Tomasz Schafernaker is a BBC broadcast meteorologist and visual artist whose professional life spans weather forecasting, science communication and painting. Born in Gdańsk, Poland, he grew up between Poland and Britain before studying meteorology at the University of Reading.
His broadcasting career developed from regional forecasts to BBC One’s national weather team. Alongside that work, he established an art practice encompassing detailed realism and abstraction. His contribution to BBC News Polska, which began in 2025, brought his Polish language skills into his broadcasting work.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Tomasz Schafernaker |
| Birth year | 1979 |
| Birthplace | Gdańsk, Poland |
| Professions | Broadcast meteorologist and visual artist |
| Education | BSc in Meteorology, University of Reading, 2000 |
| Forecasting training | Met Office College and an RAF placement |
| BBC regional weather debut | 2001 |
| BBC One national weather team | Joined in 2006 |
| Professional award | TRIC Best TV Weather Presenter, 2010 |
| Art achievement | Won the celebrity edition of Landscape Artist of the Year in 2021 |
| BBC News Polska | Began contributing in June 2025 |
| Artistic approaches | Hyperrealism and abstraction |
Polish Background and Early Interest in Meteorology
Schafernaker was born in 1979 and spent parts of his childhood in London and Gdańsk. In a July 2025 interview with MyPolska.UK, he recalled living in London before returning to Poland in the late 1980s, studying in Gdańsk and later moving back to Britain.
By about 15, he had decided that he wanted to pursue meteorology professionally. His interest in science existed alongside an enthusiasm for art, both of which would become part of his working life.
He has also spoken about the importance of his Polish heritage. In the same interview, he encouraged Poles living in Britain to maintain their cultural roots and pass the Polish language to younger generations.
University Training and Professional Forecasting
Schafernaker completed his BSc in Meteorology at the University of Reading in 2000. Further professional training took him through the Met Office College and an RAF placement, where his responsibilities included briefing pilots and preparing weather assessments for aviation operations.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2017, he recalled finding the move into operational forecasting daunting. The responsibility was considerably greater than in his earlier junior work: his assessments could inform operational decisions.
He described adapting to that change, gaining experience in forecasting where the information had immediate practical consequences.
How Tomasz Schafernaker Built His BBC Weather Career
His BBC career began around 2000 in a broadcast-assistant role. According to his account in a 2017 Radio Times interview, an aunt submitted the application on his behalf.
His first regional BBC television weather appearances followed in 2001. He then joined BBC One’s national weather team in 2006. These were separate stages in his career: entering the broadcasting organisation, beginning regional on-screen forecasts and moving into national presentation.
The work combined his forecasting training with the task of explaining weather to a television audience. In his 2025 MyPolska.UK interview, he described an educational element to weather broadcasting, saying viewers expect presenters to explain the science behind conditions as well as deliver the forecast.
Professional Recognition and Public Profile
On 9 March 2010, Schafernaker received the TRIC award for Best TV Weather Presenter.
Further recognition came in May 2017, when Radio Times announced that its readers had chosen him as their favourite television weather presenter. Approximately 25,000 readers participated in the poll, which measured audience preference rather than forecasting accuracy.
Responding to the result, he said he was flattered. Asked about his presenting approach, he explained that he tried to behave naturally on air rather than construct a separate television persona.
Tomasz Schafernaker’s Art Career
Art was a longstanding interest rather than a new direction that emerged after his broadcasting career. In his 2017 Radio Times interview, Schafernaker described feeling drawn to both scientific and artistic work, although science initially shaped his university studies.
A self-taught artist, he works across hyperrealism and abstraction. On his art website, he identifies light, colour, texture, movement and meteorological phenomena among the influences on his paintings. He also describes devoting roughly half his time to painting.
His work received wider public attention when he won the celebrity edition of Landscape Artist of the Year in 2021. The achievement appears in his official biography and is also recorded by Poland’s Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute, known as IMGW-PIB.
Painting has become a commercial activity alongside his forecasting work. In July 2025, he told MyPolska.UK that he had sold approximately 200 paintings through his website during the preceding few years. That figure was his own estimate.
Polish Roots and BBC News Polska
Schafernaker began contributing to BBC News Polska from 24 June 2025, according to his interview with MyPolska.UK the following month.
He explained that the BBC had invited him to contribute because of his Polish background and language skills. He described the role as covering weather forecasts alongside material about climate, science, art and other subjects.
The Polish-language service gave him an opportunity to use both his professional experience and his bilingual background in his broadcasting work.
Meteorology, Science Communication and Public Work
On 22 February 2024, Schafernaker visited IMGW-PIB in Poland for a public event about his work. The institute documented discussions covering BBC forecast production, meteorological communication and the relationship between forecasting technology and media presentation.
Later that year, he hosted the Royal Academy of Engineering’s “Innovation Incoming: Weather Warnings from AI” event on 17 October. The panel examined artificial intelligence in weather forecasting, including Google DeepMind’s GraphCast technology, with contributions from the Met Office chief executive and other specialists.
His interest in technological change had appeared in earlier interviews. Speaking to The Guardian in 2017, he anticipated that artificial intelligence and changing media habits could alter traditional television weather presentation. Those remarks expressed his expectations at the time; his later Academy role was as the discussion’s host.
Recent Art and Professional Activity
By September 2026, Schafernaker’s art website continued to offer paintings and prints. It also listed a limited selection of prints available to view at For Arts Sake in Ealing. His enquiries page stated that he was concentrating on other projects and was not accepting portrait or pet commissions.
A further example of his recent work was Baltic Dunes, an acrylic painting dated 2026. A Terrence Higgins Trust-branded listing on the Indy Auction platform recorded the piece as donated by Schafernaker for the charity’s auction on 25 March 2026.
Conclusion
Schafernaker’s career has developed through professional forecasting, national broadcasting and an established painting practice. His more recent work includes Polish-language reporting and public discussions about forecasting technology, extending the ways in which he communicates science. Art remains a substantial part of that professional life, with its own achievements and continuing output.
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