Wild Weather with Richard Hammond

Editorial

BBC Four

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

BBC Four HD

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Richard Hammond attempts to reveal the unexplained and unexpected world of weather.

Richard Hammond travels the globe to discover the unexplained and the unexpected, the unbelievable and the just plain unlikely, in an attempt to reveal the hidden world of weather.

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One London

London

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC One West Midlands

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One North West

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Oxfordshire

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Wales

Wales

Richard Hammond

Graham Booth

Jane Aldous

Alice Keens-Soper

Wild Weather with Richard Hammond: Original Series: Episode 2: Water: The Shape Shifter

Water: The Shape Shifter

Episode 2

Episode 2: Water: The Shape Shifter

Original Series

BBC One - Wild Weather with Richard Hammond, Original Series, Water: The Shape Shifter

Richard Hammond investigates the role water plays in the weather.

Richard Hammond investigates the role water plays in the weather. He tries to weigh a cloud, finds out how rain could crush a car and starts an avalanche.

Richard Hammond investigates the crucial role water plays. Without water there would be almost no weather: no rain, no snow, no hail, no clouds. So Richard goes in pursuit of water in all its forms. He tries to weigh a cloud, finds out how rain could crush a car, and gets involved in starting an avalanche.

Along the way, he tries to find out why clouds float by building his own cloud with the aid of a cattle trough, some humidifiers and atmospheric scientist Dr Jim McQuaid. But will their cloud float in the air like a real cloud?

He also drops in on renowned hail scientist Charles Knight in his lab in Boulder, Colorado, to discover that there is far more to hail than meets the eye. In a scientific first, and with the help of Jim Stratton and Craig Zehrung from Purdue University, Richard sets about firing ice and hail at a board to find out which does the most damage.

Finally, in conjunction with the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos, Richard joins Walter Steinkogler as he starts an avalanche in an attempt to find out how something as delicate and fragile as a snowflake can travel at extraordinary speeds of up to 250mph on the ground.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Wild Weather with Richard Hammond

Original Series

Episode 2: Water: The Shape Shifter

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Four HD

About BBC Four