Ben Rich

Ben Rich was born in Plymouth and grew up in rural Devon, where the weather seemed to change on at least an hourly basis.

This sparked an early interest in meteorology and at the age of five Ben told his mum he wanted to be a TV weather presenter. She told him he was probably too young.

So during his schooldays Ben made do with giving his classmates and teachers daily forecasts - complete with hand-drawn map and stick-on symbols.

Ben studied for a Geography degree at Southampton University, and then completed an MA in Broadcast Journalism at University College Falmouth.

A short stint as a newsreader and reporter for local radio stations in Bristol and Manchester followed before he landed a job as a weather presenter at BBC Midlands Today in Birmingham in 2009.

As well as fronting daily weather forecasts, Ben presented regional TV news bulletins and produced feature reports on subjects such as the politics of climate change and the impact of weather on local food production.

In 2012 Ben joined the Met Office team at the BBC Weather Centre and spent a year presenting UK and global forecasts. He was part of the team of presenters who worked on BBC Sport's Wimbledon coverage in 2013.

Ben moved to the Met Office College in Exeter In late 2013 to embark on an intensive year-long training course - and is now a qualified meteorologist. These days he splits his time between broadcasting at the BBC and forecasting for RAF pilots.

Outside work Ben enjoys cinema, theatre and live comedy and can be found cramming in as many shows as possible at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival each summer.

He is obsessed by Berlin and has visited eight times so far. He loves eating out and occasionally visits the gym in an attempt to compensate.