Some years ago now, I had an Archimedes moment in the bath. You will remember, of course, that the great Greek mathematician was listening to the weather forecast on his rudimentary wireless as he enjoyed a soak one evening. Something was wrong with the forecast, but he couldn’t quite place it. Suddenly, it came to him. “Eureka!” he cried. “Once Radio 4 is invented, I will immediately write to the controller.”

The thing that occurred to me under similar circumstances was this: I knew more about the Scottish weather than the forecast for my own region, which was then London and the southeast. My attention always seemed to wander. The forecasters’ voices are so soothing, don’t you find? Scattered showers... moving gently towards the east... you are feeling very sleepy... sunny intervals later in the afternoon... yes, very sleepy. I always missed the regional weather, but snapped to attention when I realised the forecast was about to end. Temporarily outraged by this, I then forgot all about it.

Other listeners have seethed quietly over the years, but eventually the sheer pressure of resentment became too much. And now, victory is theirs. Since last Monday, the Radio 4 weather forecast has had a new format. The change followed a two-week trial on the PM programme, during which listeners were invited to give their views. One idea was to have sound effects for different types of weather. Another suggestion was shouting the names of the regions to alert anybody who might, say, have dozed off in the bath. Different regions were even broadcast in the appropriate accent. A brisk Shipping Forecast-style approach proved popular, but apparently only because it happened to fit that day’s weather.

The winning style divides the country into 11 regions (you will find a map of this on bbc.co.uk/ blogs/pm/). The forecast will be divided into 11 mini-forecasts, starting with the southwest (because our weather normally sweeps in from here). “It seems to have gone down well with listeners,” says the weatherman Peter Gibbs, who has been in the thick of things, “but it needs some thought. It takes a lot longer to prepare.”

Forecasters tried something similar in 1990, but abandoned the idea after a few weeks because it proved complicated and time-consuming. This time, they’re under pressure (probably coming in from the Atlantic) to make it work. Of the 700 people who responded to PM, the BBC says only seven positively didn’t like the new format.

Here’s an idea of just how demanding the Radio 4 audience can be. Some listeners complained that the 90-second forecast did not include sufficient information about wind speed. Some wanted to phase out fahrenheit temperatures; others wanted most definitely to keep fahrenheit. Some people couldn’t work out which region they were in. Others thought the weather still wasn’t local enough (might I suggest listening to local radio?). And some were simply fed up with listening to PM’s Eddie Mair going on and on about the weather. “I love PM,” said one contributor, “but I’ve never been so bored as I have been by PM’s constant obsession with the weather. Please, can we obsess about something else?”

Quite right, sir. Now we’ve sorted out the weather, it’s definitely time to move on. So, can we please, please do something about the travel news?

Paul Donovan is away

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