Ian McCaskill

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Ian McCaskill
Queen's Park Secondary
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
OccupationMeteorologist
Spouses
Lesley Charlesworth
​
​
(m. 1959; died 1992)​
Pat Cromack
​
(m. 1998)​

Ian McCaskill (born John Robertson McCaskill;[1] 28 July 1938 – 10 December 2016) was a Scottish weather forecaster who frequently appeared on the BBC.

Early life

McCaskill attended

Queen's Park Secondary in Glasgow, and then the University of Glasgow, where he studied geology and chemistry.[2]

Career

McCaskill joined the

National Service and became an airman meteorologist, first in Scotland and then in Cyprus.[3] He once joked that when he joined the RAF he was given a choice between Catering and Meteorology, he did not know what meteorology was but he knew he could not cook. He left the RAF in 1961 and joined the Met Office, working at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Malta and Manchester
.

In 1978, McCaskill began working at the

BBC Weather Centre, and presented the weather forecast for the BBC on both television and radio. He retired on 31 July 1998.[3]

McCaskill was known for his soft-spoken demeanor,[1] and his presentation style was widely imitated, including by the satirical comedy show Spitting Image and by impersonator Rory Bremner.[3] He was one of the weathermen mentioned on the novelty song "John Kettley Is a Weatherman".[3]

McCaskill worked as a

advertisements. He also participated in the first series of Celebrity Fit Club
in 2002.

In 2006, he co-wrote the book Frozen in Time, about Britain's worst ever winters, with Paul Hudson.[4][5]

Personal life and death

McCaskill lived at Seer Green, near Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.[6] He had two daughters with his first wife Lesley Charlesworth, to whom he was married from 1959 until her death from breast cancer in 1992. In 1998, he married Pat Cromack, becoming stepfather to her two sons.[citation needed]

McCaskill was a fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society. In May 2000, he opened the first phase of the £1.2 million 11-hectare (27-acre) Lower Leas Coastal Park in Folkestone.[7]

McCaskill was diagnosed with dementia in 2011 and died, in a nursing home in Leeds, on 10 December 2016, aged 78.[1][8][9]

Books

  • McCaskill, Ian;
    ISBN 9781905080090
  • McCaskill, Ian;
    ISBN 9781905080984

References

  1. ^ a b c The Guardian. "Ian McCaskill obituary". 12 December 2016. Retrieved on 12 December 2016.
  2. ^ Ian McCaskill obituary The Guardian, 12 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d BBC. "BBC - Weather - Ian McCaskill" Archived 15 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. 26 March 2010. Retrieved on 11 May 2013.
  4. ^ The Scarborough News. "Colder winters could be norm". 25 November 2011. Retrieved on 11 May 2013.
  5. ISBN 9781905080090
    .
  6. ^ Buckinghamshire Examiner Friday 14 January 1994, page 10
  7. ISBN 1859832962
    .
  8. ^ BBC News. Weatherman Ian McCaskill dies, aged 78 12 December 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  9. ^ "BREAKING: Former BBC weatherman Ian McCaskill dies aged 78". 12 December 2016.
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