I fully agree with the thread title. Many years in a fairly Big Airline gave me a good feel for the wx, but one of the best thing ever was the 30 second glimpse of the BBC synoptic chart shown before the news. That told me what I wanted to know, and come the Mr Fish storm, I took 20 tons for my Shuttle flight - much to the indignation of the redcap. Glad I did! Then, when the met office moved to FRA and I went there one afternoon, the upper air temp was something like -72, I forget exactly, but it was on the limit of the aircraft's operating range. Therefore, I took exception to the forecast saying it would be -60 odd. I took the trouble to go in to the brand new multi million pound edifice where some sharp foreign gent told me the temperature was -60. "Ve sent up a wetter balloon over Paris at 6 o'clock zis morning and it said it was -60, so -60 it is." I thanked him for his time, but it does all seem to have slid down hill a bit since the days of station met men.