Episode 1 Weather Watchers with Barra Best

It's all around us. It connects us.

Should it be wind from the west, rain from the east,

or the sun above,

it's our weather.

We have been forecasting our weather for centuries.

We once looked to plants and animals

for hints about what the weather would do.

We thought rain was on the way if cows were seen to be lying down,

frogs croaked more frequently,

pine cones opened, and sheep's wool uncurled.

Sayings and proverbs were our barometer.

"Red sky at night, shepherd's delight.

"Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning".

These are natural forecasting methods,

but today the weather team at BBC Northern Ireland

have the most up-to-date scientific data at their fingertips

to bring you an accurate forecast.

Let's get the latest on the weather forecast now...

As our weather is so changeable, it makes it very interesting

for forecasters because each day is different in one way or another.

So, we need lots of things -

computer models, satellite imagery, and observations from the ground.

We collate these and work out what is going to happen

for the next few days ahead.

But, as Angie explains, where we live plays a part too.

People often ask why the weather is so changeable

here in Northern Ireland, compared to other areas,

especially those on similar latitudes,

and a lot has to do with positioning.

Take, for example, Moscow.

It's more or less on the same latitude as ourselves,

but it's in the middle of a large landmass.

Land heats up very quickly in the summer months,

the air passing over the land heats up as well,

and they get very high temperatures.

In contrast, Northern Ireland, is at the edge of the Atlantic.

Water doesn't heat up at the same rate,

and a lot of our weather is coming across that water, off the Atlantic,

so we don't get the same extremes.

Now, the opposite happens in the winter months.

Over the land it cools down extremely quickly,

plummeting temperatures.

Here in Northern Ireland, again the sea modifies our temperatures,

the water doesn't cool down at the same rate,

and that's why we have what is called a moderate climate.

I'm going to go out and experience how that moderate climate

shapes our lives.

And I'm starting with my head in the clouds.

# It's a bright sunshiny day

# Skies are so blue... #

I've come to the Ulster Gliding Blub at Bellarena

to meet Alan McKillen.

And, even though I'm taking to the skies, I won't be in a plane,

but a glider.

An aircraft that doesn't have an engine

and relies solely on the weather for power.

-OK, Barra.

-Great.

Just put this on.

Obviously, this is just for emergencies,

-I'm not going to need this!

-Absolutely, totally!

-There we go.

-Brilliant.

To get off the ground, we need a bit of help.

There we are. We'll be off in about three seconds.

One, two, three,

-and that's us!

-We're up!

# Sunshiny day

# Skies are so blue

# And I'm leaving.. #

We're going to go to 3,000 feet today, Barra.

3,000 feet? That's quite high up

-for something that doesn't have an engine!

-Well...

HE LAUGHS

One way the glider stays in the air is by using a thermal,

which is a stream of rising warm air

formed by the sun heating the ground.

What do you know to look for at this stage?

We'd try and interpret the clouds ahead of us,

and we'd look for nice young wispy clouds,

which would be an indication of a thermal just starting to grow.

And it's a perfect gliding day with lots of puffy cumulus clouds.

You're in a privileged position. You have all sorts of weather

coming from different directions that helps you?

A multitude of different types of weather.

The skill of a glider pilot is interpreting the weather

on the day and making best use of it.

That's what the sport of gliding is all about.

Extracting that awesome amount of energy

which can be in the atmosphere.

It's time to release ourselves from the tug plane and fly solo.

-OK, off we go.

-Tell me when?

-Now.

-Wow! We're doing it ourselves!

-That's it, we're on our own.

Wow, look at that. That is beautiful.

It's the weather now that is literally allowing us

to fly without an engine.

Absolutely, we are soaring.

Ohh!

Bit scary!

The flying club is ideally situated

at the foot hills of Binevenagh Mountain,

and Alan is going to use the mountain ridge to gain altitude.

The wind hits the mountain and has nowhere to go but up,

taking us with it.

-So that big burst, that was the lift?

-Ridge lift.

So the ridge lift is basically as the wind hits the bottom

of the mountain and lifts up and essentially pushes us up in the air?

Yes, so we are getting lift all the way along there.

Whooo!

You're going to give me a heart attack!

That's just a very small taste

of the energy that can be in the atmosphere, Barra.

This must be how birds feel.

This is really just harnessing the power of the weather.

Absolutely. That's what soaring and gliding is all about.

# Cos I'm as free as a bird now

# And this bird you cannot change... #

You really do get a buzz from it.

