Shipping Forecast excluding the header line, has a limit of 350 words—except for the 0048 broadcast, where it is increased to 380 to accommodate Trafalgar's inclusion—and has a very strict format. It begins with "And now the Shipping Forecast, issued by the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at xxxx today." This format is followed quite strictly, although some continuity announcers read out the actual date of issue as opposed to the word "today". This is followed by gale warnings (winds of force 8 or more on the Beaufort scale), if any (e.g., "There are warnings of gales
This Is a Low shipping forecast - [an] inexplicably calming institution that soundtracks the switching-off of the UK's night-lights - narrarated as if the writer was gazing at the whole of The British Isles." This is a list of the shipping areas mentioned in the song (in context): The song also mentions the most westerly point of England, Land's End: ""the Queen, she's gone round the bend, jumped off Land's End"". "This Is a Low" is often chosen as a stand-out track from the album, including as a selected highlight by AllMusic, who describe the track as a "swirling, epic closer". John Harris described