Daniel Corbett
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Daniel Corbett (born in Dagenham, Essex) is a British meteorologist, working for the Met Office and BBC, broadcasting on television and radio networks within the United Kingdom, and across the world on BBC World. He previously worked for the Beeb between 1997 and 2000, but returned in 2004 and has worked for the Corporation ever since.
Dan spent most of his early life living in Billericay, before moving to New York in 1974. He earned his BSc degree in meteorology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1990, and moved on to work for Universal Weather and Aviation in New York and Houston, Texas. Here he undertook weather forecasting for corporate clients, energy companies, the aviation industry and ski resorts amongst others.
Dan's television career also began in 1990, when he worked for WCFT-TV in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He then moved onto KWTX-TV in Waco, Texas where his English accent proved a big hit with viewers. While he worked for KWTX one of America's biggest tornadoes, an F5, hit close to Waco, and Dan made a name for himself by correctly predicting that the tornado would, contrary to earlier forecasts, miss the city itself.
In 1997 Dan was invited to join the Met Office and the BBC as part of the weather team for the brand new BBC News 24. Dan was a key member of the News 24 weather team and presented the first ever weather forecast on the channel. He also appeared on a range of other BBC output, including forecasts for BBC Breakfast News in 1998, appearances on BBC One and BBC Two and broadcasts across the BBC's network of radio stations.
In 2000 Dan returned to the USA, where he freelanced as a forecaster and feature reporter for a number of TV stations across the southern states. He returned to the BBC Weather Centre for three months in Summer 2003 to present forecasts on BBC World, before returning to the UK and the BBC permanently in 2004.
Dan now presents forecasts across the BBC's TV and radio outlets including BBC News 24, BBC World, Radio 4 and Radio Five Live, as well as appearing regularly on BBC One. He is one of the main weather presenters on the BBC Six O'Clock News. In 2005 and 2006 Dan has presented forecasts for the BBC's coverage of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships live from the courtside.
Dan is one of the most popular and well-known forecasters on the BBC, having developed something of a cult following due to his personalised style of weather presentation, including his trademark 'point-and-nod' sign-off: "That's the weather for now". Other trademarks include his reference to temperatures as "the numbers", and creative similes in reference to the weather, such as: "it's like I've gone mad with my crayon here" or "the weather front wriggles around like a snake in the grass". He often refers to rain on the radar as "blobs" or "little chappy/chappies".
He's also known for giving specific weather-related advice ("so if you're out shopping ...", "nice day to take the doggy out to the park", or "lovely afternoon for cooking sausages on your barbecue", or "don't forget that warm parka/don't forget your umbrella"). Yet he is perhaps most famous and endeared for his phrase "a lovely day for a picnic".
