John Graham Kettley (born July 11 1952 in Halifax, West Yorkshire) is an English freelance weatherman.

Biography

Brought up on Commercial Street and educated at Todmorden Grammar School (now called Todmorden High School) on Ferney Lee Road in Todmorden, he played cricket for Burnley and Todmorden. A geography teacher at his school sparked his interest in weather forecasting. He started Geography A-level, but never took the exam. He worked at the meteorological office at Manchester Airport for two years from 1970 before Kettley studied Applied Physics at what is now Coventry University, where he met his wife. He spent four years researching meteorology. He trained at Reading College in the art of weather presentation for a year. From 1980, he worked at the Nottingham Weather Centre, presenting his first forecast for Radio Lincolnshire, then further forecasts for Midlands Today (Nottingham news opt-out, starting May 28 1980) and Central Television. In 1985, he became a national forecaster on the BBC

Kettley used to work for the Met Office, and now presents weather forecasts for the BBC on Radio Five Live, mainly on Breakfast (6 - 9am).

In 2000 Kettley left the Met Office to join commercial weather company British Weather Services, and continues to provide forecasts across a range of media outlets and sporting concerns including the Football Association, Twickenham and leading UK racecourses such as Newbury, Cheltenham, Haydock Park, Newmarket - and Barbecue's.

Kettley lives near Lincoln with his wife Lynn and two sons, Charlie (born September 1992) and George (born September 1994). He enjoys playing cricket, fell-walking, horse racing, photography and gardening. A supporter of Burnley F.C., Kettley often makes references to the team's performances during broadcasts. He married Lynn Grundy in September 1990 in North Lincolnshire. His parents live in Littleborough.

Birmingham City

In January 2007, Birmingham City F.C. needed to re-lay their football pitch. Having purchased the spare pitch from the new Wembley Stadium for £120,000, the club consulted various experts on horticulture, as well as Kettley on the projected weather for that week. Having predicted it would just be the average amount of rainfall, the torrential storms washed the pitch away, halting the following game with Leeds United A.F.C.

Immortalised in song

Kettley's status as a cult figure was confirmed in 1988, when a band called A Tribe of Toffs released the song "John Kettley is a Weatherman", which also namechecked other TV weather presenters of the day including Michael Fish, Bernard Davey, Bill Giles, Ian McCaskill and Wincey Willis. The single reached number 21 in the UK Singles Chart The song included the memorable lines:

John Kettley is a weatherman

A weatherman, a weatherman

John Kettley is a weatherman

And so is Michael Fish

References

Publications

• Rain Stopped Play: The Geography of Cricket (co-author) ISBN 0714651737 April 2002

External links

• Kettley's official website
• Bio at BBC Weather Centre
• Bio at British Weather Services

News items

• Halifax Courier article October 2007
• Lancashire Evening Telegraph article January 2005
• His memories of cricket in July 2000
• Lancashire Evening Telegraph article April 1998