Career
Cowling joined the Met Office in 1939 and worked as a forecaster for the Royal Air Force before joining the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1954. On 11 January 1954, he gave the first televised weather broadcast. He continued to present televised weather broadcasts for the British Broadcasting Corporation until 1957 when he rejoined the Royal Air Force. He later worked at the Met Office College and at Heathrow Airport before retiring from the Met Office in 1981.
Cowling joined the Met Office in 1939, at the start of World World War II, stationed as a meteorological assistant with Number.
4 Bomber Group Royal Air Force in Yorkshire, and worked as a forecaster for the Royal Air Force, working in Britain, Normandy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany until 1953. In 1954 he was transferred to the London Weather Centre.
On 11 January 1954, at the age of 33, George Cowling gave the first televised weather forecast, from the British Broadcasting Corporation"s Lime Grove Studios, at 7.55pm. The forecast was live and "in vision", with Cowling standing in front of the weather map, using a pencil and rubber to show the weather for the next day.
He informed the viewing public that "tomorrow would be rather windy, a good day to hang out the washing".
The first ever dedicated weather presentation, featuring Cowling, was given five minutes, rather than the previous few seconds, and the bulletin was described in the Radio Times:
"From Monday onwards the television weather report and forecast will be presented by a Meteorological Office forecaster who will explain and comment on the charts shown. The change is designed to stress the continuity of the reports provided. The forecaster will show, for example, how the weather expected tomorrow is conditioned by the weather experienced today."
Cowling continued to present the weather bulletins for the British Broadcasting Corporation until 1957, alongside Tom Clifton.
In February 1957, he joined Royal Air Force Bomber Command.
He operated in Singapore, Malta, Bahrain and Germany, before leaving the Royal Air Force to work as a senior instructor at the Met Office College, and then as principal forecaster at Heathrow Airport. In 1981, Cowling retired from the Met Office, and worked for five years for a marine engineering firm, as a meteorology consultant before retiring.
He died on Christmas Eve 2009 after a short stay in hospital.
