BBC Weather map filled the entire screen, with an off-screen announcer reading the next day's weather. On 11 January 1954, the first in-vision weather forecast was broadcast, presented by George Cowling. In an in-vision the narrator stands in front of the map. At that point, the maps were drawn by hand in the London Weather Centre, before being couriered across London. The forecasts were presented by the same person who had composed them, and had relatively low accuracy. The London Weather Centre which opened in 1959 took the responsibility for the national radio weather broadcasts. Radio forecasters were chosen by a BBC
George Cowling public that "tomorrow would be rather windy, a good day to hang out the washing". The first ever dedicated weather presentation, featuring Cowling, was given five minutes, rather than the previous few seconds, and the bulletin was described in the "Radio Times": Cowling continued to present the weather bulletins for the BBC until 1957, alongside Tom Clifton. In February 1957, he joined RAF Bomber Command. He operated in Singapore, Malta, Bahrain and Germany, before leaving the RAF to work as a senior instructor at the Met Office College, and then as principal forecaster at Heathrow Airport. In 1981, Cowling retired