Tomasz Schafernaker
| Tomasz Schafernaker | |
|---|---|
| Born |
8 January 1979 Gdańsk, Poland |
| Nationality | Dual Polish-British |
| Education | BSc (Hons) in meteorology, University of Reading |
| Occupation | Meteorologist |
| Employer | Met Office |
| Television | BBC Weather |
| Website |
tomaszschafernaker |
Tomasz Schafernaker (born 8 January 1979[1]) is a Polish-British meteorologist for the Met Office, best known for his appearances for BBC Weather.[2]
Early life
Schafernaker was born 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.
During 2004 and 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 infamous for raising "the finger" towards and after a gentle tease from the BBC news presenter Simon McCoy,[5] 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.[5] He was later named Best TV Weather Presenter at TRIC Awards 2010.[6]
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.
Magazine modelling
Schafernaker posed for the front cover of Attitude Active magazine in January 2010, wearing only shorts.[4] According to the Daily Mail, the magazine cover "surprised many at the BBC as few people knew Schafernaker had "all pecs and ripped abs"".
References
- ↑ "Tomasz Schafernaker official facebook site". Retrieved 19 August 2010.
- ↑ Revoir, Paul; McDermott, Nick (13 October 2010). "Stormy outlook as three weather presenters are axed from BBC screens in cost-cutting drive". Daily Mail. London.
- ↑ "About Me". www.tomaszschafernaker.com. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
- 1 2 Revoir, Paul (January 16, 2010). "BBC weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker shocks bosses after posing in gay magazine in skimpy shorts". London: The Daily Mail. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
- 1 2 "Weathermen axed from BBC to cut costs". Metro. 2010-10-13. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
- ↑ "Babs triumphs at TRIC awards". Sky (TV). March 10, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
