Richard HamblynThe Met Office Pocket Cloud Book

A real pocket guide, lovely pictures and very clear text.

As said it fits in your pocket and is good but now,having become a bit of a cloud fan and being a total newbie at it I've found there are more accessible books available which include much more information which for me is really useful.So I have this, the Collins Gem and the Cloud spotters guide which give me a broad field of information to fill in the gaps that this book has in that in comparison I find it rather dry.I hope that in the future this handy reference will come completely into it's own.The reference pictures at the front are already particularly usefulI would recommend it whole heartedly but a little foreknowledge would help in my opinion.And some time later having bought a couple of other 'cloud' books this one has come into it's own.I can only speak for myself but the various classifications can be really confusing without the basic (and I mean basic as in coming from a place of no knowledge) underpinnings and that was what I lacked.

If you've ever wondered aloud what sort of cloud was drifting across your field of vision as you lay back in your garden lounger. If you've ever seen clouds rolling in as you pass the point of no-return between your house and the pub and wondered if you should have brought a coat. If you've got fed up with other 'spotting' hobbies because the focus of your hobby keeps flying or buzzing away before you can get an identification book out. Then cloud spotting and this book is for you.The guide is very logically laid out with each cloud having its own section. There's a handy quick reference bit at the front with small pictures of clouds and the pages you need to turn to for a more detailed identification. Each section has a description of what a particular cloud can tell you about the weather due to come your way. This is one of the clearest and best laid out books, of its type, I have ever seen.I've bought several copies for other people who, upon seeing my copy, have asked for their own. There's quite a group of us at work across the world who now are members of the cloud spotting fraternity and have copies of this book. I can't help but feel that this is how loony cults start!Buy this book and join us!

I compared this book with my serious sailing friends cloud book. My Met Office book gave a lot of the same information, in some areas more, with very similar photos but with a much more laypersons approachable layout. My friends book went much deeper into predicting strengths directions and times which I found unnecessary for my needs and was less user friendly for the casual spotter.I wanted a book for recognising cloud types and how they had developed, where they sit in the layers of clouds and what type of weather they are predicting. Perhaps some diagrams showing air movements would have been useful.The books size means I can take it everywhere and whip it out for a bit of cloud spotting. It's perfect for me and I will be using this book for a long time before I ever need anything more sophisticated.

This is a small book with small print and small illustrations and is suitable for small pocketsI would prefer to pay more for a full size book that would still fit in a coat pocket

Clear explanations and beautiful pictures of most types of clouds

A useful little book - the only thing I might suggest as it's supposed to be pocket-sized or portable might be a lighter cover rather than hard-back - but it's durable!

Brilliant little book, great reference page for a quick identification.Could benefit from section markers to make navigating the book quickly easier