WEATHERMAN Paul Hudson is known for being a bit of a joker. So when he tells me he uses the state of his grandad's arthritis for his predictions, I believe him.

"Oh and Christa (Akroyd, a fellow face of BBC Look North) has a dodgy knee so when that plays up we know the weather's going to turn," he says with authority.

There is a silence before he cracks up with laughter.

"What a load of cobblers," he says. "Of course it's not true. Predicting the weather is a bit more sophisticated than that."

I point out that less than a minute into our conversation he has taken the opportunity to have a go (again) at poor old Christa.

"Ah, she deserves it. She has a go at me."

The cheeky banter between the two is legendary but he reckons that because of his "boyish charm" he gets away with regular insults – including the time he likened her to a python that had made the news headlines that night, "big, fat and slimy."

Back to the subject of weather and Paul, 37, reveals that at just eight he realised he wanted to be a weatherman.

"I think I was the only kid who had a weather station in their back garden," he says of his childhood in Keighley.

"It was a Francis Wilson rain gauge – Francis Wilson was a bit of a hero to me – and it was made from a Fairy Liquid bottle. I moved on to more sophisticated equipment but I was obsessed with the weather. Even then."

After school, Paul headed off to Newcastle University, achieving a first-class degree in geophysics and planetary physics.

"I was determined to work for the Met Office so I knew what was needed degree-wise."

After a year working for an oil company in London, he finally realised his dream, joining the Met Office in 1993.

He became a household name – and face – after joining Look North in 1997.

He is now responsible for 23 forecasts every day for TV and radio, which keeps him on his toes. He says: "It sounds like an excuse but this is one of the most difficult areas for predicting the weather. There are so many factors to influence it."

It is a far cry from his days as an international forecaster when he was on hurricane and cyclone watch for places such as Miami, South Australia and the Pacific islands.

"Believe me, that type of weather is much easier to predict."

He admits that he never switches off and even on holiday keeps an eye on warm fronts, areas of low depression and so on.

"I drive my wife mad because I'll be looking at the clouds and saying things like 'There's a storm going to be breaking soon'."

Paul is married to Nicola, also a Look Northpresenter, covering Hull, and the couple have two daughters, Eloise, three, and Megan, five months.

Any chance of more weather forecasters in the family, I ask?

"We do have a weather chart in the playroom and I say to Eloise on a morning 'Shall we see what the weather will be like today?' But she just says 'No, let's watch Dora (the Explorer).'"

As well as the weather, football is a passion.

He's been a lifelong supporter of Bradford City – he was trapped in the stand that caught fire in 1985.

He has also recently taken up sea fishing – again another chance to watch the weather.

His CV also includes a reference to being honorary mayor of Wetwang, East Yorkshire, a post previously occupied by the late Richard Whiteley.

And, of course, Paul has made his name as an author, having now written four books – Weather Or Not, That's The Forecast and more recently, Frozen In Time, looking back at winters of yesteryear and Storm Force, which looks at some of Britain's wildest weather.

This latest book was co-authored with Michael Fish and Ian McCaskill to mark the 20th anniversary of the October hurricane of 1987 (famously not predicted by Michael Fish.)

Paul admits that he loves writing and is currently working on a new title – not connected with the weather but "secret for the time being."
He reveals he recently left the Met Office to become the BBC's first climate correspondent.

The first job of its kind in the country, this will see Paul presenting a number of special weather reports and programmes.

"I am thrilled about this because it brings in all sorts of issues, global warming, wind farms and so on.

"It will be a real challenge but I love getting my teeth into research – especially when it's weather-related," he says.

• In Monday's Courier, creator of popular detectives Agatha Raisin and Hamish MacBeth, M.C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney) talks about her writing career.

Come along and meet Paul the weatherman - ticket details
COURIER readers can meet Paul when he is a guest at our first literary luncheon.
Tickets are now on sale for the lunch, which also features speakers M.C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney), creator of detectives Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth, and Halifax's Trevor Simpson, author of the 1960s pop music book Small Town Saturday Night.
The event takes place at Bertie's Elland, on Thursday, May 22, from 11.30am, beginning with a three-course Yorkshire lunch at noon.
There will be a chance to listen to the authors, have photographs taken with them and buy signed copies of their books.
Tickets cost £23 per person or £210 for a table of 10 and are on sale at the Courier, King Cross Street, Brighouse Echo, West Park Street, Todmorden News, Fielden Square and Hebden Bridge Times, Crown Street.
Bookings can also be made by ringing the Courier with credit/debit card details 01422 260358.

Marion Chesney - one of our favourite detective writers

The Swinging Sixties are on their way to our literary lunch