After Dinner Speakers: Bill Giles, Jenny Pitman, M People

As the former Senior Weatherman at the BBC Weather Centre, I was born in Dittisham, near Dartmouth in Devon. I retired from the Met Office in January 2000 after leading the team of Broadcast Meteorologists since 1983. I first became interested in meteorology whilst at school in Crediton and joined the Meteorological Office at Exeter in January 1957 on leaving Bristol College of Science and Technology. Later that year I was sent to Christmas Island to observe the immediate meteorological effects of the H-bomb tests. From 1961 to 1963 I was based in Germany as an observer with the RAF and between 1968 and 1970 worked as a lecturer at the Met Office's training college. My broadcasting career began in 1972 when I transferred to the London Weather Centre to become part of the team forecasting for BBC Radio. I moved to television forecasting in 1975. In 1980 promotion took me back to Bracknell where I worked in public relations and then, in May 1983, I returned to take charge of BBC Television's forecasting team, on the retirement of Jack Scott. October 1990 saw the publication of my book "The Weather Story", and I presented the BBC programme "The Weather Show", in which I provided an insight into the mysteries of forecasting and offered a glimpse behind the scenes at the kind of things that can go wrong. Since my retirement, I begun working as a consultant with the BBC Weather Centre. I am a Director of Wpindex, and the meteorological expert behind the ALL WEATHER INDEX. I live in Oxfordshire, with my wife and have a son, Philip, and a daughter, Helen. My hobbies include golf, cricket and gardening. I was very lucky to be awarded the O.B.E in the 1995 New Year's Honours for services to broadcast meteorology.