And now, a look at the weather.

On 11th January 1954 George Cowling became the BBC's first in-vision weather presenter. In the early days the weather charts were drawn by hand with wax crayons.

Above: Peter Walker, who was a BBC weather forecaster from 1964 to 1968. By this time weather symbols had been introduced, which were based on international standards, eg dots for rain, asterisk for snow, an upside-down triangle for showers etc.

The long-serving forecaster Bert Foord seen here presenting in the late 1960s.

Into colour, and the familiar symbols which were first seen on 16th August 1975. They were the creation of college student and graphic designer Mark Allen, who designed them to be more viewer-friendly. They also had a tendancy to fall off the map. Showing off the latest 1970s fashions here are Barbara Edwards, Michael Fish and Jim Bacon.

The Fish-meister (wearing one of his famous jumpers) and Jim Bacon present the weather in the early 1980s.

Bill Giles presenting a decidedly thundery forecast!

The magnetic symbols were dropped on 18th February 1985, when computer generated maps were introduced, the same day as the new BBC1 globe.

Michael Fish on the evening of 15th October 1987, reassuring viewers that there won't be a hurricane... (Though, technically, he was correct!)

Left: one of Britain's most popular and idiosyncratic forecasters, Ian McCaskill ("Hello!"), is seen here presenting in the mid-1990s. Right: Bill Giles breaks the news of a wet Christmas in 1994.

Helen Willetts presents a widescreen weather forecast around 1999, meaning digital viewers now get to see the weather in Denmark.

The weather, BBC News 24-style! The maps were the same, only the colour scheme was different. News 24 reverted to the more familiar blue and green style in September 1999. Seen here is Richard Edgar.

The weather forecast underwent a minor facelift in October 2000, which saw the introduction of these beautifully detailed maps, which were produced from a montage of satellite photographs. Sarah Wilmshurst is the forecaster here.

Michael Fish in the early 2000s, and Nina Ridge presenting the forecast on BBC News 24.

Breakfast weather presenters, meanwhile, usually find themselves sent out into the freezing cold to present their forecasts.

These slanted maps were used during the early 2000s on brief summaries on BBC1, and on BBC3's news programmes. They were something a foretaste of what was to come...

The longest serving weather presenter of all-time, Michael Fish, bowed out with his final forecast on 6th October 2004 after thirty years of television broadcasts. He got out just in time, because the BBC weather forecast was soon to undergo its biggest change ever...

Left: Helen Young is seen here on 16th May 2005, the first day of the controversial new graphics package, which apparently spelt the sad end of the famous BBC weather symbols after 30 years on air. Right: unsurprisingly, the tilted map prompted a barrage of complaints from viewers in the northern half of Britain, leading the BBC to change the angle less than two weeks later. Unfortunately the country still resembles a barren desert.

Look, the symbols are back! In 2005 a rebellious David Braine was spotted reinstating the symbols, but only for viewers to Spotlight, the BBC's news programme in the South West.