BBC Weather's longtime presenters, including Tomasz Schafernaker and Louise Lear, are reportedly considering leaving the channel over plans for huge cuts by bosses.
Sources claim bosses are planning to downsize the national weather team as part of a focus on digital content, leaving some of its most dedicated stars eyeing an exit. Tomasz, Louise and Darren Bett are thought to be considering voluntary redundancy following changes to BBC Weather announced last week, though none have taken up the offer yet.
Bosses said last week they plan to "make more of their much-loved local weather presenters," meaning a reduction in the number of forecasts delivered by national presenters. The new plans reportedly include cutting the number of national weather presenter roles from 11 to 4.5.
An insider claimed the changes come as the traditional weather forecast has become "less relevant," with the shift to digital content driven by a "need for more reporting than presenting."
Presenters weigh their future
A source said it's "the end of an era for our weather presenting," adding that the audience wants a bit of digital and TV, including a good old fashioned forecast.
A weather presenter also told The Times that the team should be protected from the wider cuts that have hit the BBC. The presenter said the team was already very lean and had punched above its weight for years, producing a huge amount of output across all platforms 24 hours a day, and that it wasn't fair to compare it to the behemoth that is the rest of BBC News.
Tomasz has worked at the BBC since 2000, while Louise has hosted bulletins for TV and radio for nearly 30 years. Darren was one of the original launch team members for BBC News 24 in 1997, having previously spent three years at local Look North.
What replaces the national bulletins
The BBC said local presenters will play a key role in future TV weather broadcasts at lunchtimes and weekends. The Today programme, BBC Breakfast and the weekday editions of the News at Six will keep separate national forecasts from network weather presenters, as will the News at Ten for a trial period.
Half-hourly updates on the news channel are being scrapped in favour of automated forecast graphics, and radio forecasts will be read by programme presenters and announcers.
Jonathan Munro, interim CEO of BBC News, said this summer's heatwaves had proved that up-to-the-minute and accurate weather information had never been more important. He said he was looking forward to the partnership with the Met Office, calling it a very apt time for the two trusted national institutions to be reunited.
Part of wider £500 million cuts
The moves are part of the BBC's plans to cut costs by £500 million over two years, resulting in the loss of up to 2,000 jobs. Viewers have already seen the impact through the axing of shows including Live At The Apollo, Celebrity Mastermind and Blankety Blank.
BBC Breakfast will no longer air on Sundays from September, while the production teams behind Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will merge. Radio 4's The World Tonight has also been axed.
Other plans include sharing weekend TV production across the News Channel and BBC One bulletins, and reviewing broadcast TV channels and the radio network portfolio as audiences move online. The BBC will also review its chief news presenter roles, which include Clive Myrie, Ben Brown, Sally Bundock, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Victoria Derbyshire, Faisal Islam, Jon Kay and Sally Nugent. Around 100 to 150 hours of originated programmes across all commissioning genres will be reduced by the end of the 2027 to 2028 financial year.
