 I'm Alexander Hall and I'm a PhD student at the University of Manchester. My research at the University looks at the development of public weather services and how certain extreme weather events such as big storms or floods have affected how they deliver these services and how the public sort of view these services as well. I think a lot of people think they're experts on the weather which is a very British thing maybe but a lot of that aspect is really sort of what interests me of how people actually use weather forecasting in sort of their everyday life. A PhD project is a really creative thing and I think the British Library is good for finding those little bits of the jigsaw puzzle where there was a gap. I can be at the library within two and a half hours really which is convenient and easy and it's a welcoming space and I find it quite an easy space to work in. Finding something at the library, it's generally a bit of detective work on my behalf but then with the help of staff at the library if it's something hard to find. One of the newspapers and records I've used at the British Library is this coverage from the great storm of 1987. Why didn't they warn us is one of the memorable headlines and the records there of the storm through the newspapers and through regional newspapers there as well have really helped give me an insight into that event. There is an inspiring element I guess to the sort of the history of the actual documents you're looking at without the books and pamphlets and newspapers. The research and outcomes and findings of my project wouldn't have been the same. Now I've just come to the end of my PhD project. I'm hoping to continue on with my research and I think as that process goes on over the next few years the British Library is going to continue to be a central resource for me.