91Èȱ¬

Sometimes, the supposedly straightforward parts of my job prove to be the most tricky. Like, for example, writing a simple weather headline for my TV bulletins.

Take this morning. I start the shift pondering the best words to describe today's weather (we can use a maximum of 6) . And there's no visual cue outside either; it's just before 4 am and pitch-dark here in . But it's mild and it's dry. So there's an early hint, at least.

I should explain that wording the headline of our is a task left to each 91Èȱ¬ weather presenter, but by no means thumb-in-sky guesswork. We base it around the detailed briefings we receive throughout the day from our Met Office colleagues.

Sometimes, wording the headline is easy enough. Yesterday, the weather story was one of warm sunshine and totally dry conditions. "Sunny spells & dry" summed it all up wherever you were in the West Country. Today, by contrast, is a little bit of a forecasting pain, especially when trying to localise the conditions expected across such a varied region as ours.

It's 5.15am and I chat things through on the 'phone in a conference briefing with , our Duty Forecaster this morning at 91Èȱ¬ Weather Centre.

Cloudy for most; a bit of brightness for others; light winds everywhere; maybe even a spot of drizzle but generally dry.Ìý So I opt for three headline words: 'Mild; bright spells."Ìý That should do nicely, says Sarah. "After all," I suggest to her, "let's not worry about a spot of drizzle on an otherwise dry day, eh?"

6.30am - and I'm in front of the camera telling viewers it's a dry start across the region; albeit perhaps a spot of drizzle falling later in Somerset.Ìý Perhaps. I don't want to overblow it, because for most, it'll remain totally dry.

7.10am - and today's first live forecast on ' Breakfast Show for . A glance at my weather system confirms dry conditions at the local weather observation stations; dry conditions on the rainfall radar; dry conditions on the traffic cameras.

"It's a dry start out there...," I confidently tell Mark.

Ah - but there's drizzle just up the road in , a listener has just told him.

Well, that's just typical. Courtesy of the vagaries of British weather, nothing in my job is ever really straightforward. Forecasting truly local weather is an evolving science,Ìý but we still get it right most of the time!