The BBC and the Met Office are going through a messy breakup after 93 years, as the broadcaster opens up the contract to outside competition.
Their relationship had weathered numerous storms over the decades, with the BBC facing notorious on-air gaffes by the likes of Michael Fish and Tomasz Schafernaker.
Such slip-ups are not reason the BBC is dropping the Met Office – and fans of Schafernaker and his colleagues will be glad to hear that they are likely to stay on with the winner of the new contract.
Below we celebrate some of the presenters’ most memorable moments.
1. Michael Fish plays down hurricane warning (1987)
In the most notorious example of BBC weather forecast getting it completely wrong, Fish sought to reassure viewers in October 1987 over fears that a severe storm was on the way. “Don’t worry – there isn’t,” he said. In the event, the south of England was hit by its biggest storm in three centuries, killing 18 people and causing £1bn in damage.
2. Tomasz Schafernaker sticks his finger up at BBC newsreader (2010)
Schafernaker is the clown prince of BBC weather presenters, winning numerous fans with his string of on-air gaffes.
BBC newsreader Simon McCoy baited his colleague by telling viewers: “Now we will have the weather forecast in a minute and of course it will be 100% accurate and provide all the detail you can possibly want. I’ve just seen Tom Schafernaker preparing for it.”
The camera then cut to the Schafernaker who, unaware that he was being broadcast live, raised his middle finger to McCoy.
He raised his hand to his face in a bid to disguise it, before the camera cut back to McCoy, who said: “There’s always one mistake. That was it.”
3. Alex Deakin uses the C-word (2012)
BBC World presenter Deakin’s forecast for a sunny Sunday took a turn for the worse when he told viewers: “By and large it’s simply and lovely winter’s day tomorrow, bucketloads of cunt, er, sunshine across central and eastern areas.”
Deakin later tweeted “The less said the better about that broadcast” – but he didn’t lose his job as he predicted by adding the #P45” tag.
I think the less said the better about that last broadcast #P45
— Alex Deakin (@alexdeakin) February 18, 2012
A viewer replied, asking him was it a “naughty word” or a “wardrobe malfunction”.
Deakin answered: “not A naughty word THE naughty word”.
@fayeharland not A naughty word THE naughty word
— Alex Deakin (@alexdeakin) February 18, 2012
4. Tomasz Schafernaker gets the giggles (2010)
The Schaf is back in another double act with newsreader Simon McCoy, who told his pal “You’ve got a frozen ball there”. “Just the one,” replied Schafernaker, before struggling to contain his laughter throughout the weather report. “I’m doing pretty bad here, laughing my head off,” he said, adding: “Apologies for the giggling earlier on – I swear it wasn’t my fault.”
Schafernaker’s other classics include telling Radio 4 listeners it would be “quite a muddy shite” at the Glastonbury festival.
5. Helen Willetts gets viewers seeing double (2014)
Thanks to a technical gaffe, BBC News channel presenter Willetts guided viewers through the weather outlook with an on-screen twin. News presenter Huw Edwards also appeared bemused when she handed back to him during the broadcast. He told viewers: “Not just one Helen, but two Helens, and, frankly, I’m happy with two, three, four, five Helens.”
6. Carol Kirkwood predicts a scorcher for ‘Town name’ (2014)
BBC Breakfast weather presenter Kirkwood fronted a report suggesting that temperatures would hit a high of 99C in six cities called “Town name”.
She then jumped in front of the screen, saying “I’m going to block this chart” and adding at the end of the bulletin: “That was entirely my fault. I clicked my clicker twice, and that came up, so sorry about that.”
Presenters Susanna Reid and Bill Turnbull joked about the incident, with the latter saying “It’s going to be boiling in Town name – I’ve heard of scorchio, but that’s ridiculous.”
