Carol Kirkwood announces departure from the BBC after 25 years

BBC Breakfast weather presenter Carol Kirkwood is leaving the station after more than 25 years.

The 63-year-old made the announcement following her regular morning forecast, becoming tearful when she broke the news.

Carol joined the BBC in 1998, and is set to leave her role in April. Taking a seat on the sofa with Jon Kay and Sally Nugent, the presenter immediately became emotional when letting them, and viewers know of her decision to step down.

"So, I'm going to be leaving," she began, adding, "It's really hard for me to say this because I love my job, I love all of you guys, my weather colleagues, every department I've worked with, and of course, all the viewers who I've been so engaged with for many years."

She continued, "But it's great," adding that now is the best time to leave because she "can't be coming in with a Zimmer frame" to do her job, alluding to nearly reaching retirement age.

Letting her fellow presenters and the viewers know her plans moving forward, Carol said, "I'm going to be spending more time with Steve, my gorgeous husband - we only got married a couple of years ago, and we're ships that pass in the night."

Explaining how she'll be spending her time, Carol said, "I've got my books," - she has written five romantic fiction novels and it appears she's freeing up time to pen some more. She also expressed plans to travel.

"I didn't want to get emotional, she told Jon and Sally, adding, "but you're my friends and I love you dearly. The presenter concluded, "This hasn't been an easy decision to make, but it feels like the right moment to step away. "I'll carry with me the most wonderful memories."

Carol has been the main weather presenter on BBC Breakfast since 2010, and is known for presenting the weather on location. She has brought viewers weather news from locations such as Wimbledon and the Chelsea Flower Show.

She also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015. Paired with Pasha Kovalev, Carol reached week eight of the competition, and became emotional on her departure.

She said at the time, "I think I got as far as I could because I'm not the greatest dancer. I loved it and gave it my best shot... I'm going to cry!"

Jonathan Munro, the interim CEO of BBC News, has spoken about Carol's decision to step away from BBC Breakfast.

He says, "From major national moments to the everyday forecasts that are such an important part of our audiences' lives, she has set the gold standard for our accurate, valued journalism - always delivered with an appropriately sunny outlook."

"She will be greatly missed by teams across the BBC. We wish her all the best for the future."