forget the poppycock of The Guardian, The Sunday Times and the bright young things of The Observer, this is where it will happen. And my predictions are usually right... for now.

'Dan' then goes on to predict the hot trends in Music, TV, Fashion, etc. and then the weather;

Weather
My weather tips for next year include a band of rain, some blustery showers, a spot of light drizzle and a sprinkling of sand. Don't be too surprised that you won't encounter some light lemon hail around April. And some disturbed cloudy weather around the summer solstice. As ever, with the weather, and everything else, you never can be too careful and you should carry a brolly at all times.

Well, that's The Hype...for now!

Misc.
And to finish, some quick links:

An interesting thread over at TV forum, '2007 Newscaster of the Year', in which several people name Dan as best weather presenter. Although, 'best weather: sunny' comes a close second ;-)

Tim started a new job. He has a TV on his desk and, 'was cheered up by seeing Dan "Nureyev" Corbett, the world's most graceful weatherman.'

More Dan and Ballet over at Hooting Yard.

A photo of Dan Corbett, National Hero.

Dan Corbett is the ultimate weatherman, he 'takes forecasting to the next level, and does his job better than anyone has ever done a job before.'

Daniel Corbett is a God (scroll down to the bottom), 'he loves weather SO much!'

And finally, having just slagged off the Google alerts thing, the following was its most recent offering.
Ever wondered what Dan would look like as a sixty-year-old woman? No, me neither, but Stephen has...

Dan Corbett links #14

It's been such a long time since I last looked for new Dan-links because Google does that for me these days.
Twiddling my thumbs the other day, bored, I decided to have a look about on Google...

School Visit
I was surprised (and also slightly jealous) to find this school newsletter;

The Science Explosion 2007 will take place next week on Thursday 5th and Friday 6th July.
All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 will have a different timetable for the two days as they take part in a range of lessons which have a science theme and this year everything will be linked to the environment.
We will be looking at issues such as recycling and waste, flooding and crazy weather patterns, organic and non-organic foods and the global impact of ICT to name but a few. We also have some visiting speakers coming into the school to work with students including BBC weatherman Daniel Corbett.

Never in All my Life
Google e-mailed me this morning with this next link which, I have to say, is one of the most amazing pro-Dan posts I have ever read. You really need to read the whole thing, but here are some edited highlights;

"That's the weather... for now"
My favourite current forecaster is the BBC's Dan Corbett. Where some presenters seem almost fearful of making an impression, Dan just goes for it and imprints himself on the forecast so much the weather map had might as well consist of a massive version of his face.

His clever use of physical movements to keep you engrossed all the way to the end is a mark of Dan's genius. He swoops about the map, often ducking, and simulates projected cloud movements with sharp whips of the hand. I love the way he makes you feel like you're involved too. "Just watch this..." he says, as if preparing you for the havoc about to be unloaded by a particularly vicious area of low pressure. I also love the way he interferes in your daily itinerary by proposing what you might do at a certain time. "Some spots of drizzle bubbling up in Cornwall tomorrow morning - perhaps if you're taking the kids out for the day you'll pack the umbrella and some light cagoules just to be safe."

However, there's a mention of that c-word again (really don't get that at all) and some maligning of The Others (although that's OK in my eyes if they don't work for the Met Office / BBC) but, on the whole, a very entertaining post.

Washing forecast
Slightly off-topic, but you might enjoy this open letter to BBC Weather Forecasters, suggesting the addition of a 'washing forecast'.

mini-Dan's first forecast

Couldn't resist posting this:

Love those weather stickers and map!

UPDATE: he has his own blog!

And now for the weather

In today's Guardian 'Comment is free' blog there's an article by Leo Hickman about weather forecasters' reluctance to discuss climate change.

The opening paragraph begins with praise of Dan, which is always pleasing;

My favourite weather forecaster on television today, by far, is the BBC's Daniel Corbett. The outlook is always much brighter when Corbett is on-screen. And I always look forward to him bidding farewell with his trademark sign-off: "That's the weather (dramatic pause) for now."

...and it ends with a link to this blog! Yay!
I'd like to think I do a bit more than simply advertise Dan's shifts, though.

He goes on to say;

Corbett puts on quite a performance - his animated hand-sweeps and over-punctuated speech can be mesmerising to watch at times - but sometimes you get so distracted by it that you don't actually take in what he is telling us about the weather over the next three days. That's precisely the reason why we don't see more of the big-persona presenters of yesteryear.

I beg to differ - but then, if Dan's on, I watch several forecasts in one evening; if it doesn't sink in the first time, it surely will after the sixth. And as for the other allegation, perhaps it's just my imagination, but it seems to me that the other BBC presenters are increasingly trying to jazz up their forecasts a bit.
And failing miserably, might I add.

Thanks for the link, Leo. In return I thought I could give you video evidence of the words 'climate change' passing through Dan's own lips but, my mistake, it's 'global warming' he says instead. Close enough, though?

Facebook: The Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society

Just when you thought the saturation point of Dan-related groups had been reached on Facebook, someone goes and creates another one.
The latest, The Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society, (er...) has this short description;

This man is a legend. Have you seen how he presents the weather?
Do you love or loath the man?

