Plants Change Near the Coast
The closer to the coast we get, the tougher it is for plants. Once you can smell the sea only maritime species thrive in the…
Category: Sea
Which Way Are We Looking? Budleigh Salteron Edition
My thanks to everyone who joined me for my talk on The Secret World of Weather at the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival on Friday. It…
Nature’s Clues & Signs – Polzeath
During a week’s family holiday in Polzeath, North Cornwall, we enjoyed a six-day heatwave (yes, a high pressure system sat over us). I slipped away…
What is the Planetary Boundary Layer?
From The Secret World of Weather: The lowest part of the atmosphere is the only area strongly influenced by the sun’s radiative heating of the…
The Meaning of Cloud Streets
On a flight back from Spain to the UK, we were treated to a great display of “cloud streets” over France. They form parallel to…
Nature’s Clues and Signs – Pagham
Pagham is a coastal village in the south of Sussex. My walk took me out of the village into agricultural and then flooded areas, before…
The Audiobook is Out Today!
The audiobook of The Secret World of Weather is out now! Normally the audiobook and hardback come out at the same time, but Covid ruined that plan. Wicked…
Full Moons Mean Big and Fast Tides
It’s a full moon today. Full moons mean unusually big, fast and powerful tides over the next few days. You might also enjoy: How to…
How to Spot Patterns in Calm Water
If you are trying to work out what calm water is doing, it is sometimes tempting to feel like nothing interesting is happening. There are…
The Michael Ball Show on Radio 2
It was a joy and an honour to be a guest on the legendary Michael Ball Show on Radio 2 on Sunday. If you missed…
Index of The Secret World of Weather
THE SECRET WORLD OF WEATHER Return to main book page Index Page numbers in italic refer to the illustrations Aberdeen 240–1 Aborigines 296 accessory clouds…
It’s Publication Day!
It’s publication day for The Secret World of Weather! Happy weather sign hunting!
The Colour and Shape of Navigation Marks
Most navigators, even inexperienced ones, learn that colours are important when trying to identify navigation marks at sea. And most people also know that there…
It has arrived!
I have in my hands a finished copy! And bias aside, it really is a thing of beauty!
The First Review is In!
The first review of The Secret World of Weather is in and it’s a fun one. It’s in the Times today. “Gooley marshals a riveting…
SUPfm Podcast Interview
I recently did a fun interview with Simon Hutchinson for the SUPfm podcast (Stand Up Paddle board). As you’d imagine, we mostly talked about reading…
New Book US Cover Reveal
I’m delighted and excited to reveal the North American cover of my new book, The Secret World of Weather. It is out on April 8th…
Reasons for Pre-Ordering a Book
If you like the look of a book, please do consider pre-ordering. Here are some really good reasons to a pre-order my latest book: 1)…
Why do waves bend towards the shore?
When waves meet shallow water they slow down. When one side of a wave slows down, the wave bends towards that side. It is a…
The Fish Cliff Clue
When John Pahl and I were sailing around Iceland, we noticed that you could use the puffins to indicate the direction of land very reliably,…
Winter Sea Cumulus
The clouds always make a map for us. On winter mornings, the cumulus clouds map the sea. A lot more about this and the other…