Carol Kirkwood bids emotional farewell to BBC Breakfast

Weather presenter Carol Kirkwood said it had been a "privilege and honour" to have been welcomed into viewers' homes for 28 years, as she bade an emotional farewell to BBC Breakfast.

The broadcaster announced in January that she would be leaving the BBC One show, saying she wanted to travel and spend more time with her husband Steve.

She was showered with well wishes from viewers, colleagues and celebrities throughout her final programme on Wednesday, with presenter Sally Nugent telling Kirkwood she had "changed the way that weather is reported in television".

Discussing what she would do next, Kirkwood said: "For once I don't have a detailed forecast, but I do know this – it's time for a new chapter."

In a heartfelt goodbye speech as she closed the programme, Kirkwood told viewers: "Thank you for trusting me, be it telling you about heatwaves or snow, to the everyday question of 'do I need to take a brolly?'

"To my colleagues past and present, both in front and behind the camera, I owe you all so much. You've been my team, my safety net, and, very often, my family.

"We've shared breaking news, long shifts, plenty of laughter, bad hair days, and the occasional moment of pure chaos. And do you know what? I wouldn't change a second of it."

Kirkwood said she was looking forward to spending "a bit more time with Steve, and perhaps the luxury of watching the weather instead of presenting it".

Becoming emotional, she signed off by telling viewers: "Thank you for letting me be part of your lives."

In a video tribute, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer congratulated Kirkwood on a "truly remarkable career".

"You've been a staple every morning for us in relation to the weather, with your professionalism, your warmth, and that sunny disposition you have," he said.

Before delivering her final forecast, Kirkwood was greeted on set by guide dog Flash, who memorably pulled her over when she was reporting live from the Chelsea Flower Show in 2021.

And she was later seen on video meeting another 10 Downing Street resident, Larry the Cat.

Her Breakfast colleagues past and present then came together on set to present her with a Little Miss Sunshine framed picture, a cake and a standing ovation.

She was joined on the red sofa at the end by her husband Steve, who joked that the "the first thing to go" in their new lives, going forward, would be his wife's 02:30 AM alarm clock.

Earlier in the programme, Kirkwood told Nugent and co-presenter Jon Kay: "I've been on this programme for 28 years, and it's been amazing, absolutely amazing. And I've had so many privileged moments.

"I've been honoured to be on this programme for so long, meet our viewers, all these things. And it is a new chapter, so Steve and I are going to set off into the sunset."

The broadcaster and author, who also competed on Strictly in 2015, said reporting from Wimbledon and Royal Ascot had been among her career standouts, as well as the poppies at the Tower of London.

"When you go to an event with Carol, it is a little bit like going to an event with The Queen," Nugent reflected.

It was a misty start to Kirkwood's final day as her Breakfast presenting colleagues read out messages and shared memories from viewers expressing their appreciation.

They also played out a compilation of her funniest on-air highlights mixed with video messages from viewers and stars, including fellow broadcasters Zoe Ball, Chris Evans, Paul Merton, Sue Barker and Clare Balding; as well as Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, rock star Bryan Adams and Line Of Duty actress Vicky McClure.

Early on in the show, Kirkwood beamed as she left her weather station to join Nugent and Kay on the sofa in a white dress. "I might just stay now that I'm on the sofa," she joked.

"Thank you everyone for all these beautiful messages," she said. "I hope I can get a copy of them."

Nugent noted: "I don't think we've ever had more messages about anything else." Kay similarly confirmed there had been "thousands" of messages, which Nugent said talked "about you and everything you have meant to them over the last years".

The Breakfast presenter went on to say that while she and her colleagues had been "so lucky to have you here with us, we forget all the people at home who are your friends too".

Kirkwood replied saying that meeting viewers down the years, while out and about filming, had been "so special".

"When I go on outside broadcasts, our viewers come up and chat and I love that," she said.

"I love finding out how they're getting on, how their day's going, and we just chit-chat about anything."

She added: "And sometimes I think, 'I'm on in two minutes!' and leg it over to the camera. But it's so lovely to meet our audience."

It was "so lovely that anybody would bother to come up and chew the cud with you for a while", she said.

The weather presenter began her BBC career as a production secretary and production assistant on Breakfast.

After stints on BBC radio, she left the broadcaster to go and work in recruitment and then consultancy, but later returned and trained with the Met Office, joining the the corporation's Weather Centre in 1998.

Kirkwood, who is from Morar in Scotland, confirmed on her last show that she had been told many times by viewers that, with her "Highland lilt", she had helped to "send babies to sleep".

"As long as I'm not sending the audience to sleep," she smiled.