The introduction to my television series 'Wild Weather' stated that I was going to get blasted, roasted, frozen... and thanks to the Met Office that is exactly what happened!

In the show I experience some of the world's most extreme weather first hand and report back about the awesome effects that weather has around the world — something that wouldn't have been possible without the Met Office's help and advice.
The vagaries of the elements come as no surprise to me.

As a very young child I lived on the Irish island of Inishmore — a place where the next port of call is New York.

It features in the early documentary 'Man of Aran' by Robert Flatery.

Now the Aran Islanders... they know a thing or two about the weather — being cut off for weeks on end by Atlantic storms.

Although for most of my life the less dramatic weather of London and Dublin has kept me occupied, in my youth I took up canoeing — a wet and often very cold extreme sport if ever there was one.

Canoeing in our weather teaches you patience and forbearance, freezing hands and feet so cold that they could break off.

But hail, rain or shine I was out there bunking off school and on my way as a canoeist onto the Irish team.

Great days!

As an investigative reporter I've sailed up the Amazon and trekked across the Congo, so I'm used to the heat too.

But I suppose, like most of us, I took weather for granted.

None of my previous experiences prepared me for the extremes that I would discover while filming 'Wild Weather' — or the fact that I would turn into an amateur weather enthusiast.

Or, indeed, that I would end up hanging upside down in hurricane force winds — again thanks to the Met Office for that one!

In my various undercover lives, I have experienced the greatest of LA luxury and the finest of New York hotels, as well as some of the rawest landscapes on earth.

For me, the weather has always been a part of whatever challenge I am facing at the time.

So it's humbling to remember that many people's lives are constantly challenged by the weather and that, for many, the battle for water and food is a desperate struggle.

But even in our mild and unchallenging climate it's important to keep a healthy respect for the weather at all times.
It's an amazing force and we should never forget its power.

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