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What I'd like to know is, whether the woman who rang Mr Fish up in 1987 ever got any credit for correctly predicting the weather? Mintguy (T) 12:02, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Yes, she did. She became a bit of a local celebrity for a while and has turned up on a few TV nostalgia programmes, I think she was on "I Love 1987", for one. Can't remember her name though. Bonalaw 12:09, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I'm not sure on that - I'm pretty sure the real story is that someone in the studio told Michael that his Mum was going to somewhere in America and she was worried about a hurricane there, so told Michael to say something about it. That infamous line was not in fact referring to Britain, but this hurricane somewhere in America (it was linked to a news story).

Um, perhaps a better explanation from BBC Weather

Bonalaw's comments are untrue - no such "woman" ever existed. Michael Fish states that the woman was the mother of someone in the studio, who was going on holiday to Florida, and they thought it would be a nice idea to mention her concerns as if she was a viewer. How they must have regretted it... Anyway I have edited the article to clear up the story. 143.252.80.110 10:19, 18 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

"Earlier on today apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way. Well don't worry if you're watching, there isn't."

This is frequently quoted from Michael's evening weather broadcast on the 15 October, the night the storm hit. However Michael wasn't talking about the UK at this point and was referring to a story in the News. "My remarks referred to Florida and were a link to a news story about devastation in the Caribbean that had just been broadcast. The phone call was a member of staff reassuring his mother just before she set off there on holiday!" "I did broadcast saying 'batten down the hatches there's some really stormy weather on the way' - if the full clip is used all would be revealed."


If this can be validated, perhaps it's worth changing the article to reflect this? Barneyboo 21:22, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

It's interesting to watch the clip and see what he says immediately after the "Don't worry - there isn't!" remark. "But having said that, actually the weather will become very windy". Now, if he had been talking about the US, as he claims, you'd expect him to say that it will be windy here, but he doesn't. The flow of his speech suggests that he is dealing with the same subject: the weather in the UK. MLJ Dec 2007

The "famous" broadcast is now on Youtube in its completeness, and he doesn't say "batten down the hatches", but he does say it will be "very windy" once, but mostly talks about the possibility of heavy rain, not gales. [1] IMO, the "hurricane" comment is very obviously referring to the UK, not Florida. 91.85.42.64 (talk) 11:37, 9 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, he was definitely talking about the UK....although technically he was right...it wasn't a hurricane..it was an intense low pressure system, with hurricane FORCE winds. 86.186.155.49 (talk) 22:34, 29 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Michael is retiring.

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See [2]. This should be incorporated into the article. [[User:Norm|Norm]] 19:17, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Storm

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It says the storm killed 19 people; elsewhere it says that the storm killed 23. WHY?? Paidgenius 20:25, 15 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Also the first paragrapgh describing his broadcast of the 1987 storm somewhat contradicts what it says in the article about the actual storm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1987 86.144.25.248 (talk) 12:54, 15 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Folk Hero

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It's interesting to compare Michael Fish to the Irish Meteorologist, Brendan McWilliams (1944-2007). McWilliams came across as polished, erudite and well educated, writing learned articles and quoting from, for example, Pliny, Shakespeare and the Bible. Michael Fish did none of those things. But his folksy semi-accuracies, on the likelihood of rain, the approach of autumn, etc gave him an appeal which the British public understood and appreciated, and earned him the MBE. A real Englishman.Millbanks 23:03, 10 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

PS On the list of alumni of the City University, Mr Fish is down under "Media and Entertainment", not as a scientist. Millbanks (talk) 07:28, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

City University

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The article referred to Mr Fish as being a graduate of the City University. But since that university subsequently gave him an honorary degree, presumably his initial studies there were not at degree level. I've made a minor change. Millbanks (talk) 07:38, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Great Storm Again

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There's a new BBC article out toady, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Great Storm, which states that Michael Fish wasn't even on duty the night before the storm hit. Apparently he was covering the 0430 shift that morning, and DID predict heavy wind and rain. The hurricane prediction was some time before, apparently. If noone objects, I think it might be worth changing the article to reflect this. --El Pollo Diablo (Talk) 12:23, 15 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

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Looks like ref 2 is broken - I imagine it is the same or similar to this [3].

Does anyone know if his explanation is true or not - it is hard to imagine the BBC would have an article up with him claiming not to have even been on that night would be allowed unless it was actually the case, so I would presume that it is all rubbish, but there doesn't seem to be anything conclusive (like say the actual full weather from that night including the date). --86.162.174.122 (talk) 02:15, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I guess to add a few things I found out so someone might want to add them: the Met Office seem to confirm that Fish was on the evening the day before the storm hit [4], and was talking about an actual potential hurricane in the western atlantic, rather than the depression forming over the Bay of Biscay at the time, and Bill Giles has admitted after retiring he was on the night immediately before the storm hit, so Fish seems to be correct. --86.162.174.122 (talk) 02:33, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
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