BBC Weather favourites ‘consider quitting’ as broadcaster slashes presenting team in major cull
Three of BBC Weather’s best-known faces are said to be weighing up voluntary redundancy as the corporation prepares to reduce its national weather presenting team dramatically.
Tomasz Schafernaker, Louise Lear and Darren Bett, who collectively boast more than 86 years of on-screen experience, have not yet accepted any redundancy offer, according to The Times.
Their potential departure comes as the BBC plans to cut its roster of national weather presenters from 11 to just 4.5 as part of sweeping changes announced last week.
The restructuring forms part of the broadcaster’s wider drive to save £500million and eliminate up to 2,000 roles, with weather coverage set to pivot heavily towards digital platforms and greater use of local presenters.
The BBC is planning to dramatically reduce the number of national weather presenters
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The cuts sit within the BBC’s broader £500million cost-cutting programme, which has already claimed popular shows including Live at the Apollo, Blankety Blank and Celebrity Mastermind.
Executives are targeting at least £100million in annual recurring savings, ultimately trimming original television output by 100 to 150 hours.
The corporation has signalled its intention to “make more of their much-loved local weather presenters,” effectively diminishing the role of national forecasters.
A source told The Times: “It’s the end of an era for our weather presenting. The audience wants a bit of digital and TV – including a good old-fashioned forecast.”
Tomasz Schafernaker has been a familiar face on BBC Weather since joining the team in 2000
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BBC
Radio bulletins will also be affected, with regular programme hosts taking over weather duties rather than dedicated meteorological reporters.
A new BBC weather centre is being established at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter, where four reporters will be stationed with a purely digital remit, producing articles, video content and social media posts.
This means the overall net loss of weather presenters across the organisation will be three.
The 4.5 national presenting positions that survive the cull will be divided between London and the BBC’s Salford base.
Louise Lear has presented weather forecasts for the BBC since 1998
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BBC
Weather segments for BBC Breakfast and the Today programme will be delivered from the existing hub near Manchester.
The reunion with the Met Office marks a significant shift for the broadcaster, which severed its relationship with the national weather service in 2017 in favour of Dutch firm MeteoGroup, later acquired by US company DTN.
A fresh agreement struck last year brought the two institutions back together.
Mr Schafernaker, 47, has been with BBC Weather since 2000 and currently serves as the team’s lead presenter.
He shot to fame in 2006 after playfully giving newsreader Simon McCoy the middle finger during a live broadcast, a moment that launched a wider media career encompassing magazine modelling and appearances on programmes such as Celebrity MasterChef, Would I Lie To You?, Pointless Celebrities and The Weakest Link.
Ms Lear joined the BBC in 1998 having previously worked as a weather presenter at Central Television.
She regularly delivers the forecast on BBC News At Six and has also appeared on Countryfile.
Mr Bett’s BBC career stretches back even further. He presented Look North before joining the launch team for BBC News 24 in 1997 and currently holds the role of principal weather presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Darren Bett joined the launch team for BBC News 24 in 1997
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BBC
One presenter expressed frustration to The Times, saying: “The team is already very lean and punched above its weight for many years, producing a huge amount of output across all platforms 24 hours a day. It isn’t fair to compare it to the behemoth that is the rest of BBC News.”
Another insider acknowledged that while demand for weather content has surged, the format needs to evolve.
“The appetite for weather has massively grown, but people standing in front of a map giving a national picture is less relevant.
“We are going to be more digital-focused because there’s a really strong argument that what is now needed is more reporting than presenting.”
Public hunger for forecasts was underscored during the late June heatwave, when a record 23 million people visited BBC Weather online within a single week.
BBC News interim CEO Jonathan Munro said: “As this summer’s heatwaves have proved, up-to-the-minute and accurate weather information has never been more important. I’m looking forward to our partnership with the Met Office — this is a very apt time for our two trusted national institutions to be reunited.”
GB News has reached out to the BBC for comment.
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