For the love of weather

Dr Mark Parrington is a senior scientist in the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) Development Section at ECMWF working on wildfire emissions. Mark begins by telling us about Saharan dust in the UK. He also talks us through the positives and negatives of wildfires and ‘black carbon’. He explains how fire seasons are getting longer in California and why ‘mega fires’ are becoming more l...

Leif is a botanist and author. He first book is called ‘the orchid hunter’ and his new book ‘where the wildflowers grow’ will be released this summer. In case you thought that writing a book wasn't enough of an achievement he has also just finished a PhD at Kew Gardens. This was an absolutely fascinating episode about how incredibly intelligent and adaptive plants are, so much so that Aisling and...

Dr Rosie Oakes is an international climate services scientist with the Met Office, where she focuses on making the outputs from climate models understandable and accessible to people around the world, so they can be used to help them make climate informed decisions. She also happens to be incredibly funny and talented and brings geology to life. Aisling and Gemma agree they will never look at a ro...

Meet Sarah Roberts. She is an author, animal behaviourist and eco journalist. Sarah splits her time between conservation work and finding creative ways to connect to children, adults and brands to environmental issues. In 2014, Sarah created her first Children's booked 'somebody swallowed Stanley' which is used in schools around the world to teach Plastic Pollution. It was also read by Tom Hardy o...

Dr Ella Gilbert is a climate scientist and presenter with a PhD in Antarctic climate change. She also happens to be a boxer! Ella initially studied meteorology simply because it suited her timetable. Fast forward in time and she is now an incredibly talented climate scientist with a tangible passion for communicating climate change as well as having a great sense of humour. She is one of a very fe...

In this next episode we meet Bonnie Diamond, communications meteorologist with the Irish Met service - Met Éireann. This episode was recorded 2 weeks ago before Storm Dudely, Eunice and Franklin hit the UK and Ireland Bonnie was raised on a farm in Northern Ireland which unsurprisingly influenced her journey into weather. She talks about her day to day work as a communications forecaster, the role...

Meet Nina. Her films have screened in festivals globally and you may have seen some of her work featured on shows such as Springwatch and Countryfile on the BBC. We fell in love with Nina’s wildlife photography and filmmaking on social media and feel so lucky to have Nina on our podcast today to chat all about how the weather impacts her work. You can find Nina's work on her website https://www.ni...

Meet the very talented Paul Gundersen, Chief Forecaster with the UK's Met Office. Paul's first memories are of standing in deep snow in 1981. Today he is responsible for filtering through gigabytes of weather data to make sure the UK population is prepared whatever the weather. Paul talks through some of the most difficult forecasting decisions he has made plus he tells us about the intricacies of...

Today is a very special episode and full disclosure it is a little emotional. We meet children’s author and illustrator Chris Judge. He is also the creator of @ADaily_Cloud on Twitter and Instagram which is where we fell in love with his work. His artwork is also peppered across Dublin with illustrations that capture so much love and imagination. If you haven't come across his @ADaily_Cloud on Twi...

In this episode we meet Doug Reynolds aka 'Doug the Builder'. He has worked in the building trade for 40 years, building houses, warehouses and more. Currently he is building an eco house or passive houses, one of the most environmentally friendly homes. He has moved with the times and would like to see more young people come through the trade as he believes they are the future for innovation espe...

Garry from Mountain Weather Information Service talks about the challenges of forecasting for upland parts of the UK. Whether you're a novice or an experienced mountaineer you will have likely come across MWIS and the valuable forecasts it offers 365 days a year. Garry chats through the intricacies of forecasting for ten mountain regions across the UK and the benefits of being a Lakeland fellwalke...

Rose Wylot just simply loves to surf and we have learned so much about what she does before she gets her wetsuit on. If you thought that surfing was a simple case of grabbing a long pointy board and hoping for the best think again! Sea fetch, sea swell, wave heights, weather and even walking comes into finding a good surf spot. Rose shares all her secrets as to what makes a great surf and why she...