Oh, absolutely, Barra.

I've done a 300-kilometre flight.

The buzz when you land and the sense of achievement.

But I'll maybe come round now

and head in the general direction of back towards the airfield. OK?

OK.

Wow, that's a long way down!

Generally, when we think of clouds,

we think of, you know, there's a chance of rain here, what do we do?

You know, bring the washing in...

But we harness it for this.

The weather might be keeping us airborne,

but how do we land this thing?

Oh-ho!

Now I know what they mean by a wing and a prayer.

-Here we go!

-Yes.

Almost touchdown.

Whoo!

Wow! Touchdown!

That's fantastic and surprisingly smooth!

Oh, thank you.

I didn't know what to expect there.

Thankfully, I didn't need my parachute.

THEY LAUGH

From gliding, which relies on clouds,

to a profession that requires a cloudless sky.

Across Lough Foyle, as the crow, or indeed the glider flies,

is the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal,

and I'm going there now to meet up with photographer Martina Gardiner.

Martina's photographs are dramatic nightscapes

featuring constellations, auroras and the Milky Way.

Although we have never met, I feel I know Martina.

I've followed her work on Facebook and Twitter.

Martina, you have a lot of night-time photographs here.

It's a real passion of yours. What got you interested in it?

Well, I was always interested in photography,

but it's really in the last four or five years

that I have got into night-time photography.

There's something about being out there on a great starry night

and just looking up and enjoying the stars,

and I just can't help myself, I just love it.

It can't be as easy as that.

Looking at this photograph, that's fantastic,

but surely you can't just go out and think,

"I'm going to get that photo tonight"?

No, to catch the Milky Way in a photograph,

it has to be the right time of the month,

that's a time when there is little or no moonlight.

The other thing is you need an absolutely clear sky,

so trying to get the two on the one night, that's the difficult part.

What are the chances of both of those things

happening at the same time?

Well, we've picked the right day.

There is no moon by the time we can photograph the Milky Way tonight,

and the weather, I'm not too sure about, it's a little iffy,

but maybe you know better?

Sure, why don't we have a wee look before we head off?

A few wee breaks in the cloud. Hopefully they'll continue

-and we'll get a few photographs like this.

-Yes, fantastic.

-Perfect.

We're off to Malin Head,

the most northerly tip on the island of Ireland,

with the wild Atlantic Ocean for a neighbour.

You'll have heard of Malin Head as there's a weather station there.

'Malin, south, five or six, fair, good. Hebrides...'

And the weather element which distinguishes this

from other stations throughout the country is the wind speed.

Storm force 12 winds are regularly recorded.

We're heading beyond the station to the tower, as it's known locally.

This is one of Martina's favourite locations to capture the night sky.

The tower was built by the Admiralty in the early 1800s

as part of a string of defences around the Irish coast

to guard against a possible French invasion.

Well, it looks like we are in a bit of luck, some clear skies.

Yeah, it's always good when you see some clear skies, that's for sure.

You've been here before when it's been like this,

and you've got amazing shots, maybe we'll get more of those tonight?

Yeah, if we get a clear sky even in one direction

we'll be able to work with it, so I'm quite optimistic so far.

And, you know, normally, this is the windiest part of Ireland,

but barely a breeze.

I know, this is actually warm for Malin Head.

It's really very, very nice.

As beautiful as it is here,

you can't just turn up with a camera and point it,

you need to kind of know what you are doing, a little bit at least.

Yes. It's always a good idea to get to your location before dark,

have a little look around, make sure it's safe and stuff.

So tonight, we're trying to get the tower

and trying to get as many stars as we can.

So, if we look at this simple planisphere,

it actually shows me where the stars are going to be tonight.

I know it's going to be dark, pitch-black at 10pm,

so basically we want to look at the date that we are on right now

and look at ten o'clock,

and we can see that this area here,

this milky area here of this map, this planisphere,

stretches all the way from south west through to the north-east.

So now, with my compass before it gets dark,

I can decide where exactly we want to stand.

Where do you think the best place will be for us?

Well, at the moment towards the north-east is looking really good,

so we might just stand back here a little bit and set up there,

and hope that that sky stays clear.

-Do you want to go and get set up?

-Yeah, let's go.

This is the spot you reckon we'll get a good shot from?

Yeah, we'll get a good shot of the tower from here,

and the sky is looking actually even better than I thought it might.

