"John Hall" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Martin Rowley m
writes:
When
writing the Shipping Forecast, by the time you get to Malin, Hebrides
etc., you find you're rapidly running out of words (strictly limited)
and have to lump areas together with no leeway to sub-divide. It's
only
a guess, but I've known it happen.

Given that the worst weather in the seas round the UK tends to be to
the
north-west - and it's therefore more likely to be important to put in
the detail there - and the limited time for the forecast, would there
be
a case for dealing with the sea areas in anti-clockwise rather than
the
current clockwise order? Or alternatively to stick to clockwise but to
change the starting point to, for example, Shannon?

.... The answer is more words! If you put the detail in there, then the
Channel fraternity will complain (more); if you put the detail in the
Channel, then the North Sea fishing fraternity will complain.

There was an article in 'Weather' a while back that pointed out that
there are many & better ways to convey forecast information to the
marine community rather than the text-based Shipping Forecast.

Martin.


--
FAQ & Glossary for uk.sci.weather at:-
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/uswfaqfr.htm
and
http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/metindex.htm