What sort of question is that for an appreciation society?

So, the number of Dan-honouring Facebook groups has finally reached double figures (properly).

In other Facebook news, it seems the dubious Daniel Corbett profile has vanished.

Facebook, yet again

Here's some mildly amusing news of the the latest Dan-related Facebook group; Dan Corbett.. GET HIM OFF!, created by a (Mr?) 'Ban Dan Corbett';

He has got to be the MOST irritating weatherman EVER!! Never has anybody annoyed me as much as this dude.. I have to cover one eye so I can only see the map and put it on mute when he's on.. he describes the weather as.. and I quote.. for example.. "... like a spin cycle on a washing machine over the east of England.. " ".. like the shroud on a mourning widow.. " "..like a piece of toffee stuck on a plate.".. etc etc and why is he always telling me what to wear?? "Get your winter coats out!" "Get your umbrellas out!" .. and he looks at his watch to check what season it is?? What's all that about?? He's OBSESSED about picnics!! And what's with the accent?? Bizarre. Give me Rob McElwee anyday.

One dot short of an ellipsis, clearly.

Perhaps you've only truly arrived on Facebook when someone goes to the trouble of creating an alias in order to start an anti-group. Even if it does only have two members ;-)

Surely this is too feeble to count towards the Dan-related Facebook groups running total.

Fakebook?

Eagle-eyed friends of the blog, Mr. George and Angel, spotted this on Facebook:

Profile: Daniel Corbett
(if you haven't got a Facebook account, here's a screen-grab)

Real or fake? You decide.

13th September

21:56 BBC News 24
The main energy of this weather system going well-east up to Scandinavia, so we get this drib and drab piece of a - a bit like a piece of string, you pull it apart [small stretching gesture].

23:29 BBC News 24
We're really sort of sucking the life out of this weather front as it works south. But we'll all notice tomorrow as it works through, as fresher feel, so we'll all sort of [sigh] 'ah, yes', quite a difference, nice September day.

The main energy with this weather system or lump of cloud is going well to the north and the east. It's like a big fat blue piece of plasticine; at first you squeeze it, you pull it [stretching gesture]. By the time it gets to the south coast you really can't even see it.

23:56 BBC News 24
A lovely day for a picnic - twenty-four degrees in London.

00:30 BBC News 24
Temperatures, just that fresher feel. You'll walk to the outside and say, 'ooh, ooh yes!' [looks around].

00:58 BBC News 24
Hello there. Not a bad-looking day for the outside I think, more than likely it'll be the sunglasses. Some of us, though, might grab the umbrella.

This is the weather front. It doesn't look like much, does it? You'll say, 'come on!'

Northern Ireland and Scotland, head outside first thing and you'll feel that air, voof! Ooh, a very pleasant sort of day.

Dan did several of the regional forecasts during Breakfast.
It's a shame the Sky+ is acting up again, as I'm convinced I missed a few great Dan-isms. Here's what I caught:

London
Grab your jumpers next week; much cooler and wetter. That's the weather, for now.

East Midlands
A chilly old night, maybe an extra blanket on the bed.

North East
The temperatures really go vmm! [dropping gesture] do drop away.

Then I think there was something about putting an extra blanket on the bed, but the Sky+ chose to throw a wobbly at that point and all I heard was 'on the bed'.

The Look North presenter (immediately after Dan's forecast): Don't you just love it when temperatures go vmm! [dropping gesture], just like that?!

Well, when Dan does it, yes.

However, I'm really cross I missed my own local forecast, because according to a wall post on the Dan Corbett Appreciation Society Facebook group;

He performed on the South East breakfast weather this morning. His hands caressed the map like a magician about to draw back the curtain and reveal a crisp foggy morning which will become much brighter as the day progresses. And that is the latest sighting... for now.

Damn.

Wikipedia

Some interesting changes have been made in the last week to Dan's Wikipedia entry, including the addition of the all elusive birthday.

Click on the 'history' tab at the top to see the changes, then select two versions to compare, like so.

Mind you, it is Wikipedia, so believe what you will.

BBC News and Sport on Tour

Angel, went to the BBC News and Sport on Tour in Bristol last weekend - and saw Dan!

Well... a poster of him anyway.

The next (and final) stop for the tour is Swansea (15th to 17th August), if you fancy having a go at presenting a weather bulletin and meeting someone from the BBC Weather team.

Angel says it's harder that it looks;

No script, no autocue, a monitor that shows them their graphics in reverse and a director shouting all manner of things in their ear whilst they have to remember what they have got to tell you about the weather! Wow! It is apparently the hardest thing to present.

From my limited experience, I can second that.

There's even a BBC News and Sport on Tour Facebook group, on which I found another photo of the same poster of Dan. Look carefully - Dan's in it twice!

Facebook: BBC Weather Man Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society

Welcome to That's the Weather, For Now - a Daniel Corbett fanblog

Came straight to this archive page? Wondering where Dan is?
For the latest Dan-isms and news visit the blog's front page:
That's the Weather, For Now
(tl;dr - he's in New Zealand)

I did say, not so very long ago, that it was only a matter of time before a new Dan-related Facebook group would spring up.

