Michael Fish's hurricane weather report marks 25th anniversary

Michael Fish has spoken about his infamous 1987 weather report on its 25th anniversary.

Tonight (Monday, October 15) marks a quarter of a century since the UK's Great Storm of 1987, where 18 people died after winds hit speeds of up to 115mph.



BBC weatherman Fish became a household name for his forecast earlier in the day, telling people not to worry after a woman phoned in claiming there was a "hurricane on the way".

The clip's cult status reached even bigger heights earlier this year when it was used during Danny Boyle's London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Fish revealed that the woman in question actually didn't exist, and that he told a "white lie" for his opening line.

"The amusing thing is that there wasn't a lady in Wales, but still people come maintaining that they are the person that rang in," he told BBC News.

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"In fact there wasn't a phone call, it was me telling a white lie. There was a colleague with me who rang his mother in Wales on a BBC phone.

"She was about to go to Florida on holiday and was concerned about hurricanes and we told her not to worry. I thought, 'I'll use that as an intro'."

On his overnight fame, he added: "If I can take every single copy of that to my grave I'd be a happy man, and if I received a penny for every broadcast I'd be a multi-millionaire.

"Who would have thought I'd star in the Olympic Opening Ceremony?"