Trailblazer Wincey Willis, the first woman to present the weather on ITV, has died aged 76 after a dementia diagnosis.
The icon died in December, but it was only publicly annonced today.
After being diagnosed with fronto-temporal dementia, Willis spent her final years in Sunderland.
Born Florence Winsome Leighton in Gateshead and adopted at infancy, she grew up in Hartlepool in a strict Baptist household.
At school she was nicknamed ‘Wincey,’ after the nursery rhyme. She began her career as a travel rep before entering broadcasting with Radio Tees in 1975.
In 1981 she joined Tyne Tees TV as a weather presenter on Northern Life, later hosting her own show Wincey’s Pets.
(Picture: Mike Hollist/ANL/Shutterstock)
In May 1983, Greg Dyke brought her to TV-am’s Good Morning Britain, making her the first woman to deliver national weather forecasts on ITV.
Her bubbly style, colourful jumpers, and trademark mullet gave a lively makeover to the otherwise earnest format.
At the height of her fame, Willis also appeared on the popular game show Treasure Hunt alongside Anneka Rice and devised a board game called The Weather Game.
Later in her life, she worked as an international conservation volunteer. Famously, she spent six months in a tent in Greece protecting endangered turtles.
She later composted worms, writing books such as It’s Raining Cats and Dogs (1986) and Greendays (1990), and continued broadcasting through regional radio with BBC Coventry & Warwickshire and BBC Hereford & Worcester.
She’s remembered as a television trailblazer who helped pave the way for women in broadcasting.
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