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BIOGRAPHY

 

Liam Dutton was born in Cardiff, and a pupil at Adamsdown Primary School and Willows High School, before going on to gain A-Levels at St. David's Sixth Form College.

 

On completing his A-Levels, Liam decided on a BSc. (Hons) Geography degree at the University of Wales, Swansea. His interest in weather led him to specialise in physical geography, opting for weather and climate-related modules, as well as doing some mathematics for scientists.

 

Liam graduated in June 2002 with a 2:1, describing graduation day as, "one of the best days of his life". Two weeks before graduating, Liam applied for a job as a Broadcast Assistant at the BBC Weather Centre. After an interview and screen-test, he was offered the job - joining the weather centre in October 2002.

 

After settling in to the job, Liam started his broadcast training in January 2003, and got up to speed with broadcasting very quickly. He presented his first ever weather forecast, at the age of 22, on BBC Wales Today in June 2003 - coincidentally to his home nation!

 

For the following three years, Liam travelled around the UK as a roving weatherman, broadcasting the weather in many of the BBC nations and regions as holiday cover for the main presenters.

 

A promotion in Spring 2006 meant that Liam moved on to broadcast nationally and internationally on BBC News 24 and BBC World, as well as Radio 4.

 

In January 2007, Liam took a nine-month break from broadcasting to undertake further meteorological training at the Met Office College in Exeter. He also spent some time working as a commercial and aviation forecaster.

 

Liam returned to the BBC Weather Centre in September 2007 to broadcast across a wide range of BBC channels, regularly appearing on BBC News, BBC World News and BBC Breakfast on BBC One at the weekends. In addition he was also an established voice of weather on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

 

In September 2011, it was announced that Liam would be leaving the BBC to join Channel 4 News as the programme's first ever weather presenter.

 

As Channel 4 News' Weatherman, Liam presents a forecast after the news each weekday evening, as well as appearing on the programme to provide analysis, when weather stories make the headlines. He also uses social media to engage with viewers on all things weather related.

 

In September 2015, Liam became an overnight global sensation after saying Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch - a village in north west Wales - in his evening weather forecast.

 

His flawless pronunciation of the 58-letter place name - the longest in Europe - garnered a total of more than 20 million views on YouTube and Facebook within a week and dominated the media around the world. The video is currently the most-viewed on the Channel 4 News YouTube channel, with almost 60 million views.

 

Liam was interviewed by Wales Online, BBC Radio 5 Live, Canadian breakfast television and beyond, as well as featuring in Time magazine, the New York Times, MTV and Perez Hilton.

 

He was praised by Catherine Zeta Jones, and TV anchors around the world were so impressed by his mind-blowing effort that they tried to outdo him, but with little success.

 

As well as an interest in the weather, Liam enjoys music and is a keen pianist who enjoys composing his own music. Liam's other interests include gadgets, new technology, nature, travel, and sci-fi - especially Star Trek.

 

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