Eccentrics

by Charlie Connelly
Read by Stephen Mangan

From firing cannons at clouds to the cult of rainmakers, the author looks at meteorological eccentrics, geniuses, charlatans and dreamers.

We talk about the weather a lot. It exasperates, confounds and on occasion delights us. Our national conversation is dominated by the weather, but how much do we really know about it? In Bring Me Sunshine, Charlie Connelly sets off on the trail of our island obsession.

He breezes through the lives of meteorological eccentrics, geniuses, rainmakers and cloud-busters and brings vividly to life great weather events from history.
He sheds light on Britain's weirdest wind, the first weather forecast and why people once thought firing cannons at clouds was a great idea.

Having adventured round the shipping forecast areas for his bestselling Attention All Shipping, Connelly is the perfect guide through a melange of gales, blizzards, mists, heatwaves and the occasional shower of fish. Bring Me Sunshine answers all your weather questions as well as helping you to distinguish your graupel from your petrichor.

Produced by Joanna Green
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.