Shipping Forecast August 2017 was the 150th anniversary of the shipping forecast. The 31 sea areas covering the waters around the British Isles are as defined by the map shown here: The areas were already roughly as listed above by 1949. In 1955, meteorologists from countries with North Sea coastlines met and recommended that the UK's sea area 'Heligoland' be renamed 'German Bight' to reflect more general usage amongst the nations concerned. They also recommended the divisions of 'Dogger' (with the north-eastern portion to be named 'Fisher') and 'Forties' (with the northern half becoming 'Viking'), and the renaming of 'Iceland' as 'South-east
Long Forties Long Forties Long Forties is an area of the northern North Sea that is fairly consistently forty fathoms (240 feet/73 metres) deep. Thus, on a nautical chart with depth shown in fathoms, a long area with many "40" notations can be seen. Long Forties are located between the northeast coast of Scotland and the southwest coast of Norway, centred about 57°N 0°30′E; compare to the Broad Fourteens. The Shipping Forecast area "Forties" is named after the area. The Dutch weather service KNMI uses the name of the Fladen Grounds, a slightly more northernly and deeper part of the North Sea.