And the outlook is... grey!

 

Sitting in the shadows of the Houses of Parliament, it resembles ‘yet another’ piece of incredible British architecture that lines the banks of the Thames.

 

But two or three steps inside the door and it becomes more recognisable.

 

“These are the steps where you see a lot of the politicians interviewed on the news,” says Sian Lloyd after welcoming us into the building from the basking sunshine outside. “You wouldn’t know it but most of the big news broadcasters have studios here.”

 

No. 4 Millbank has been Sian’s working home for two decades. It has broadcasted her face to the homes of millions, making her a household name and one of TV’s most recognisable celebrities.

 

And her star shows no sign of waning after 22 years as the face of British weather. She is delivering more reading more reports throughout August than she has done for quite some time but it is obvious that she loves her work, and just as obvious that she is highly respected by her work colleagues.

 

She introduces us to the man who is “responsible for the Olympics weather” before joking: “So it’s his fault if it rains!”

 

We got to watch Sian record her lunchtime weather in one incredibly smooth take. It’s not as easy as it looks on the TV though.

 

The weather map you see on the television is super-imposed onto a grey screen behind (above) and only a monitor to her left gives her an idea of what she is pointing at. In reality she is actually pointing to a grey sheet with nothing on with the tech team sorting the TV ‘look’ from the control room (left).

 

Sian has become a popular figure in local life in Montgomeryshire and has been at the forefront of the protests against the proposed windfarms and the additional substation, pylons and cabling announced by National Grid.

 

“It is quite simply preposterous,” and you can see in her eyes that she has a genuine hatred for what has been termed the “industrialisation of the countryside”.

 

“It has been proved time and time again that these wind turbines simply don’t produce the electricity we thought they would. The money spent on developing onshore wind is ludicrous and yet they continue despite the widespread protest.”

 

Sian is spending more and more time with husband Jonathan Ashman at her ‘second’ home between Newtown and Welshpool, so is passionate about the cause.

 

“We walk all the time around Montgomeryshire and words can’t explain the horror you feel at the thought of all this happening. It simply can’t go ahead,” she said.

 

Sian is also the official weather forecaster for both mywelshpool and mynewtown with her spot-on forecasts delivered by the MET office. Her site is http://www.tvweathergirl.com/ or click the banner on the our front page.

 

Since visiting Sian on Friday, the more unpredictable British summer seems to have returned, but come rain or shine Sian will continue to illuminate our living rooms for some time to come.