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
Shipping Forecast Iceland' for greater clarity. Following international consultation, these changes were introduced in 1956. In August 1984, the areas in the North Sea were again coordinated with those of neighbouring countries, introducing North Utsire and South Utsire, and reducing Viking in size. Finisterre was renamed FitzRoy in 2002, to avoid confusion with the smaller sea area of the same name used in the marine forecasts produced by the French and Spanish meteorological offices. Some names still differ; for example, the Dutch KNMI names the area equivalent to Forties after the Fladen bank, while Météo-France calls the English Channel sea areas Dover,