Tomasz Schafernaker
Born (1979-01-08) 8 January 1979
Gdańsk, Poland
NationalityPoland
United Kingdom
EducationBSc (Hons) in Meteorology, University of Reading
OccupationMeteorologist
EmployerBBC
TelevisionBBC Weather
Websitetomaszschafernaker.com

Tomasz Schafernaker (born 8 January 1979[1]) is a Polish-British meteorologist who currently works for BBC Weather.[2]

Early life

Tomasz Schafernaker was born on 8 January 1979 in Gdańsk, Poland, and attended school both in his native Poland and in Britain. He was educated at the independent school St. John's College, Southsea, in Portsmouth, where he took A-levels in mathematics, physics and art, followed by the University of Reading where he gained a BSc (Hons) in Meteorology.[3]

Career

After joining the Met Office, he trained as a meteorologist. He joined the BBC Weather Centre in 2000, working as a broadcast assistant, and became a presenter in the same year; this made him the youngest man to present the BBC Weather.[4] He spent some time giving BBC regional forecasts across the UK, and presented on BBC World during the winter of 2003.

From 2004 until 2005, Schafernaker studied at the Met Office college in Exeter, Devon, and trained as a forecaster for aviation. He also worked for a time at ITV, as well as the London Weather Centre.

Schafernaker rejoined the BBC in 2006. He became famous for raising "the finger" towards, and after a gentle tease from, the BBC news presenter Simon McCoy,[2] in the belief that he was off camera. A clip of his shocked and horrified facial expression has received more than 5.5 million hits on the video sharing website YouTube. After a set of cost-cutting measures and choice of a smaller core of national weather presenters, he was removed from broadcasting on the BBC in 2010.[2] He was later named Best TV Weather Presenter at TRIC Awards 2010.[5]

Still working for the Met Office, Schafernaker presented on various broadcast projects for various UK networks including The Weather Channel, Discovery Channel and Channel Four. On 29 May 2012 he joined BBC South East as a weather presenter, joining the freelance Kaddy Lee-Preston. Schafernaker returned to BBC national broadcasts on 19 January 2013. He normally forecasts on the BBC News Channel, Radio 4 or Radio 5 Live. In 2017 he was voted the most popular weather presenter in the UK in a public poll.[4][6]

Magazine modelling

Schafernaker modelled for the front cover of Attitude[7][8] Active a British gay magazine in January 2010 and was again photo featured by them in 2017.[9]

Personal life

Schafernaker lives on his own and lists hobbies as going to the gym and painting. His home is in West London.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Tomasz Schafernaker official facebook site". Facebook. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Weathermen axed from BBC to cut costs | Metro News". Metro. UK. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "About Me". tomaszschafernaker.com. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 Westbrook, Caroline (30 May 2017). "Tomasz Schafernaker has been named Britain's favourite weather presenter". Metro. London. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Babs triumphs at TRIC awards". Sky (TV). 10 March 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  6. ↑ Doran, Sarah (30 May 2017). "Tomasz Schafernaker and Windy Wilson voted the UK's favourite weather presenters". Radio Times. London. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Home". Attitude. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Rigby, Sam (7 September 2017). "Picture Special: Tomasz Schafernaker". Attitude. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Pass notes: From 'Nowheresville' to on-air puking: why Tomasz Schafernaker is the UK's fave forecaster". The Guardian. London. 30 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  10. ↑ Kelly, Guy (17 July 2020). "Tomasz Schafernaker on his lockdown hair: 'Would I have got the same abuse if I was a woman?'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
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