After Radio France silenced its medium wave transmitters on 31 Dec., Bretagne 5 took over the important task of broadcasting the marine weather forecast (on 1593 kHz) to sailors navigating in the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Sea, North Sea and English Channel.
In collaboration with Meteo France, the station launched the service (previously provided by France Info) on Jan. 4, using a 10-kW medium-wave transmitter located in Saint-Gouéno, France.
Hosted by Nathalie Villalon, Stéphane Hamon and Frédéric Guyon, the station airs the weather forecast for the Atlantic and the North Sea regions at 7.20 a.m., 7.50 p.m. and 12.02 a.m. (6:20 a.m., 6:50 p.m. and 11:02 p.m. UTC). It also broadcasts the English Channel weather forecast at 1:30 p.m. (12:30 UTC).
Bretagne 5’s weather bulletins, which can at times be heard as far away as Cape Finisterre, off the west coast of Spain, attract regular feedback from sailors. On Jan. 11 at 12:05 a.m. a sailor working on a cargo ship navigating in the Irish Sea recorded one of the station’s programs. Listen to it here.
— Marguerite Clark
