英語學習點: Weather Forecasting 天氣預報

Starting with the lines "General weather probable in the next two days," a short piece in The Times newspaper of London in 1861 started forecasting as we know it today.

It was put together by Robert FitzRoy, a captain in the Royal Navy and a pioneer in the field of meteorology, who led the department which later became the Met Office.

In the 150 years since then, the unreliable art has gone through many different styles, but one thing has remained constant: ridicule for weathermen when they get it wrong. Poor FitzRoy became the butt of jokes when his predictions were incorrect and his daily forecasts soon stopped.

However, by popular demand, they returned a few years later. The first BBC radio weather bulletin was in 1922 but it wasn't until 1949 that forecasts made it onto TV.

Unlike modern weather forecasts with high-tech graphics and chroma key technology, the presenter used just a map and a pencil to show what the weather would be doing tomorrow.

It goes without saying that weather forecasting is far more important than simply letting people know whether to take waterproofs and an umbrella out with them. Early-warning systems which predict extreme weather such as hurricanes and cyclones have saved countless lives.

Come rain or shine, weather forecasts will probably be here for at least another 150 years. After all, what would the British talk about without them?