Scott, Jack

Jack was a popular BBC TV forecaster (17th May 1969 – 4th May 1983) and for many years was the senior forecaster.  He also presented forecasts on BBC Radio.  He was a Met Office employee (1941 – 1983), working on RAF stations (1941 – 1968).

He recalled his broadcasting career in a 1994 BBC Weather Centre press release: “I allowed my name forward for a television forecaster post and after an interview and two auditions went to the London Weather Centre for a half-day training session with Peter Fettes, a brilliant training officer (former BBC announcer/presenter in the 1940s and 1950s) who cleared me for radio and in early 1969, I joined the TV team.

“We now had our own office at TV Centre and worked there half the time.  I worked in tandem with Graham Parker and Bert Foord having internal trial runs and eventually made my debut broadcast, one which in those days was recorded in the late evening for broadcast at closedown, around midnight.

“I had a habit of winking at the producer’s assistant immediately after the end, merely to indicate our success. I was shocked one evening to notice on the monitor that I was still on camera during the wink. A week later Richard Baker received a letter from a young girl (Susan aged 12) and it read: ‘Dear Mr Baker, you should know that Jack Frost doesn’t give us the weather – God does.  And Jack Scott seemed to know that, because he winked at you at the end.’

“In the early 1970s, we persuaded the Met Office and the BBC that four forecasters were necessary to run the roster so Keith Best joined us.  At the beginning of 1974, both Graham and Bert were promoted and Barbara and Mike joined the team.  At that time the Met Office had a ‘dedicated posts’ policy wherein most jobs related to a particular grade.  It was this policy that forced both Graham and Bert off the TV.

“When I was promoted in 1975, the BBC insisted to the Met Office that I stayed.  I was now in charge of training and made regular visits to the Met Office Training College and when the BBC had regional Met Office weathermen I studied videos of their forecasts and John Kettley was eventually chosen by this method.

“In 1979, Hugh Sheppard (weather producer) and I organised a reunion of all the previous weathermen for our 25th anniversary and an appearance on Nationwide.  George Cowling, Downie Armour and Bert Foord proved they had lost none of their considerable ability by delivering the 9.25pm forecast – live!  In fact, we almost had to wave a flag at Downie to stop him talking.”

Jack also joined a get-together for BBC TV Weather’s 40th anniversary in January 1994 and he participated in a photoshoot for the 50th anniversary in January 2004.

Jack was the BBC One Christmas Day weatherman twice: in 1979 and 1981.  Only a few weeks after leaving the BBC, he turned up on Thames TV’s Thames News and Thames at 6 (1983 – 1988) where he took over from Francis Wilson, who left to join the BBC’s Breakfast Time.  Jack once did his Thames forecast from the top of Nelson’s Column.

After retiring from Thames, Jack co-presented Years Ahead (Channel 4, 1988 – 1989) and in retirement, played golf each week with fellow ex-TV weathermen George Cowling and Bert Foord.

Personal information

Clips of Jack on The TV Room

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Online presence

Acknowledgements