Opinion: 'The Shipping Forecast' reminds us of the power of the human voice

Scott Simon

October 11, 2025 / 4:51 am

"The Shipping Forecast," presented twice on weekdays on the BBC and thrice on weekends, is 100-years-old this week.

It broadcasts weather forecasts for the seas that surround the British Isles.

You may wonder: why don't sailors and citizens on the North and Irish Seas, and along the English Channel, just look at their iPhones for the weather? They probably do.

But the two-minute program is heard by 6.5 million people. That is more than the nightly audience for Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon combined.

"The Shipping Forecast" is a fixture of British life. It has been featured in songs from Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, and Chumbawamba, and satirized by Bri

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