Pioneering BBC weatherman Jack Scott dies

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 00:28 GMT, 14 November 2008

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Veteran weather forecaster Jack Scott died of cancer on Tuesday

Veteran television weatherman Jack Scott has died aged 85.

The pioneering forecaster introduced the famous magnetic symbols to viewers in 1975, which were prone to slipping down or falling off the weather map during broadcasts.

He also helped lay the foundations of the computerised system of forecasting used today.

He died on Tuesday after battling cancer.

Mark Byford, BBC deputy director-general, said: 'Jack Scott was a pioneer in weather forecasting on television.

'He was such a familiar face to millions of people around the UK.

'He had the wonderful gift of authority and knowledge matched by a warm and accessible style.

'Our sympathies go out to his family and we thank Jack for his own legendary contribution to British broadcasting.'

Mr Scott joined the Met Office in 1941 aged 17. Wartime service on RAF stations took him to Sullom Voe in Shetland, North Africa and Malta.

In the 1950s and 1960s he worked at RAF Watnall in Nairobi, Kenya, and at RAF Uxbridge.

Auditioning for television in 1968, Mr Scott became the 20th BBC TV weather forecaster.

Pioneering weatherman Jack Scott, pictured with Barbara Edwards in 1985, introduced the famous magnetic symbols designed to give viewers a bolder, clearer picture of the weather

He was transferred to the London Weather Centre where he was based until he retired from the Met Office in 1983, broadcasting on BBC TV and radio.

He was the mainstay of the BBC's weather department from 1969 to 1983 and also made regular appearances discussing weather topics on both Pebble Mill At One and John Dunn's Radio 2 show, and fronted the TV series Under The Weather.

He was also to be found as a weatherman on Thames Television between 1983 and 1988, taking over from Frances Wilson, who had left Thames for the BBC's Breakfast Time, and was a presenter of Channel 4's magazine programme for the over 60s, Years Ahead, from 1988 to 1989.

Mr Scott's main interest in retirement was golf. He was a member of Burnham Beeches Golf Club in Buckinghamshire, along with two other former BBC weathermen - George Cowling, who proposed him, and the late Bert Foord, whom he proposed.