We did have a look at the weather apps earlier,

and it did tell us that the cloud was going to clear off for us,

and it looks like it has done so.

Yeah, it's really shaping up nicely, I'm really very excited.

OK, so tripod, camera, and that's us, we're ready to go.

So, we just line it up here,

and have a look,

try to get all of the tower in and leave space for the stars as well.

So, here we go.

It's not looking too bad so far.

No, the main thing is that we have got the whole tower there,

and we've got plenty of sky,

so when that fills with stars it will be a pretty nice shot.

It's not a bad night to wait out.

I'm sure you've been here when it's been much worse,

it's the windiest place in Ireland!

Yeah, tonight, as nights at Malin Head go, this is amazing.

Having no wind is really something.

-So, sit back and wait for that perfect shot.

-Yes.

It mightn't be windy tonight, but it's cold. Very cold.

It's no wonder the Romans called Ireland "Hibernia",

the land of winter.

We haven't got long to wait.

-That's hopefully going to heat us up for a wee while. Cheers.

-Cheers.

-OK, Barra, we're ready for a shot.

-OK, ready!

So you've got to stay steady for 25 seconds.

Ready, and action!

Deep breath in.

I don't want to end up a blur on the landscape. Here goes!

That looks great. Come on down and have a look.

OK, breathe out.

OK.

Let's have a look.

Oh, that's fantastic!

All the colours have really come out well, haven't they?

Yeah, it turned out pretty well.

We haven't got all the stars I'd like -

a few stars at the top, but...

The weather hasn't completely let us down, it's been a great day.

Great photograph.

-It has got a bit chilly, though, hasn't it?

-Yes!

But it's all been worth it.

Maybe not as starry as Martina would have liked,

but I think it's picture perfect.

And, as beautiful day follows cold night,

I make my way from County Donegal

to the more temperate climate of County Down

to meet up with organic farmer John McCormick.

-How are you?

-I'm very well, thank you.

Perfect weather for the old garden, isn't it?

It's beautiful. A beautiful day.

John is passionate about growing organic food.

Locally produced and completely dependent

on our Northern Irish climate.

John, here we are, your field of tunnels. Different veg in every one?

That's right. This is a row of four of our larger tunnels

and we would have a four-year rotation going on

between the four of them.

You see some kohlrabi in there.

Carrots were in there first, now it's kohlrabi, then it'll be salad.

So, different veg planted throughout the year?

At least three crops per tunnel.

John, a nice big tunnel here of cherry tomatoes.

They've done well with our weather this year.

Yes, I'm very pleased with them.

They're called Sakura, which is on the big side, you know.

There's small cherry tomatoes and big cherry tomatoes.

This would be on the big side. They're a very sweet tomato,

so would be incredibly popular with children, as you can well imagine.

And you've got your normal amount of crops for this year?

Um...yes, by and large, the cropping would appear to be good.

We normally go for seven or eight trusses. This is a truss.

They start at the bottom and work up to the last truss at the top.

This would be the eighth truss on this.

So eight trusses is actually a very good yield.

If that, between now and the middle of October, grows and ripens,

what doesn't ripen will go to chutney.

But they're actually doing very well.

So another few weeks left and these boys here will be ready to pick.

Five, six weeks before I start taking them out.

Food is a requirement for all life,

but we need the right weather to grow it.

County Down is one of the driest counties in Ireland.

It must have some benefits for your farm.

Well, I'm very surprised to hear you say that.

Because while parts of County Down are dry, we're in Helen's Bay.

And Helen's Bay has a lock on one side and hills on the other side.

And regularly, when it's raining here, I would phone my friends

in Donaghadee or Newtownards even, and the sun would be shining.

And we'd be sheltering from the rain.

What can you do here that you can't do in the west?

I suppose we're blessed in the sense that

if you want to be a vegetable-grower,

you're far better off on the east coast

than you ever would be on the west coast.

We can just about grow everything, except bananas and citrus.

What I have noticed is we seem to be getting extremes.

We're breaking records left, right and centre,

we're getting the hottest days that have ever happened in the year,

we're getting the wettest days that have ever happened in the year.

And this does throw particular problems at farmers.

These nets do a good job protecting against pest and rabbits,

that kind of thing, but they also protect against our bad weather.

That's right. We're finding increasingly that in the summertime,

we're getting very, very heavy rainfall.

And the result of that is it splashes the mud back up

all over the lettuce and makes it unsalable.

