John Kettley

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John Kettley on BBC Television

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 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 now lives in Lincolnshire. He is a supporter of Burnley F.C., and often made references to the team's performances during broadcasts.

[edit] Immortalised in song

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 song included the memorable lines:

John Kettley is a weatherman

A weatherman, a weatherman

John Kettley is a weatherman

And so is Michael Fish

[edit] The John Kettley fiasco

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'.^{[citation needed]}