It is, to say the least, something of a national obsession.

But for one man, the weather has become an all-encompassing passion.

Every single day for the last half a century, Basil Lowe has lovingly recorded the weather in his native Halesworth, monitoring rainfall and temperatures.

He has amassed volumes of his daily records which are kept at the Halesworth and District Museum.

Now, however, aged 75, he has decided to scale back his responsibilities and is looking for a like-minded weather enthusiast in the area to take on his work.

Mr Lowe, from Holton Road, in the town, uses equipment made by the boys of Halesworth Modern School 1950s and would like to see it stay in the town.

The boys made the weather station under woodwork master Mark Saunders, and both male and female pupils at the school noted their findings as a project.

The school's deputy headteacher Robbie Page took it home when he retired, and sent his daily findings to the Halesworth and District Museum.

When he died the equipment was given to Mr Lowe, who used to take over from Mr Page when he was on holiday.

'Since then I've carried it on,' he said. 'I thought it was a nice hobby and now I'm looking for somebody to take it on.'

Mr Lowe records readings including temperature, rainfall and snow days using the equipment in his back garden, which is still in full working order.

'I feel like now is the time to hand the equipment on and hand it over to someone in the area,' he said.

'It's brought me a lot of pleasure but it doesn't really belong to me, it belongs to the town.

'It would be nice if someone from either Halesworth or Holton could keep doing it, it's easy enough to use and it would be great to see it stay in the area.'

Anyone who would be interested in recording the weather with Mr Lowe's equipment should call him on 01986 873 296