So the nets act as a barrier.

So when the rain hits that, it diffuses

and you don't get that splash.

You've even had to dig trenches

to keep the rainwater away from your greenhouses

-because they were flooding.

-Yes.

What you find is that in the summertime, the ground is very hard.

Um...in the wintertime, the ground's very soft

and you tend not to work machinery.

And when the ground is soft, it will absorb the rain

and filter it and allow it to flow away.

But when it's hard, as it is in the summertime,

it hasn't got the capacity to do that.

And the water hits it and has to flow over the surface

rather than percolate through.

And so, with this intensity of rain, what we're finding is

it's actually flowing into the tunnel and flooding our tunnels.

And now, as a consequence,

we're putting in drains around all our tunnels to be able to

catch the water and divert it away from the polytunnels.

You also keep bees here. How has the weather affected them?

Um...2015 has not been one of the great bee years.

We had a cold May, which wouldn't have been nice for the bees.

But they were busy enough and survived it

and managed to build up to a decent brood size for June.

And then we had a nice June, we had a good June.

So the bees were very busy in June and there was plenty of nectar

and pollen around and they started to bring in a lot of reserves.

But then July turned wet and by the end of August,

because we had another wet August,

they'd already started to eat into those reserves.

There can be up to 50-60,000 bees in a colony

and they all need to be fed every day.

If they can't get out to feed, they eat their reserves.

So we won't be taking much honey off the bees this year

simply because we want to leave them with the reserves that are there.

They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating,

so from earth to plate,

I'm going to sample John's organic produce.

It's not often we get this here -

dining al fresco style, food straight from the field.

-Are you ready?

-I am, indeed, yes.

-Let's tuck in, eh?

-What do you think?

-Very sweet.

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like tomatoes,

-but that, I could eat all day.

-Wonderful.

-Very nice.

Why don't you try a carrot and see what you think of the carrots?

-Carrot.

-They're very traditional.

-Any difference to the flavour of these? Just normal?

-You tell me.

HE CRUNCHES

-Very nice. Very sweet.

-It's nice and sweet.

-Mm-hmm.

Well, the secret to retaining the sweetness,

in both tomatoes and carrots,

is eat them fresh and don't cool them.

The minute you put them in the fridge,

they start to lose their sweetness,

so if you can keep them at room temperature,

they'll always retain that sweetness for much longer.

Well, everything you see on this plate, bar that bread,

is actually grown within 40 metres of here.

-Very nice.

-I feel very privileged that I eat this

every day for my lunch.

Well, thanks very much for letting me join you.

-It's delicious.

-It's my pleasure.

# Well, my mama told me there'd be days like this... #

But she also told me there would be days like this too.

# Oh, my mamma told me... #

Rain, rain, go to Spain, and never show your face again.

Nope, it doesn't work.

MUSIC: Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall by Ella Fitzgerald

In the wettest areas in Northern Ireland,

over 55 days of rainfall is the norm in the three months of winter

and over 45 days in summer.

I'd like to be able to report that the sun shines continuously

in summer, but that just wouldn't be true.

# All the ducks are swimming in the water... #

You'd be disappointed if I didn't say it,

so I'm not going to let you down.

It's great weather for ducks.

# All the ducks are swimming in the water... #

And this isn't an old wives' tale -

research has confirmed that ducks like hanging out there in the pond

to enjoy the rainy weather.

Something else that relies on rain is bogland

'and the blanket bog of Cuilcagh Mountain in County Fermanagh

'is one of the finest examples in Western Europe.'

This may look like a nice, scenic path for the ordinary rambler

but, of course, it's doing something important for

the conservation of this area.

Yeah, the sole and only reason we put the boardwalk in

is to help conserve the habitat.

What was basically happening was the footfall of walkers was

eroding this rare blanket bog,

so we had to take some remedial action to protect it.

Today is quite a nice day but it's not great for the midges here.

-No.

-We're being eaten alive. I think we need to go for a higher altitude.

-Yes, I think so.

-Yes.

-We could try and find a bit of a breeze.

-Well, we're halfway up.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's longer than it looks, isn't it?

-It is, yes, indeed.

-But some of the views -

-they're spectacular.

-The views are certainly worth it,

there's no doubt,

and you're looking right across Fermanagh, here, out onto Donegal,

so there you go. It's pretty breathtaking, all right.

And, what, we've got about 2 or 300 steps still ahead of us?

Well, we'll get there.