Less than a week later:

BBC Weather Man Daniel Corbett Appreciation Society
Daniel Corbett looks like your average weather man but believe me this is far from the truth. He is possibly the greatest weather man of all time. He has the hands of a magician and the dialect of a blood line royal. Basically, he is a legend.

There's the obligatory praise of Dan on the group's Wall (translated into standard English; work-related habit - I just can't help myself);

Ross wrote:

OMG OMG OMG, I do actually love this man. I didn't know anyone else watched the weather [er...?!] but whenever he's on my mum and dad are sad enough to call me in because they know I love him, he's so energetic.

Sad enough?! Kind enough, more like. You should respect your parents, young man.
However, I know for a fact he's not the only one to be called into the room when Dan appears; I bet if you open a window and listen very carefully at about 6.27 tomorrow (or any day when Dan is on BBC One), you'll be able to hear the nation's collective cry of, 'IT'S DAN CORBETT! QUICK!'.

Gus wrote:

With his classy interchanges and the way he commands the board, his voice is also very enticing and you can just close your eyes and understand what he is talking about, he tells the forecast in such detail!
And I don't think I have ever seen him take one look at the screen to his left hand side, as most of the other 'amateur' forecasters do. There has also never been a stutter either, which means he is by far the greatest weather man that ever lived!
Daniel Corbett - you truly are - "the weather man!"

Of course.

That this group has appeared from nowhere and accumulated almost 60 members in less than a week is a testament to Dan's popularity.
That, and the fact there are nine Dan-related facebook groups now.

Dan Corbett links #13

No Dan today. Hopefully he's got a couple of days off in lieu of having spent Monday and Tuesday knee-deep in water. At least I hope he's not off sick!

To keep you amused in his absence, here's another collection of Dan-related links.

Digi-cream Times
Dan's name pops up in a post on Digi-cream Times, bemoaning the lack of chart-hit spoofs, singling out Rihanna's 'Umbrella' as a prime target;

Finally Daniel Corbett comes on and forecasts...20 more weeks at the top of the chart.

Mo Dutta
I don't listen to Radio 2 (except when Dan's on Janice Long, of course!), but apparently Mo Dutta often mentions Dan on his show. His 'Know The Show' section details all the show in-jokes and references;

Ronnie ‘Daniel’ Corbett
Mo’s favourite weather presenter whose forecasts are a poetic masterpiece of sweeping hand gestures and if it’s a day for a picnic.

Remote Control
Remote Control has also noticed the 'Dan-er-isms'.
If you can't stand any criticism of Our Dan, then you may have to skip this - he's twice described as 'odd';

Weathermen... what to do with them.
I've seen Daniel Corbett on the telly twice today. Both times he seemed to be really enjoying himself. Which seeing as he is a weatherman on the BBC informing us that flash floods, heavy rain and strong winds are likely across the UK on Friday, must make him a bit odd.
In fact, without sounding old, weathermen aren't as good as they used to be, are they? They aren't characters, are they? Perhaps it's because there are so many of them - thanks to rolling news.
The ones we do have all appear to go for the same thing - super pally, determined to be a mate in your living room. Which is quite a hard act to pull off when they're telling us our homes are about to be hit by flooding rivers.
And the ones who do try to be characters, like Daniel, just seem odd. He doesn't just point and poke at his weather map, he caresses it and runs his hands over it in a way which suggests he's inviting mainland UK to split from Northern Ireland and spend the night with him instead.

Wild About Britain
To restore the balance, there's some appreciation of Dan over at the Wild About Britain British Wildlife Forums.
Chris writes,

As far as I am concerned, Dan Corbett is the best weather forecaster of all time. Obviously loves weather and works the maps like a maestro.

Surrey Snow replies,

I have to agree, "we are not worthy". The bloke is a legend in my book.

Mansized
There's more forum-based appreciation of Dan going on at Mansized, naming Weather Forecasting Deities;
Will says,

I nominate these two. Peter Cockcroft, if only because his name sounds like Cock Loft, and Daniel "That's the weather.... for now" Corbett.

By classof72 adds,

Definitely the Corbett. He's turned the weather into performance art.
Apparently he's got a ranch! What a man!

PowerSwitch
LastDrop on the PowerSwitch forum blames Dan for all the recent wet weather;

I blame Daniel Corbett. Those hand movements aren't natural. I swear he's controlling the weather

Don't let your eyes stray down to the reply, though!

BBC News
On BBC News online, 'Mr. Corbett' provides an answer to the question on everbody's lips; Why has it been so wet?

"The weather across the UK has been far from typical this summer," says BBC broadcast meteorologist Daniel Corbett.
He said a broad band of low pressure had been sitting across the UK, pushing the jet stream - a ribbon of fast moving air in the upper atmosphere - further south than usual, keeping high pressure and settled weather away from the UK.
"In a normal summer the jet stream is to the north of the UK. This allows the Azores high to build across the UK and bring settled and more typical summer weather for the UK," said Mr Corbett.

And don't faint at the lack of a new Facebook group for this collection of links, it's only a matter of time...