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Tomasz Schafernaker has been voted the UK’s favorite weather presenter
BBC weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker has been voted the UK’s favorite weather presented in a poll conducted by TV listings magazine Radio Times.
Over 25,000 readers voted in the poll, which placed 38-year-old Schafernaker top.
Meteorologist Schafernaker became the youngest man to present the BBC weather when he got the job aged 22. His career has not been without its ups and downs.
In 2007, he had to apologize after referring to the Outer Hebrides and Western Isles as ‘nowheresville’.
Then, in 2010, believing he was off camera, he was caught lightheartedly raising his middle finger to a newsreader introducing Schafernaker’s broadcast.
A fitness fanatic, he also raised eyebrows, and won may gay fans, when he appeared topless on the cover of gay magazine Attitude’s fitness supplement, Active, in 2010.
In response to winning the poll, he told Radio Times, ‘Thank you so so so much. I’m really flattered.’
Schafernaker was born in Gdansk, Poland, before attending college in Portsmouth and studying meteorology at the University of Reading. He told Radio Times that it was a toss up between the weather and sharks.
‘My real passion was for sharks, originally. That’s what gets me going every day, sharks and meteorology are probably equal.
‘To make a job of it I chose to study meteorology and the crazy thing about that was I never felt like a true scientist at heart. I was always an artist, I did art at school, but I did quite well in my science exams and that led me on to meteorology at university.’
‘I just go there and I’m myself’
He didn’t actually apply for the BBC job himself. An aunt put him forward for it.
‘She said “Oh by the way, I’m sending an application for this great post at the BBC, it’s for meteorology, perfect for you, bit of art, bit of science, bit of fun, but we need to write something about you,” so I think I dictated it over the phone thinking “I don’t know why you’re doing this, I’ll never get a job at the BBC”.’
On his natural and down-to-earth style of presenting he said, ‘When I look back at my forecasts, and sometimes we have to, I don’t find anything especially different about it.
‘I just go there and I’m myself, and I just do the weather. I literally go on there and just totally be myself because I think the worst thing you can do is try to be someone you’re not.’
