Sky News Abandons Presented Weather Forecasts

Sky News has kept to its plans to shake up how weather is presented on television in the UK.  Since the channel's launch in 1989, the weather has been presented with an in-vision forecaster. The only programme that retains a full presented weather forecast is the networks signature morning programme, Sunrise.

Much of Sky News' weather team has been made redundant, including Francis Wilson, the former head of weather, and broadcasting veteran. Lucy Verasamy now seems to be the public face of Sky News' weather reporting, presenting the forecast during Sunrise, but it seems even her on-screen hours have been curtailed to that programme only.

Forecasts are now delivered by the news presenter, voiced over a full screen graphic of the United Kingdom.

A Sky News spokesperson told News on News: "The way of presenting weather on TV hasn't fundamentally changed in 30 years. Sky News is a multi-platform service and, as people choose to access weather information in different ways, we believe we can serve viewers better through a combination of headline forecasts from our news presenters and detailed information on our online and mobile services. On Sky News HD, detailed weather information will be given on the HD panels. One exception is the Sunrise programme where weather presenters are part of its friendly character and style."

It is expected that in the coming weeks, there will also be significant changes to sports news reporting on Sky News, with operations expected to be merged with Sky Sports News, BSkyB's dedicated sports news channel.