BBC Weather is the BBC's department in charge of preparing and broadcasting weather forecasts and is now part of BBC News. The broadcast meteorologists are employed by the Met Office.^[1] The longest-serving BBC weather forecaster is Michael Fish, who appeared for 36 years between 1974 and 2010 and still occasionally forecasts for South East Today.

History[link]

Early history[link]

The first BBC weather forecast was a shipping forecast broadcast on the radio on behalf of the Met Office on 14 November 1922, and the first daily weather forecast was broadcast on 26 March 1923.

In 1936, the BBC experimented with the world's first televised weather maps, which was brought into practice in 1949 after World War II. The map filled the entire screen, with an off-screen narrator commenting on the next day's weather.

Advancement of technology[link]

On 11 January 1954, the first in-vision weather forecast was broadcast, presented by George Cowling. In an in-vision the narrator stands in front of the map. At that point, the maps were drawn by hand in the London Weather Centre, before being couriered across London.^[2][3] The forecasts were presented by the same person who had composed them, and had relatively low accuracy. The London Weather Centre which opened in 1959 took the responsibility for the national radio weather broadcasts. Radio forecasters were chosen by a BBC audition from the forecasters at the London Weather Centre.^[3][4]

In 1962, the installation of a fax machine and an electronic computer in the Met Office led to more accurate and quicker forecasting.

Satellite photography was available from 1964, but was of a poor quality and was given on paper, with the coastline etched in felt-tip pen. This didn't change until 1973 with the installation of a new computer, increasing processing power of the Weather Centre greatly, leading to forecasts twice as accurate as earlier ones.

Graphical technology[link]

As computational capability improved, so did graphics technology. Early hand-drawn maps gave way to magnetic symbols, which in turn gave way to bluescreen (CSO) computer-generated imagery technology, each of which allowed the presenter greater control over the information displayed.

Early magnetic symbols tended to adhere poorly to the maps, and occasional spelling errors (such as the presenter writing 'GOF' instead of 'FOG') marred some broadcasts, but allowed the presenter to show how weather would change over time. The symbols were designed to be 'self-explicit', allowing the viewer to understand the map without a key or legend.

These were phased out in 1985 for computer graphics, although the basic design of symbols was kept the same. These forecasts were widely-acclaimed for their simplicity, winning an award from the Royal Television Society in 1993.^[5]

On 2 October 2000 BBC Weather underwent a more significant change. Whilst there was not much change to the existing weather symbols new symbols giving information Pollen and Sun levels were introduced. A new more detailed map of Britain was used based on satellite data.

Great Storm of 1987 controversy[link]

Possibly the most famous of the forecasters is the now semi-retired Michael Fish. Famous for his informal manner and eccentric dress sense (he once wore a blue and green blazer emblazoned with all the weather symbols), he was a viewer favourite despite an unfortunate comment before the Great Storm of 1987.

During a weather forecast some hours before the storm, Michael Fish started his forecast with the now infamous line "Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way. Well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't". Although he was actually referring to a Florida hurricane (Floyd), and went on to forecast stormy conditions over the South of England, the statement has gone down in popular culture as one of the worst mistakes made so publicly.^[6]

Today[link]

The weather symbols were replaced in May 2005 after 29 years and 9 months on air by a controversial format as the forecast underwent another redesign, with the flat map replaced by a 3D globe, and weather conditions shown by coloured areas. Cloud cover is indicated by the brightness of the map, while rain and snow are indicated by animated blue and white areas respectively.^[7]

The graphics are provided by Weatherscape XT, which was developed by the commercial arm of the New Zealand Metservice.^[8]

The move polarised opinion; some saw it as more accurate and modern, while others disliked the brown colour chosen for the landmass and the presumed high cost of the graphics. The angling of the map, in order to show the curvature of the Earth, led to Scotland appearing little larger than Devon, and Shetland being almost invisible while exaggerating London and the South East. This led to many Scottish commentators accusing the BBC of having a London bias. As a result, the map was realigned, and the moving tour of the UK was lengthened. The previous graphics however, from 2000–05, did appear geographically more accurate when compared with a satellite image.

