Weather forecasting, once the lore of countrymen, has now become on the one hand a science and on the other a branch of the lighter journalism. The scientist works out his forecasts on complex meteorological data, but too often the weather prophet of the newspapers impresses the ordinary man as something of a joke: Lord Dunboyne is a conspicuous exception. His weather forecasts are based on records going back for the last eighty years, and their accuracy is all the more remarkable for the fact that they deal not only with the following few days, but with periods as long as six months ahead. On this scale, of course, weather forecasting is something more than a useful science for holiday-makers; it is an invaluable aid to agriculturists and to many branches of industry in which the weather plays an important part.
In his talk this evening he will explain to listeners the principles on which he works.