Trevor the Weather

"Trevor the Weather" was the popular soubriquet for the Welsh [ In Wales people are often known by a combination of their first name and the job they do: see Under Milk Wood, Thomas, D Everyman's Classics ISBN 0460110063 ] weather forecaster, Trevor Baker [Not to be confused with the Canadian Christian singer/songwriter [http://www.trevorbaker.ca/profile.html] or the Australian biographer [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/images/1842228897] ] . He joined the Met Office in 1941 and worked all over the UK (as well as a stint in Hong Kong between 1953 & 1956) before being seconded to the BBC [ All BBC forecasters are trained meteorologists ] in 1962. After a few months he moved to Southern Television's flagship, the evening news magazine "Day by Day". Over time he developed a tremendous rapport with his other co-presenters [At different times: Cliff Michelmore, Barry Westwood and Fred Dinenage.] and his role gradually expanded (reading out congratulatory messages, writing a book [ Baker, T: Science and the Weatherman (1974) Exeter, A Wheaton & Co ISBN 0080176569 ] )until eventually he was given his own show "Trevor Baker's All Weather Show" [1980, produced by Bryan Izzard and directed by David Pick (BFI Archives)] . Unlike many of the team, Baker survived the cull when the franchise changed to TVS (Television South) in 1982. He carried on, by now a cult figure [When people in the region said "Trevor says it's going to be fine today.", nobody ever said "Trevor Who?": he had achieved that ultimate accolade, accorded to very few, of being immediately identifiable by his first name.] , until 1987. In all he was on-air for 25 years; and, until eclipsed by Michael Fish in 1999, held the title of "Britain's longest serving TV weather forecaster".

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