What an inspiring episode. If you ever thought there was something you couldn't do you should talk to Lizzy, our willing guest and mountain leader. Aisling and Gemma were so inspired by this episode they are now going to run a marathon and climb some mountains. How can a simple walk turn into climbing a mountain and then turn into leading lots of people to climb some of the highest mountains in th...

In today's episode we slow things down and have a chat to each other about our lives as weather forecasters and answer some get to know me questions. We meander through the start of our careers through to life events, life experiences and on to some of our favourite things about the weather. We thank you as always for taking the time to listen to our podcast but most importantly we hope you leave...

When Nick was a young boy he spent hours waiting for the teletext page to change so he could read what the weather forecast was going to be. He always hoped for snow. These days when he is being a little more serious he works as a Flood Modeller and Flood Forecaster at the Environment Agency. We both laughed and smiled through this podcast and we think you will enjoy how emotive the weather is for...

This week we chat to the brilliant meteorologist Chris Bell, Forecasting Director of Weatherquest. Chris once fell asleep during a final exam because he had just returned from a 26 hour storm chasing trip and couldn't stay awake. He also made national headlines in the UK in 2020 by diving almost naked into a few feet of snow! How could you not want to chat to this weather lover more. When he is no...

We feel very lucky to have have chatted to ITV's Becky Jago. Her career in media has spanned more than two decades. She says one of her most memorable moments on TV was presenting a weather segment as a bolt of lightning burst across the sky. From Newsround presenter, to radio show host and back to a variety of TV presenting, Becky has a wealth of experience communicating sometimes very difficult...

Abbie Dewhurst is a northern girl through and through. Born in Grimsby, she nailed her dream job at 22 presenting the weather. Abbie tells us how every day is a challenge and she never stops learning and just can't imagine a life without weather. From 200 broadcasts a day, to creating Tik Tok videos to presenting the weather on the evening news she glides seamlessly between platforms . Abbie says...

What is there not to love about our next guest? Meet the fabulous Chris Page. Chris is a part of the ITV Weather presenting team as well as being a technical whizz behind the scenes. Chris fell in love with the weather when he was just a small boy checking his rain gauge with dreams of being a pilot. From rain gauges to his Russian tutor at University, Chris will make you laugh but also show you h...

In today's episode we chat to the brilliant Charlie Powell about how he made the change from meteorologist to the ITV weather presenting team. He says his most fun broadcast involved monster trucks but he also tells some tales of when broadcasts have not quite gone to plan. Charlie's love of weather and humour should brighten your day and we hope you laugh as much as we did recording it. The real...

We had the pleasure of chatting to Jessica and Nicola about outdoor swimming. They are simply inspirational and you can't help but fall in love with their joy and enthusiasm for outdoor swimming. But there is so much more to their story and we hope you enjoy this episode about how two friends decided to change the outdoor swimming world. Their story has been seen by millions of people and we feel...

Matt has probably appeared on your television at least once over the last twenty years bringing you the national weather from the BBC Weather Studio's. What you may not know about Matt is that away from the green screen he is one of the funniest people we have ever met. His journey into weather and onto the television screen was down to his friend's Mum showing him an ad in the newspaper. Matt's l...

Have you every wondered about the Antarctic? What do people do there? How do you actually get there?! John Griffiths spent a year working for the British Antarctic Survey as an expert in instrumentation and science. From 24 hours of darkness to the madness of 24 hours of light John takes us on a journey of what it was like to spend a year at the Halley Research Station. From wearing shorts in free...

Prof Liz Bentley Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society joins us for a special episode to celebrate International Women's Day. Her passion for weather came at an early age. She grew up in the great Yorkshire climate where large thunderstorms and snow storms were a regular feature. Liz's career spans 30 years and she talks about the change she has seen as women now often lead the way i...

We had such a wonderful hour speaking to wedding florist Rebecca Yussuf from Lilac and Lace Floral Design. It just so happens Rebecca is also an experienced meteorologist, something that has come in handy more than once during the many outdoor ceremonies she has catered for! Her drive and passion for the environment and her business is infectious and we have never learned so much about the challen...