On August 1, 1861, the British newspaper The Times published the first daily weather forecast in history. It was compiled by Robert FitzRoy, a captain of the British fleet who had previously made a round-the-world voyage with Charles Darwin aboard the Beagle. Guinness World Records writes about this.
In 1854, FitzRoy was appointed head of the meteorological department of the British Board of Trade precisely because of his experience - as a ship's captain, he had been observing the weather for many years. He set about organizing a network of meteorological observation stations to transmit data to scientists and sailors.
However, everything changed after the disaster of October 25, 1859, when a storm destroyed 343 ships, including the passenger liner Royal Charter. More than 400 people were killed then. After this tragedy, FitzRoy reformed the system: he connected the observation stations by telegraph, introduced centralized data processing, and even established an exchange of information with France.
By the summer of 1861, his team was receiving data from 43 weather stations in Great Britain and another 18 in Europe. With the number of observation points increasing and several years of meteorological data available for comparison, FitzRoy's department began to distribute a simple two-day forecast along with daily weather reports sent by telegraph to British newspapers.
Forecast that made history
The first official weather forecast, printed on August 1, 1861, read as follows:
"The probable general weather for the next two days:
North - moderate westerly wind, no precipitation.
West - moderate southwesterly wind, no precipitation.
South - fresh westerly wind, no precipitation."
Why FitzRoy did not mention "East" in the first forecast is unknown, but it was included in subsequent issues. This laconic text marked the beginning of a new era: meteorology turned from a narrow scientific field into a daily public service.
FitzRoy's triumph and tragedy
Despite public support, FitzRoy's forecasts attracted criticism from scientists and government officials. The imperfection of the data and the high cost of telegraph services became grounds for pressure. Feeling scorn, financial difficulties and overwork, Robert FitzRoy committed suicide on April 30, 1865.
After his death, the publication of forecasts ceased in 1866. It was resumed only in 1879 - under new management.
Recall that in Kyiv, the amount of precipitation on July 30 exceeded the record of 1991.
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