George Cowling

George Cowling (2 March 1920 – 24 December 2009) was the BBC's first television weatherman. Cowling joined the Met Office in 1939 and worked as a forecaster for the RAF before joining the BBC in 1954. On 11 January 1954, he gave the first televised weather broadcast. He continued to present televised weather broadcasts for the BBC until 1957 when he rejoined the RAF. He later worked at the Met Office College and at Heathrow Airport before retiring from the Met Office in 1981.

Cowling joined the Met Office in 1939, at the start of World War II, stationed as a meteorological assistant with No. 4 Bomber Group RAF in Yorkshire, and worked as a forecaster for the RAF, working in Britain, Normandy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany until 1953. In 1954 he was transferred to the London Weather Centre. On 11 January 1954, at the age of 33, George Cowling gave the first televised weather forecast, from the BBC's Lime Grove Studios, at 7.55pm. The forecast was live and 'in vision', with Cowling standing in front of the weather map, using a pencil and rubber to show the weather for the next day. He informed the viewing public that "tomorrow would be rather windy, a good day to hang out the washing".

The first ever dedicated weather presentation, featuring Cowling, was given five minutes, rather than the previous few seconds, and the bulletin was described in the Radio Times:

Cowling continued to present the weather bulletins for the BBC until 1957, alongside Tom Clifton. In February 1957, he joined RAF Bomber Command. He operated in Singapore, Malta, Bahrain and Germany, before leaving the RAF to work as a senior instructor at the Met Office College, and then as principal forecaster at Heathrow Airport.

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