Ian McCaskill

Early life

McCaskill went to Queen's Park Secondary in Glasgow, and then to the University of Glasgow, where he studied geology and chemistry.

Career

McCaskill joined the RAF in 1959 as part of his National Service and became an airman meteorologist, first in Scotland and then in Cyprus. He once joked that when he joined the RAF he was given a choice between Catering and Meteorology, he didn't know what meteorology was but he knew he couldn't 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 television weather forecast for the BBC. He retired on 31 July 1998.

His work as a weather presenter was parodied by the satirical comedy show Spitting Image, and by impersonator Rory Bremner, amongst others. He was one of the weathermen mentioned on the novelty song "John Kettley Is a Weatherman", and at one point was the most imitated weather presenter in the UK.

McCaskill worked as a motivational speaker, and appeared on the BBC Television shows MasterChef and on Have I Got News for You, as well as in a number of TV 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.

Personal life

McCaskill lived near Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. 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.

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

Death

McCaskill was diagnosed with dementia in 2011. On 12 December 2016, his daughter announced that he had died two days previously.

Books