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.  Various internal moves led to her first broadcasts for the BBC’s Religious Broadcasting department on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4.  In 1993, Carol joined the BBC’s Television Training department at Elstree on a freelance basis as a presenter.  During this time she researched, produced and presented a bi-monthly programme called Talking Issues and a weekly programme for HTV – The Guide.

In 1996, Carol joined the Weather Channel, presenting the weather on satellite and cable television, as well as on Talk Radio’s drivetime shows.  Having undergone meteorological training at the Weather Channel, Met Office and the BBC, Carol joined the team at the BBC Weather Centre in April 1998, appearing primarily on BBC News 24.  In October 2000, she joined BBC Breakfast, initially alternating every three weeks with Isobel Lang and Helen Willetts, presenting the weather bulletins.  She would welcome viewers with her cheery elongated Scottish “good morning” and it wasn’t long before she made the slot her own and became the programme’s resident forecaster, appearing from Monday to Thursday.  During her time with the programme, she has presented the weather from various locations across the UK – including a memorable broadcast during a snowstorm on the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland.  She has also presented the bulletins from events including Wimbledon and Ascot.

In 2003, Carol was named Best TV Weather Presenter at The Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) Awards.  This was the first time weather had been included in the TRIC Awards.  She won a further eight times (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017) proving her great warmth and personality are a winning combination.

Carol has presented occasionally on the BBC’s The One Show and has appeared on CBBC’s Hacker Time, which is a particular favourite of hers.  She was guest presenter on children’s arts series SMart (BBC One, 31st January 2009) and took part in the live Great British Weather show (2011).  She has appeared on a host of other programmes such as: Castle in the Country; Pointless; Food Factory; Blue Peter; Ready Steady Cook; The A to Z of TV Gardening.  On her days off, Carol will be ensconced in a book, or singing and dancing.  The latter skills have been demonstrated during many annual appearances on Children in Need and of course on Strictly Come Dancing, where she partnered professional dancer Pasha Kovalev in 2015 (she was the sixth contestant to be eliminated from the competition).

In January 2012, Carol had the great honour of giving a talk to Her Majesty the Queen and the ladies of the Women’s Institute in Sandringham, something she says she will never forget.  In 2017, Carol wrote the foreword to And Now, the Weather, written by Alison Maloney and published by BBC Books.  A montage of clips was shown on 23rd April 2018, to celebrate Carol’s 20th anniversary appearing on various incarnations of BBC TV breakfast programmes.

Personal information

Clips of Carol on The TV Room

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Online presence

Acknowledgements