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I spent yesterday at Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Weather Centre in London,Ìýon a winter forecasting course. It's part of the continuing professional training we regularly undertake in partnership with the Met Office.

It's a 7am train departure from Bristol Parkway to Paddington. The early morning vistaÌýacross the vales and fields of Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and BerkshireÌýis beautiful: patches of radiation fog blanketing spots sheltered from the early sunshine.ÌýÌý

My ultimate destination inÌýLondonÌýisÌýthe iconic Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Television Centre.ÌýFor us visiting staff, it'sÌýinevitablyÌýa journey of discovery to try and find your way around this labyrinthine building: I feel like unravelling a ball of string, , to make sureÌýI find my wayÌýback! Crucially however, I recall exactlyÌýwhereÌýto collect an earlyÌýcup of tea...

On the 2nd floor is theÌýÂ鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Weather Centre, where I grab a seatÌýas Duty ForecasterÌýLaura Tobin briefs the teamÌýon weather conditionsÌýexpected today across the British Isles - and indeed further afield. Weather Centre provides and so unsurprisingly,ÌýTyphoon MelorÌýis a topic of considerable interest as it .

After Laura's briefing, there's just enough time toÌýbrew another quick cuppa andÌýnatter - as I often do to himÌýfrom my desk inÌýBristol -Ìýwith broadcast meteorologistÌýJohn Hammond. We chat aboutÌýhis shiftsÌýon Radio 5 Live; he's forecasting for them all week. For me, presenting weather on the radioÌýis one of the most enjoyable aspects of my job.

But no presenting for to do today: it's time to learn!ÌýOver the past two years, our Met Office tutor, ±Ê±ð²Ô²Ô²âÌý°Õ°ù²¹²Ô³Ù±ð°ù, has become like a familiar school teacher for me: indeed when I was appointed as a weather presenter, she was my original course instructor at the Met Office HQ in Exeter.

I'm here on today's course with a number of Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú weather presenters from across the country.Ìý features regularly in the classroom instruction and discussion, but also theÌýnoteworthy severe windstorms of recent decades, not least the and the . We also look in detail at the and the manner by which we broadcast these on the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú. It's a critical element of our job and one we simply have to get right.ÌýÌý

Broadcast Meteorologist Matt Taylor working at the Duty Forecaster Desk. He's busy adding key detail to the weather graphicsÌýsoon toÌýbe used on the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's network and regional lunchtime TV broadcasts.

During lunch break, I chat with Matt Taylor, who has taken-over the Duty Forecaster shift from Laura Tobin. Matt gives me some useful adviceÌýabout the , and accessing data from it. It's an important tool for me when providing weatherÌýforecasts for Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's 606 Forum ahead of - and during - each Formula One Grand Prix.

By 5.15pm, it's farewell to colleagues in London and I'm on the oh-so-busy train back to Bristol.

Passing through the fields of Wiltshire alongside the M4, I'm sky-watching. As a cloud aficionado, I'm pondering the difficulties some people have in discriminating between patchy formations ofÌý and .Ìý ÌýI'm looking out the window here at someÌýpicturesque Ìýwith a fairly high cloud base, virtually the only clouds visible here above the setting sun.ÌýTwenty minutes later and I'm arrivingÌýin Bristol to virtual darkness.

And it feels distinctly chilly, too. A reminder that winter continues to draw ever-nearer, so not long before some of the knowledge gained on today's course willÌýbe put into use!