I suppose we should just be grateful it's not raining.

Yes, that's very true.

-So, no trees?

-No, no trees, no.

Peat is not a very good growing medium so it's only the specialised

plants that can tolerate those nutrient-poor conditions.

We're almost at the top. Ooh...

'The trail across the bogland is over 7km long and takes us to

'the summit of Cuilcagh Mountain but, so far, it's been worth it.'

Well, here we are, Richard, up to the top,

660 metres and it's still quite squelchy, isn't it?

And you can really tell that the rainfall

has shaped this land in front of us.

Yes, it has a profound effect on the landscape around us.

And how important is the bogland and why?

Well, the bog is important in its own right for its biodiversity

and its intrinsic environmental value

but, equally, it acts as a carbon store.

This blanket bog and other bogs in Ireland are literally storing

millions of tonnes of carbon.

The peat is basically vegetation which hasn't completely rotted,

so it's locked away in the bog over thousands and thousands of years

so this is really...

It's almost playing the same role as the Amazon rainforest

in helping with climate change.

This is a European protected habitat

and, without that level of rainfall, it wouldn't exist.

So, essentially, you don't mind Fermanagh being called

one of the wettest counties of Northern Ireland if not Ireland?

At times. No, on my day off, I'd rather it was a bit drier,

maybe, sometimes, but what can you do?

Well, still, like, today, the views are breathtaking,

-I think.

-Yes. Oh, it's fabulous, it really is.

'And from a breathtaking but treeless landscape

'to a lush forestry, and my pathway to the underground,

'where the waters that fell on the Cuilcagh bogland

'have made their way to the Marble Arch Caves.'

-Michelle.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-How are you?

God, that's some walk. It's poor weather for it, though, isn't it?

-Yes. Are you ready to go underground?

-I am, indeed. Let's go.

-If you follow me, we'll head on in?

-Perfect.

'Michelle is going to be my guide through this fascinating

'natural underworld of waterfalls, rivers, caves and winding passages.

'It's beautiful and brilliant.'

We're deep below Fermanagh,

and you may be forgiven for thinking that the weather above

won't affect us, but it does.

Yes, it does. The rainwater that falls on Cuilcagh Mountain -

it's actually the catchment area for the three rivers that

flow into the Marble Arch Caves,

and we're actually making our way up one of the rivers,

which is called the Cladagh Glen,

so you can imagine that the weather that we experience in Fermanagh,

and in particular up on Cuilcagh Mountain,

has a large impact in relation to the show cave.

We're able to come comfortably through this cave but that all

depends on the amount of rainfall that we get above, doesn't it?

This cave tour is very much weather-dependent.

There's days where we have to opt that

we actually don't have a cave tour available.

It really depends on the blanket bog -

whether or not the blanket bog is dry or if it's saturated.

It depends if it's local rain or it has fallen at a distance

and it also depends what the rivers are like -

if they've had a period of time where they've dried up,

or if there's water in it.

That is why the staff that work here monitor the weather forecast

on a daily basis.

You're actually going outside

and visually looking at Cuilcagh Mountain to see if it's under cloud,

if it's raining, what you think is happening on the mountain,

because it has its own little climate.

In terms of weather, what's your perfect scenario?

Best case scenario is probably the rarest situation

that we ever have, is that when we have a heat wave.

I knew you were going to say that. SHE LAUGHS

But even at the moment, you know, we've had a period,

a whole week now, where we've had just dry weather.

It's not hot, it's not sunny,

but there's been no rain up on Cuilcagh Mountain

and that changes everything.

It changes the amount of water coming off the mountain.

It changes the atmosphere in the cave.

I really like it when we've had a little bit of rainwater

and it's coming into the cave and the rivers are rising slightly

and you can hear the rumbling of the river,

and that is part of the experience

and the excitement for members of the public,

so people who do arrive on a rainy day,

I don't think they're losing out.

I think they are seeing it in a different way

and, to me, that's what it's all about.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

-Yes, we could say that.

-THEY LAUGH

The relationship we have with the weather is a complex one.

We do enjoy sunshine

and we might complain about days being wet and cold,

but rain but is refreshing and wind is bracing,

so I like think that there's no such thing as bad -

only different types of good weather.

There is scientific evidence that the profusion of red hair,

fair skin and freckles is the result of living in a sun-starved climate.

I'm living proof.

So there you have it -

no doubt that the weather is part of who we are and what we are.

Until next time, bye-bye.