At the start of July 2024 we took the podcast to the Royal Meteorological Society’s first ever weather and climate conference. Over the two days we were lucky to be able to speak to lots of amazing scientists and attend some brilliant talks. While there we also got a chance to talk to three brilliant scientists in a series of mini podcasts, which we have put together in this special episode.

Our first guest is Amanda Maycock, who is a professor of climate dynamics at the University of Leeds. We spoke to Amanda about how she got into academia, how she communicates complex subjects to her students as well as women in science.

Next, we spoke to Professor Myles Allen, who is the head of atmospheric, oceanic and planetary physics in the department of physics at the University of Oxford. As well as professor of geosystem science in the school of geography and the environment. We spoke to Myles about attribution studies, which are a way of looking at how climate change is impacting weather events.

Finally, we got the opportunity to speak to Professor Penny Endersby, who is the Chief Executive of the Met Office. In this conversation with Penny, we learnt about what the Met Office does as well as about AI and the potential ways it could be used in weather forecasting.

If you want to learn more about the conference, there is lots of content on our social platforms.

Instagram: @fortheloveofweather

X: @4loveofweather

You can also find out more on the Royal Meteorological Society’s website, where you can also learn more about what the society does.

https://www.rmets.org/

We really hope you enjoy this episode and leave loving the weather just a little bit more.

Please welcome Dan Harris, Chartered Meteorologist and Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the UK Met Office.

In this episode we chat about sting jets. Dan’s description of sting jets will bring to life this powerful atmospheric wind in a way you may not have understood before.

The Great Storm of 1987 in the UK was the first time a sting jet was identified when a unique shape in the clouds was observed in satellite imagery at that time.

Although the storm was incredibly destructive there were some positives that followed in the years after the storm with advancements in forecasting science.

Were the same event to happen today, it would likely be forecast a few days in advance, leaving time to warn the public, and minimising potential damage.

You may also find it interesting to know that Dan is a rubix cube master and you can find him on YouTube solving a cube at remarkable speeds!

Dan runs his own weather website roostweather.com. He created the website so that he could

visualise data in a way that was helpful to him. It is now used by most members of the weather forecasting community.

Dan is fun, incredibly intelligent and knows a lot about a lot of things! We couldn’t keep up!

An absolute pleasure to chat to and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

You can find Dan on

X - @RoostWeather

Web - roostweather.com

And as always you can follow the podcast on

X - @4loveofweather and on Instagram -

@fortheloveofweather.

Thanks so much for listening and supporting the podcast, and we hope you leave this episode loving the weather just a little bit more.

Meet Georgina and Rebecca, the Antarctic Fire Angels. In January 2024 they pioneered a new route across the Antarctic while skiing unsupported from Union Glacier to the South Pole. The journey took 52 days, 10 hours and 30 minutes.

Four years ago Georgina and Rebecca didn’t know each other but they were at the same National Fire Service Conference. That year Sophie Montagne gave the keynote speech. Sophie is the world record holder for Ice Maiden, the first female team to ski across the Antarctic.

A five minute conversation with Sophie after the speech was the beginning of what was to become an incredible friendship between Georgina and Rebecca that led on to them completing this epic 1230km journey across the coldest place on earth.

Hold your breath while you learn about the terrifying noise of ice crevasses, the silence that can exist in the Antarctic and what it is like to be engulfed in a white-out. What is it like to experience temperatures of minus 41 degrees? climb altitudes of over 4000 metres? And try to keep up with an 8000 calories a day schedule to stay alive.

They are now building the Fire Angel Foundation, which will see female fire cadets and girl guides embark on a three month program. This program will culminate in a mini expedition to Sweden where they will build self esteem, confidence and learn to support each other during times of adversity.

Not only are Georgina and Rebecca championing incredibly feats of human stamina and endurance but they are truly champions of change for women and girls, carving out a wide and deep path to facilitate that.

From start to finish this is an inspiring podcast. It is a story of the human spirit, mental strength and the strength of most importantly a story of friendship.

If you would like to learn more about The Antarctic Fire Angels you can find them here:

https://antarcticfireangels.co.uk/

X - @antarctic_fire

Instagram - antarcticfireangels

You can find their documentary on ITVX - 'Fire & Ice: The Antarctic Fire Angels' https://www.itv.com/walesprogrammes/articles/fire-and-ice-the-antarctic-fire-angels

Their next adventure is called ‘777’, seven marathons, 7 continents in 7 days. We can’t wait!!

And as always you can follow the podcast on ‘X’ we are @4loveofweather and on Instagram @fortheloveofweather.

Thanks so much for listening and supporting the podcast, and we hope you leave this episode loving the weather just a little bit more.