Shipping Forecast largely autobiographical account of growing up in Liverpool during the 1940s and 1950s, opens with a shipping forecast from this period. In an episode of the BBC sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances", a soon-to-be-sailing Hyacinth Bucket calls over the telephone for an advance shipping forecast, even though the yacht she and her husband Richard are to visit is moored on the Thames near Oxford. Names mentioned (in scene sequence) are: Fisher, German Bight and Cromarty, Dogger and Heligoland (also known as German Bight). In an episode of the BBC sitcom "Ever Decreasing Circles", Howard and Hilda leave their neighbour Paul's house
Climate of the British Isles country. Thunderstorms are most common in the south-east, and least common in the north-west. Occasionally, thunderstorms can be severe and produce large hailstones as seen in Ottery St Mary, Devon in October 2008, where drifts reached . Estimates produced by the Met Office predict average annual temperature to increase by 2°C (4°F) and the warmest summer day to increase by 3°C (6°F) by the 2050s. Average winter rainfall is also likely to increase and most areas will see a slight decrease in annual rainfall. Recently the British Isles have undergone some record breaking events. In 2004-2006, a partial drought caused