Broadcast at 6 a.m. and midnight on RTÉ Radio 1, the Sea Area Forecast has come to occupy an almost sacrosanct place in the day for many. Its familiar (though often incomprehensible) language acts as a wake-up alarm for a proportion of the population and sends another swathe of them to bed at the end of the day. 

Yet few people truly understand its unique language and the significance of the romantic-sounding headlands whose locations are central to revealing the incoming weather. From Mizen Head to Malin, Valentia to Loop Head, Carlingford Lough to Hook Head, rising or falling slowly, backing south-east to north-east or veering south-to-south-west – what does it all mean? 

Here, meteorologist Joanna Donnelly goes on a journey around Ireland’s Sea Area Forecast. Visiting the places that are a familiar part of the daily broadcast and explaining the history, language and science associated with it, From Malin Head to Mizen Head fans our endless fascination with the weather while sweeping us away on a journey around Ireland’s most remote headlands.