The Shipping Forecast uses a standardised syntax which is meant to be read in a specific order. That makes it quite difficult to Twitter in 140 characters, because it’s fairly verbose – but it does mean that’s relatively easy to get to grips with the abbreviations I’ve used.
Here’s an example Tweet:
SEIslnd Cyclnc gl 8 2 strm 10, dec 5 2 7. V.ruff r hi. Snow. Mod r pr
And here’s how it decodes:
South-East Iceland. Cyclonic gale 8 to storm 10, decreasing 5 to 7. Very rough or high. Snow. Moderate or poor.
That doesn’t mean much if you’re not familiar with the Shipping Forecast itself, but the Met Office provide a handy guide to the terminology.
So here’s a list of the abbreviations I’ve used:
Vikg – Viking
4ties – Forties
Cmrty – Cromarty
NUtsr – North Utsire
SUtsr – South Utsire
Tyn – Tyne
Dggr – Dogger
Fshr – Fisher
GerBite – German Bight
Hmbr – Humber
Thms – Thames
Dvr – Dover
Wite – Wight
Ptlnd – Portland
Plmth – Plymouth
Bscy – Biscay
Ftzry – FitzRoy
Tflgr – Trafalgar
Sole – Sole
Lndy – Lundy
Fstnt – Fastnet
RshC – Irish Sea
Shnn – Shannon
Rckll – Rockall
Mln – Malin
Hbdes – Hebrides
BAly – Bailey
FrIsle – Fair Isle
Froes – Faeroes
SEIslnd – South-east Iceland
Directions:
Northerly – Nly
Southerly – Sly
Easterly – Ely
westerly – Wly
Adverbs:
Occasionally – Occ
Increasing – Inc
Decreasing – Dec
Moderate – Mod
Good – Gd
Slowly – Slwly
Quickly – Qkly
Rising – Rsng
Falling – Flg
Imminent – Imn
Veering – vrng
Backing – Bckg
And some weather:
Squally – Sqly
Rain – Rn
Snow – Snw
Gale – Gl
Wintry – Wntry
And if you wanted to know how it’s done, there’s some more information here.
