Laura Elizabeth Tobin
FRMS (born 10 October 1981) is an English broadcast
meteorologist, currently employed by
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
. Tobin worked for the
BBC before moving to the
ITV Breakfast programme ''
Daybreak'' in 2012. ''Daybreak'' was later replaced by ''
Good Morning Britain'' in early 2014. Tobin currently presents the weather bulletins for the programme.
Early life and education
Tobin was born and raised in
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
. She attended
Duston Upper School, gaining
A-Levels in
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
Physics and
Art, and then obtained a degree in Physics and
Meteorology at the
University of Reading.
Tobin also completed a
World Meteorological Organization course on climate.
Career
On graduation in 2003, she joined the
Met Office
The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...
. On completing her training, she was assigned in October 2004 to the
Cardiff Weather Centre, where she gained experience of broadcasting on
BBC Radio Wales. In 2005, Tobin moved to
RAF Brize Norton, providing aeronautical meteorology reports and briefings to
Royal Air Force transport crews and to the media of BFBS, the
British Forces Broadcasting Service
The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...
.
Tobin joined the team of
BBC Weather Centre forecasters at the end of 2007, eventually regularly appearing on the
BBC News channel,
BBC World News,
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
, and the on-demand interactive services of
BBC Red Button found on
digital terrestrial and
digital satellite
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...
TV. She also regularly presented the weather for the ''
BBC News at One'' on the
BBC.
On 3 September 2012 she joined the newly relaunched breakfast programme ''
Daybreak'' as the weather presenter. On 18 July 2013, Tobin appeared on BBC Radio 1's Innuendo Bingo. In April 2014, ''Daybreak'' was replaced by ''
Good Morning Britain''. Tobin continues to front the weather updates on the programme. Her first show was on 28 April 2014. In November 2015, Tobin was a contestant on a celebrity episode of ''
The Chase''. In 2016, she took part in celebrity driving show ''
Drive
Drive or The Drive may refer to:
Motoring
* Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle
* Road trip, a journey on roads
Roadways
Roadways called "drives" may include:
* Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive"
...
'', hosted by
Vernon Kay.
In February 2017, Tobin broke the
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for filling and folding 11 pancakes in 60 seconds.
In 2018, Tobin joined 26 other celebrities and performed an original Christmas song called
Rock With Rudolph, written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was recorded in aid of
Great Ormond Street Hospital and was released digitally on independent record label
Saga Entertainment on 30 November 2018 under the artist name
The Celebs. The music video debuted exclusively with
The Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on
Good Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. During an interview with
Aled Jones and
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. He began singing as a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club. He came to attention in 1999 when he sang "God ...
about their new album, Aled jested "No one listens to the weather," Tobin responded by singing a line from the song followed by "Stick that, Aled!" The song peaked at number two on the iTunes pop chart.
In 2020, amid the
COVID-19 crisis Tobin rejoined
The Celebs and sang the opening lyrics on the charity Christmas song called ''Merry Christmas Everyone'', which was released digitally on 11 December 2020 through independent label
Saga Entertainment. She performed alongside 31 other celebrities on the song - including:
Sam Bailey,
Anna Nightingale
Anna Nightingale (born 1990/1991) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the television series '' Mouth to Mouth'' (2009), ''Doctors'' (2013) and in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2019–2021).
Life and career
Nightingale ...
,
Richard Arnold and
Frank Bruno to raise money for
Alzheimer’s Society
Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charitieAlzheimer Scotlandand Alzheimer's Society of Ireland cover ...
and
Action for Children charities. The music video debuted exclusively on
Good Morning Britain the day before release. The song peaked at number two on the iTunes pop chart.
On 28 January 2021, Tobin reported for
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
’s ''
Tonight'' programme.
Tobin believes in educating climate deniers about the science of climate change rather than ignoring or confronting them. "Unlike many who face abuse and complaints on Twitter, Tobin makes a point of replying to climate deniers and even replies to their tweets live on air, answering their questions."
Awards
In 2015, she was nominated for a
TRIC Award
The Television and Radio Industries Club (widely known as TRIC) is a British institution chartered in 1931 to "promote goodwill in the television and radio industries". The Club holds an annual awards ceremony each March honouring achievement in te ...
in the "Weather Presenter" category, but lost out to
Carol Kirkwood
Carol Kirkwood (née MacKellaig) (born 29 May 1962) is a Scottish weather presenter, trained by the Met Office, and employed by the BBC, on '' BBC Breakfast''. In 2015, she participated in the 13th series of BBC One's '' Strictly Come Dancing' ...
. She was nominated for the same award in 2017.
In 2021, Tobin was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Meteorological Society "In recognition of substantial contributions to meteorology in professional work".
Personal life
Tobin married Dean Brown on 13 August 2010, and gave birth to their first child, a daughter called Charlotte in July 2017.
She has a twin brother called Mark.
She was the first member of the public to ride
The Smiler roller coaster at
Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, ...
.
Filmography
;Television
;Film
References
External links
*
Laura Tobin at Biogs.com*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Laura
1981 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Reading
English mathematicians
English meteorologists
English physicists
ITV Breakfast presenters and reporters
People from Northampton