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Shipping Forecast - a poster of a hand-painted map

Shipping Forecast - a poster of a hand-painted map

Regular price £40.00
Regular price Sale price £40.00
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My shipping forecast map, an award-winning painting, is available as a poster, size A2. Each print is signed.

My painting presents the factual beauty and stark poetry of the shipping forecast. "Viking, Forties, Fisher, Dogger" - now you can see at a glance exactly where all those places are.

Attention All Shipping!

Award winning! In 2016 this shipping forecast map won a prestigious award from the British Cartographic Society.

What is the shipping forecast?

The shipping forecast, which always begins "Attention All Shipping" is etched into the very DNA of everyone in Britain. It has been broadcast daily to British audiences since 1861, initially by telegraph and then by BBC radio. Issued by the UK’s Met Office, it is a short marine weather forecast, but to British ears it's so much more than that. 

Its staccato delivery, the magical names of the sea areas, and the concise lyrical descriptions of the weather conditions have a poetic appeal that reminds listeners of who we British are: islanders with a proud seafaring legacy. It has an appeal way beyond what it is broadcast for, which is to save lives at sea. It was the brainchild of Captain Robert FitzRoy, after whom a sea area is named.

What's in my shipping forecast painting?

In Attention All Shipping, I have included all the shipping areas except Trafalgar (apologies to purists!). It's just is too far south to sensibly appear on a sheet of A1 paper.

Do not misconstrue the great swathes of rolling typography on the ‘land’ as value judgements of the areas they appear on. Although in places you may spot a little touch of humour. I've included the Beaufort scale, a measure of the intensity of wind speed, which is quoted daily on the forecast. It appears bottom right,

The green swirl which rises north from Malin is a phytoplanktonic bloom. Google it and be amazed! I’ve also put in whales and seabirds, fish and ships.

"As a long time insomniac, I have listened to the Shipping Forecast many nights! Your painting will have pride of place in my bedroom." - Pauline K, Lancashire

Why we love the shipping forecast

The shipping forecast is a daily prayer to remind us of our precarious position living on a small archipelago in the North Atlantic. We have no choice but to prepare for whatever the Great Meteorological Forces throw at us. I think it’s humbling and wonderful.

I salute you Captain Robert FitzRoy, inventor of the weather forecast. And I applaud the Met Office in their unfailing duty to compile this most important and most British of institutions!

Posters and more! As well as a poster sized print I also have greetings cards, coasters, jigsaw puzzles, and tea towels of this immensely popular painting. See the Shipping Forecast collection.

Shipping and delivery

This website takes orders from UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

If you are not in these countries and you would like to make a purchase, please get in touch with me directly.

Posting your order

Typically, orders for physical products placed after 12pm on Friday, and on Saturday or Sunday will not be posted until Monday at the earliest. I use Royal Mail to dispatch your order.

If you have ordered multiple items, I will try to post everything together. Occasionally, this is not possible, in which case they will be dispatched in separate packages.

Digital files will typically be transferred to customers within 24 hours via email using WeTransfer, the file transfer website.

Buying an original painting? Please choose the tracked option!

UNITED KINGDOM (incl. Channel Islands, Isle of Man)

  • UK Royal Mail second class – 3 to 5 working days (can be longer at busy times of year)
  • UK Royal Mail tracked next day special delivery – next day by 1pm

If you choose a tracked delivery, I will be notified with your Royal Mail tracking number when your parcel has been dispatched.

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS

IMPORTANT! All international orders are shipped duties unpaid. Orders shipped outside of the UK may be subject to customs, taxes and duties. This cost is the responsibility of the customer and is payable on receipt of goods. Please check your local customs tax and duty costs as duties must be paid before the goods are released.

USA and CANADA
Royal Mail International Tracked service (7-14 days)

AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND
Royal Mail International Tracked service (7-14 days)

EUROPE (Rep of Ireland, France, Germany and Denmark only)
Royal Mail International Tracked service (7-14 days)

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