Wincey Willis – first female ITV weather presenter – dies aged 76, 40 years after making history
Tributes have poured in for the former Good Morning Britain broadcaster.
Wincey Willis – who was the first woman to present the weather on ITV – has died at the age of 76.
Her death was made public this week, six months after she passed away in December 2024. She had previously been diagnosed with fronto-temporal dementia in 2015.
Willis originally joined Good Morning Britain in 1983 having previously worked for Radio Tees and Tyne Tees Television.
She went on to become the station's main weekday weather presenter and also presented a number of other segments on TV-am, many of which included pets and animals.
Other television work included appearing as an adjudicator on the Channel 4 series Treasure Hunt and making several appearances on the game show Cross Wits, while throughout her career she also appeared in pantomime, published books and even devised a board game titled The Weather Game.
Willis also devoted much of her her life to campaigning for environmental causes and worked as a conservation volunteer around the world, while her second book – titled Greendays – was a diary that included facts about environmental issues and suggestions of relevant activities and projects.
Many people took to social media to pay tribute to Willis after the news of her death was made public, with BBC Wales weather presenter and journalist Sue Charles writing on X: "Sad news about Wincey Willis. Bringing back big memories of the early days of Breakfast TV.
"And for '80s kids, the line ‘John Kettley is a weatherman… and so is Wincey Willis’, brought a level of pop culture notoriety, that went way beyond a namecheck in a one-hit wonder."
Another X user wrote: "Sad to learn of the passing in December 2024 of Wincey Willis. She was something of a female trailblazer on TV, and we still enjoy the occasional bout of Treasure Hunt, with Wincey keeping track of Anneka Rice."
A third commented, "RIP Wincey Willis. I'll always remember your happy face and bubbly personality on TV as I got ready for school."
And another fan wrote: "Sad to read it’s just been announced the fabulous #WinceyWillis, a huge part of one of my all time favourite TV shows, #TreasureHunt, passed away at the end of last year, aged 76.
"Always so positive and cheery, she couldn’t help but put a smile on the faces of those around her."
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
