Michael Fish
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Michael Fish MBE (born April 27, 1944 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England) is a semi-retired weather forecaster, most known for his BBC Weather television presentations, although he was actually employed by the Met Office.
Schooled at Eastbourne College and a graduate of City University, London, Fish was the longest serving weather presenter on British television, taking up the role in 1974.
He became a subject of ridicule and 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.
In later years, he 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 widspread 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]
Much like his colleague, John Kettley, Fish has obscurely featured in popular music - he appears prominently in The Prodigy's Weather Experience on their first album.
When presenting the weather, he would normally 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. Fish appealed to the British public by way of his gloomy prognoses. For example on 8 July 2001 he announced the end of summer: "it's autumn's turn".
Fish was awarded the MBE in 2004 for services to broadcasting. He was retired by the Civil Service and he made his final forecast on October 6, 2004 on the BBC Ten O'Clock News bulletin. However, since then he has resumed forecasting on BBC South East Today, providing holiday cover for the regular forecaster.
Michael Fish was awarded an honorary degree by Exeter University in the summer of 2005.
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 the 15 October 2007.
Michael Fish also co-authored a book with Paul Hudson and Ian McCaskill titled Storm Force: Britain's Wildest Weather, released in October 2007.
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