The weather is a long-held national talking point and there have been several famous forecasts over the years.

To celebrate 150 years of forecasting for the nation see our anniversary timeline which looks back at historical events shaped by the weather.

Our 150 years of forecasting timeline  (Flash)

Celebrating 150 years of forecasting for the nation transcript (PDF, 104 kB)

In their own words

We've asked some prominent people for their Weather moments.

150th photo competition winners

As part of the celebrations we held a photo competition asking people to capture their defining weather moments of 2011, highlighting how the weather played a part in their life and what its impact had been.

Congratulations to Trishia Bloor of Bideford, Devon for submitting the winning entry. The photo was taken by her husband at Hartland Quay in North Devon.

Trishia explains, "We have wild and wonderful weather here as it juts out into the Atlantic. As you can perhaps tell the wind was so strong I had to hold onto the railings to keep my feet. I have two coats, a bodywarmer and the charming hat is to keep my ears from the cold."        

Check out our winner and all the runners up in the slide show below.

• Met Office photo competition winners

Thank you to everyone who took part.