I’d planned to walk the dog this afternoon. Until DH called out, “Big Jet TV’ is on again – there’s another storm.”

“Another one?” I replied, a little surprised that so soon after Storm Eunice the UK was being battered by yet more extreme weather. I couldn’t resist sitting down to catch more of Jerry Dyer’s hilarious commentary as he livestreams planes landing at Heathrow on his YouTube aviation channel.

“Bosh. Get it down, mate!” I heard him exclaim as a 777 landed and I settled in with a cup of tea. 

“I am landing this plane! I really am. I have a golf class,” he quipped as riveted viewers watched another plane’s wobbly approach from the edge of their sofas. “Hummmmm … maybe not … cancel the teacher please, I’m going round.” 

Filmed from a muddy pony field next to the airport, his channel rocketed to fame on Friday when Brits were advised to stay home (again) and avoid travelling due to 122mph winds. While trains and buses were cancelled, Heathrow was still operating under the most severe conditions, with some incredible landings and dramatic go arounds, testing the limits of the pilots.

Brits looking to entertain themselves found an unlikely hero in plane spotter Jerry, whose endearingly cheeky commentary was both enthusiastic and informative. His passion for the skill of the pilots at the controls was clear to see as he empathised with both them and the poor passengers being bumped and rocked around in their seats.

I especially loved it when a pilot’s wife messaged in and we then got to watch her husband land his plane. No pressure there then. 

I also LOVED the tweet from @Edgware Bubbles: “It’s ‘Strictly’ for planes, marked on style and technical ability!”

Jerry attracted 6.5 million viewers that day as his channel, which he’s run for the past five years, really, erm, took off. People tuned in from all over the world. I should confess that we’ve watched it in normal times too, such are the TV habits of our aviation household – but it’s never been as nail-biting or stomach-churning as it was on Friday.

The airplane enthusiast, the son of an airline captain from Sussex, had to balance TV interviews with his relentless live commentary, at one point describing how Channel Four News were standing at the fence, trying to get into the field on the eastern end of Heathrow’s runway.

It did strike me that the aviation geek’s new-found-stardom and cool factor was bad news for birders, who were, until now, able to poke fun at plane spotters for being nerds.   

This afternoon, I thought I’d just spend five minutes watching Big Jet TV, then get on with walking our dog Bella … 

An hour and three mugs of tea later … “Sorry Bella! We’ll walk tomorrow. There’s another A380 coming in!” 

EDITED TO ADD: First Heathrow …now SPACE! Jerry is reportedly now in talk with Nasa over filming a rocket launch in Florida.

What do you think? Jerry told CNN the popularity of his livestream was all about the battle. In his words, “it’s the forces of nature against an alloy tub with wings on it that we built and we have to control it down onto the ground in Mother Nature’s winds”. And the whole episode does seem part of this new world in which rather than getting brownie points for heroically toughing it out, people instead watch the machines battle the elements from under the duvet.