The new look won a prestigious Silver Award at the Promax/BDA Awards in 2006.^[9] Criticism has continued, however, with some viewers complaining about the colour scheme, and of a lack of detail beyond 36 hours.

There have been continuous developments since May 2005. In 2006, a rippling effect was introduced to define seas and oceans.^[10]

Online forecasts[link]

The BBC Weather website provides outlook weather forecasts for UK and international locations using animated symbols and a format similar in design to that used for the televised broadcasts. The website launched in 1997.

The website also runs frequent special features about seasonal sports, white Christmas, nature and meteorological science. It also has world weather, UK outlook and weather news.

See also[link]

BBC portal

• National, regional and retired BBC weather forecasters

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Hunt, Roger, "The end of weather forecasting at Met Office London", Weather magazine, Royal Meteorological Society, June 2007, v.62, no.6, pp. 143–146

External links[link]

• BBC Weather at BBC Online

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Helen Sarah Willetts (born 10 February 1972) is a meteorologist on the BBC. She appears regularly on BBC News, BBC World News, BBC Red Button, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 2, as well as BBC One. Helen is an occasional weather forecaster on the BBC News at Ten and the BBC News channel. Helen returned in mid November 2009 after taking a year's maternity leave which she also did in early 2008 when she had her first child.

Early life[link]

Born in Chester in England, Willetts went to the Eirias High School in Colwyn Bay, Conwy in Wales. She obtained a first class degree in Physics at the University of Nottingham. She also played badminton internationally for Wales before joining the Met Office in February 1994, where she began a five-month forecaster training course at the Met Office college.

Broadcasting career[link]

In July 1994 she moved to Cardiff Weather Centre and from 1995 she appeared as a forecaster on BBC Television and Radio in Wales. In 1997 she moved to the BBC Weather Centre in London to work for BBC News.

Awards[link]

In March 2006, she was awarded the Television and Radio Industry Club (TRIC) award for best TV weather presenter.^[1]

In popular culture[link]

She has also been impersonated on the BBC comedy Dead Ringers.

Personal life[link]

Married to Philip Boulby in March 2004, she returned to Colwyn Bay for the ceremony. She received an honorary degree from the University of Nottingham on 12 July 2007.^[2]

In 2006 she had her first child, and her second was born in December 2008.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Helen Willletts' BBC Weather Profile

Tomasz Schafernaker
Born	(1979-01-08) 8 January 1979 (age 33) Gdańsk, People's Republic of Poland
Nationality	Poland  UK
Occupation	Meteorologist for BBC Weather

Tomasz Schafernaker (born 8 January 1979)^[1] is a Polish-British metereologist and forecaster for the Met Office, who appeared on BBC Weather until 2010.^[2] He now appears on BBC South East.

Early life and career[link]

Schafernaker was born in Gdańsk, People's Republic of Poland, and attended school both in his native Poland and in Britain. He was educated at the independent school St. John's College, Southsea, in Portsmouth, where he took A-levels in mathematics, physics and art, followed by the University of Reading where he gained a BSc (Hons) in meteorology.^[3]

He joined the BBC Weather Centre in 2000, working as a broadcast assistant, and became a presenter in the same year; this made him the youngest man to present the BBC Weather.^[4] He spent some time giving BBC regional forecasts across the UK, and presented on BBC World during the winter of 2003.

During 2004 and 2005 Tomasz studied at the Met Office college in Exeter and trained as a forecaster for aviation. He also worked for a time at ITV, as well as the London Weather Centre. Schafernaker rejoined the BBC in 2006.^{[citation needed]} He left the BBC in 2010 as part of a cost-cutting exercise, but continues to work for The Met Office.^[5]

He was named the Best TV Weather Presenter at TRIC Awards 2010.^[6]

On 29 May 2012 he joined BBC South East as a weather presenter, debuting on screen two days later.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tomasz Schafernaker, BBC Weather