Carol Kirkwood

cajeffery · October 13, 2010

Carol Kirkwood is a Scottish journalist, presenter and weather forecaster, employed by the Met Office and best known for forecasting the weather for BBC Breakfast.

Early life

Carol Kirkwood was born Carol MacKellaig in Morar, Invernessshire, Scotland to Scottish parents on the 29th May, 1960.

Career

Born one of eight children to parents who ran a hotel in Morar, Invernessshire; she was a Girl Guide. After an education that included a Catholic boarding school, Kirkwood gained a BA in commerce from Napier University in Edinburgh.

After graduation, Kirkwood joined the BBC's Secretarial Reserve in London and after a series of internal moves presented short slots on BBC Radio Scotland, and then BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4. She subsequently worked as an Associate Director in recruitment and as training consultant for a management consultancy in Cheshire.

Kirkwood rejoined the BBC at Elstree Studios training department in 1993 as a freelance presenter, during which time she presented a bi-monthly programme Talking Issues for HTV West. In 1996 Kirkwood joined the new UK operation of The Weather Channel, but after it closed down in January 1998 she underwent training under the guidance of the BBC at the Met Office, before joining BBC News as a weather presenter. She has appeared regularly on BBC One, BBC News, BBC World News, BBC Red Button and the BBC News at Six, and is now the main weather presenter on BBC Breakfast.

In 2005, 2006, 2007 Kirkwood has also presented live forecasts as part of the BBC's coverage of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, sharing these duties with Dan Corbett and Susan Powell. She won the TRIC award for best TV Weather Presenter in 2003, 2008 and 2009 - the only weather presenter to have won it 3 times.

Since 2007 she has been the presenter of "The Weather Show" aired quarterly on BBC News and is also a regular contributor and reporter for BBC1's "The One Show"