Heather Reid

Heather Reid OBE CPhys FinstP (born c. 1969), known affectionately by her fans as "Heather the Weather", is a Scottish meteorologist and former television weather presenter for BBC Scotland. She was formerly employed by the UK Met Office, starting in 1993.[1] She was BBC Scotland's senior weather forecaster, having presented the weather on Reporting Scotland from 1994 to 2009.[1]

Career

Reid was born in Paisley, and graduated from Edinburgh University with an honours degree in physics. She followed this with a master's degree in image processing from Edinburgh University's Meteorology Department.

Between 1999 and 2001, Reid was Chairperson of the Institute of Physics in Scotland. She is also is a fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society and has an honorary lectureship in the Physics and Astronomy Dept at Glasgow University. In 2001, she was awarded the Public Awareness of Physics prize for her science communication work and the prestigious Kelvin Medal from the Institute of Physics in 2004. Reid holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Paisley, and has also served as a Council member and non-executive director of the Institute of Physics London. On 16 June 2010 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Glasgow.

In the summer of 2006, Reid became a member of the Board of Trustees of Glasgow Science Centre, maintaining a connection that has seen her involved in various stages with the Centre, notably developing educational weather shows and workshops.

Reid was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to physics in HM Queen Elizabeth II's New Year Honours list, announced on 30 December 2006.[1] She presented her final forecast for Reporting Scotland on 22 December 2009,[1] and now works as science education consultant with a variety of organisations. Reid is also a member of the science and engineering education advisory group recently set up by the Scottish Government.

She currently resides in Glasgow with her husband Miles Padgett, a professor of physics, and their daughter.[2]

Popular culture

Edinburgh band Randan Discothèque's 2010 single "Heather the Weather" is a homage to Heather Reid.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Heather the weather to leave BBC Scotland, BBC News Online, 9 December 2009
  2. ↑ BBC News | SCOTLAND | Sun shines on Heather the wedder
  3. ↑ Randan Discotheque's Heather the Weather - Single of the Month

External links