John Kettley

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John Kettley appearing in 50 Years of BBC Weather in 2005.The image above is proposed for deletion. See images and media for deletion to help reach a consensus on what to do.
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John Kettley appearing in 50 Years of BBC Weather in 2005.

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John Graham Kettley (born July 11, 1952 in Halifax, West Yorkshire) is an English freelance weatherman.

He used to work for the Met Office, and presented weather forecasts for the BBC on Radio Five Live, mainly on Breakfast (6 - 9am), where he deftly deflected the unsinkable sarcasm of Nicky Campbell. He also let us know how his favourite football team, Burnley F.C., had been doing.

He was brought up and educated in Todmorden. He studied Applied Physics at what is now Coventry University. He joined the Met Office in 1970. From 1980-5, he worked at the Nottingham Weather Centre, presenting forecasts for East Midlands Today and Central Television. In 1985, he became a national forecaster on the BBC. He lives in Lincolnshire.

His status as a cult figure was confirmed in 1988 when a band called A Tribe of Toffs released the song "John Kettley is a Weatherman", which also namechecked other TV weather presenters of the day including Michael Fish, Bernard Davey, Bill Giles, Ian McCaskill and Wincey Willis. The single reached number 21 in the UK Singles Chart.

The catchy little song included the memorable lines:

John Kettley is a weatherman
A weatherman, a weatherman
John Kettley is a weatherman
And so is Michael Fish

In 2001, John Kettley forecast a severe cold spell during the February of that year which never came into fruition and became known as the "John Kettley fiasco". A government source later claimed that 'John Kettley owes this country an almighty apology - and three thousand tonnes of Grit'

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