Isobel was born in Lincoln. She graduated in 1991 from Exeter University with a BSc (Hons) degree in mathematics. She joined the Met Office in September 1991 and was initially based at the London Weather Centre, where she prepared forecasts for the press; she also presented the weather on local radio. Isobel appeared briefly as a holiday relief forecaster for Meridian TV before joining the BBC Weather Centre in May 1995. She was a regular BBC network television forecaster (December 1995 – August 2006). She had a baby boy (Benjamin Bryon) in October 2002 and after a second child was born, returned from maternity leave in summer 2004.
…Everard, Martin
Martin’s first on-air role was as a relief announcer with BBC Northern Ireland in the 1960s. From there he moved to London and gradually moved up through the ranks of TV presentation, before moving into programme production. He took some time out from his BBC job to participate in the British America’s Cup Challenge (Lionheart) (1979 – 1980).
…Hammond, John
John was born in Bosham, West Sussex, the son of a farmer. After taking an interest in the weather from the age of four, he studied geography at the University of Salford, followed by meteorology at the University of Birmingham.
…Alagiah, George
George was born in Colombo, Ceylon. His parents moved to Ghana in West Africa in 1961. He read politics at Durham University and whilst there wrote for and became editor of the student newspaper Palatinate; he was also a sabbatical officer of Durham Students’ Union.
…Giles, Bill
Bill was born in Dittisham, near Dartmouth in Devon. He joined the Meteorological Office at Exeter in January 1957 on leaving the Bristol College of Science and Technology. Later that year, as an 18-year-old, he was sent to Christmas Island to observe the meteorological effects of the H bomb tests and later recalled seeing the “horrendous clouds”. Bill was based in Germany as an observer with the RAF (1961 – 1963) and worked as a lecturer at the Met Office’s training college (1968 – 1970).
…Kirkwood, Carol
Carol was born in Morar. After attending Napier University in Edinburgh, where she gained a BA in Commerce, she initially joined the BBC’s secretarial reserve in London, in 1984.
…Raworth, Sophie
Born in Surrey and after completing a degree in French and German at the University of Manchester, Sophie spent a year teaching English to teenagers in Toulouse before studying for a postgraduate course in broadcasting and journalism at City University, London.
…Edwards, Huw
Huw was born in Bridgend, Glamorgan and graduated from University College, Cardiff with a first-class degree in French. He joined the BBC as a news trainee in 1984 and originally worked for BBC Wales and S4C, but then moved to become a reporter for BBC TV’s Panorama (1993). Some of Huw’s later roles: parliamentary correspondent, BBC Wales (1986 – 1988); political correspondent, BBC TV News (1988 – 1997); chief political correspondent, BBC News 24 (1997 – 1999).
…Finighan, Adrian
Adrian is a Welsh journalist. He joined the BBC in 1988, working in local radio as a reporter and producer.
…Fox, Everton
Everton was born in Cambridge in 1964. He worked in the Department of Social Security as a civil servant before joining the Met Office in 1991. He spent a year at the Norwich Weather Centre. Having completed the forecaster foundation programme in March 2000, which included on-the-job training at RAF Marham in Norfolk, he went on to become a forecaster at the London Weather Centre where he worked for three months.
…Andrew, John
John’s broadcasting career began at ILR station Radio Tees. He then joined BBC Newcastle before moving to London as a reporter/presenter on BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat programme. He presented Thames News with Andrew Gardener during the 1980s.
John is currently a correspondent/presenter for BBC Network News. He occasionally presents on the BBC News Channel. During his career at the BBC, he initially specialised in local government, covering the rise and fall of the poll tax and the Westminster gerrymandering scandal. He has since covered general news too, including the Harold Shipman murders and the war in Kosovo.
Badawi, Zeinab
Zeinab’s broadcasting career began as an ITN newscaster, working on Channel 4 News (1989 – 1998). She also presented on the ITV Morning News in the 1990s and on the Channel 4 Daily in 1990.
In 1998, she joined the BBC and spent five years working on live political programmes based at Westminster. She then moved to radio, where she presented The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 and Newshour on the BBC World Service.
In April 2005, Zeinab was announced as the new presenter of BBC Four’s news programme, The World. The programme – also broadcast on BBC World News – was rebranded as World News Today in May 2007. She continued to present the programme until 2013.
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