Wild Weather With Richard Hammond (BBC1, 9pm)

WHETHER the weather be good, whether the weather be bad... it will always be the centre of conversation with the Brits.

The man best known as the Hamster from Top Gear, Richard Hammond, is cooking up a storm of a different kind from upsetting the Argentine and at the heart of some of the world's most extreme weather, experiencing extraordinary phenomena first-hand.

He starts with the wind, if you’ll pardon the expression, and describes it as “a powerful, invisible force that moves around us, almost unnoticed..." unless it’s a lazy wind, as my Quaker next-door neighbour frequently described, which goes straight through you.

The fascinating side of the Hamster’s investigation involves his attempt to measure the speed of a tornado. His journey starts in New Hampshire, US, and instead of strolling through the moneyed part of America’s famous fall leaves Hammond reveals that the state can also look like something from the Arctic and he braves temperatures of -45C on top of Mount Washington.

On April 12, 1934, the local weather station measured one of the fastest wind speeds ever recorded on land: 231mph. Remarkably, winds in the area hit hurricane force more than 100 days in the year.

Going outside is not advisable unless you're covered from head to toe in well-insulated protective gear. And don't forget your goggles, unless you want frozen eyeballs.

Given the fact a light wind on your face measures around 5mph; 15mph is enough to turn an umbrella inside out; 45mph can wreck a garden fence, and 55mph can bring a shed down, the sight of Hammond in 65 to 85mph winds is enough to make you put an extra bar on the fire.

That's nothing like the speed of 288mph which left Hammond with life-threatening head injuries when he crashed a jet-powered dragster during the making of Top Gear in September 2006. "It was a lot to deal with. I had a pretty tricky few years. The knock-on effects of the injury meant I was susceptible to depression, obsession, compulsion and paranoia, although I wasn't aware of that at the time," has says.

He's managed to move on now and is ready for another experiment tonight to create a fire whirlwind, and face a tense moment when it looks like a pricey camera may have been lost in the vertical inferno.

Clearly still a glutton for punishment, Hammond decides to stand in the middle of a man-made tornado at the WindEEE Research Institute in Canada. It's the only place on Earth which can duplicate the dynamics of a tornado.

Phillip's Text Santa Marathon (ITV3, 5pm)

PHILIP Schofield will have to draw on his decades of TV experience, and a few brushes with the BBC broom cupboard, for the duration of this latest telethon. Kicking off on This Morning, Schofield will be attempting to match Children in Need’s £32million effort.

At this stage in the marathon he's joined by Dancing on Ice’s Todd Carty and squeaky-voiced I'm A Celebrity veteran Joe Pasquale. They will be performing a potted version of Spamalot, while the Miliband-munching Myleene Klass will be plugging a bidding war for celeb outfits.

Turner Prize 2014 (Channel 4, 7.30pm)

THANKS to Mike Leigh and Tim Spall's JMW Turner biopic, the grunting painter has never been more popular, while the award inspired by the acclaimed artist also has a reason to celebrate.

This is the 30th year of the annual event, and the UK's most publicised art award always manages to generate plenty of chat. This year, London's Tate Britain hosts the 30th Turner Prize and the winner is announced live, by Ejiofor, as part of this programme hosted by Lauren Laverne.

Aside from announcing the winner live from Tate Britain, the programme profiles the shortlisted artists: Duncan Campbell, Ciara Phillips, James Richards and Tris Vonna-Michell.