Michael Fish
Michael Fish MBE (born 27 April 1944 in Eastbourne, East Sussex) is a semi-retired weather forecaster, most known for his BBC Weather television presentations, although he was actually employed by the Met Office.
He became a subject of infamy in the wake of the Great Storm of 1987; a few hours before the storm broke, on 15 October, 1987, he said during a forecast: "Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way... well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!". That evening, the worst storm to hit South East England since 1703 caused record damages and killed 19 people.
Nearly 5 years after retiring from the BBC national forecast, he is now making a return to regular forecasting, presenting a weekly weather forecast for Netweather.tv.
Career
Schooled at Eastbourne College and City University, London, Fish was the longest serving broadcast meteorologist on British television and probably the World's, taking up the role in 1974 after several years on BBC Radio.
Fish was awarded the MBE in 2004 for services to broadcasting. Honorary Doctors of Science from both Exeter and City Universities as well as the Freedom of the City of London. He was retired by the Civil Service and he made his final forecast on 6 October 2004 on the BBC Ten O'Clock News bulletin. That year he was also awarded the TRIC Award for TV Weather Presenter of the year and The Sunday Times gave him the honour of 'National Treasure'. He has recently resumed forecasting on BBC South East Today, providing holiday cover for the regular forecaster and has also taken to acting. He is a Patron of numerous organisations and charities.
Michael Fish also co-authored a book with Paul Hudson and Ian McCaskill titled Storm Force: Britain's Wildest Weather, released in October 2007. Michael Fish was awarded an honorary degree by The City University in 1996 and Exeter University in the summer of 2005.
In the last 2 years he has taken up a new career - that of acting. He 'stared' in a Nationwide Tour of 'A Play What I Wrote' and later had a part in 'French Paste' at the Shaw Theatre, London. Apart from acting his time is now spent on the after-dinner and lecture circuit as well as doing voice overs,compering and writing.
Hurricane controversy
In later years, Fish claimed that he had been referring to a hurricane in Florida,[1] USA in a link to a news story that preceded the weather bulletin. But he did not mention Florida in his forecast, which was made amid widespread worries about a coming storm: That morning, the Surrey Record had warned of "furious gales," so both his caller and his viewers likely believed he was referring to Britain. Fish did go on to warn of high winds for the UK, warning viewers to "batten down the hatches", although the storm that actually occurred was far stronger than he had predicted (albeit, technically, not a hurricane). Fifteen years later he commented that if he was given a penny for every mention of that forecast, he would be a millionaire.[2]
In reaction to the controversy, the term "Michael Fish effect" has been coined, whereby British weathermen are now inclined to predict "a worst-case scenario in order to avoid being caught out".[3]
Personality and popular culture
When presenting the weather, he would often wear a tie bearing a fish motif, though often the motif would be hidden inside his jacket or was too small to show up on television. As a result he was given the award 'Tie Man of the Year' on three occasions. He was also awarded both the 'best dressed' and 'worst dressed' man on television in the same year. Fish appealed to the British public by way of his gloomy prognoses;[citation needed] for example on 8 July 2001, he announced the end of summer: "it's autumn's turn".[citation needed]
Much ahead of his colleague, John Kettley, Fish had a record dedicated to him in 1985 by the punk group Rachel and Nicki called "I wish, I wish, he was like Michael Fish. This was featured on the Wogan He also appears prominently in The Prodigy's Weather Experience on their first album.
Other television appearances
He has appeared on hundreds of other progammes from science to comedy and quizzes. He appeared on BBC2's gameshow Identity on 3 September 2007 as a 'TV Weather Forecaster'. On 14 October 2007 he appeared on Radio 4's Sunday news review Broadcasting House as a guest newspaper reviewer and delivered the weather forecast at the end of the programme.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Great Storm, Michael Fish returned to deliver the weather forecast on the BBC's One O'Clock and Six O'Clock news on 15 October 2007.
References
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