Barra Best
Barra Best combines daily weather coverage with longer-form environmental storytelling for the BBC, using clear, accessible language to connect changing conditions with everyday life and the natural world. He works as a presenter, reporter and documentary maker, moving between studio forecasts, online explainer pieces and on-location programmes that explore landscapes, wildlife and people’s experience of the climate. His journalism centres on weather and climate, with frequent attention to how records, extremes and shifting seasons shape communities, travel, work and what people eat.
Weather and climate coverage for the BBC
Best is a senior weather presenter and reporter for the BBC, delivering forecasts and weather stories across television, radio and online output. His regular work includes interpreting data and charts, matching broadcast graphics to the day’s main weather story, and updating audiences as conditions evolve.
In news coverage he reports on significant events such as storms, heatwaves and years that set new temperature records, including pieces on record warmth in Ireland and on regions bracing for temperatures close to long-term highs. He writes and fronts explainer articles that put current conditions in context, such as pieces on when autumn starts and how meteorological seasons allow forecasters to compare one season with another using decades of weather records.
Throughout this coverage he focuses on keeping technical detail clear and grounded in what it means for daily routines, agriculture, transport and outdoor work.
Documentary storytelling on nature and the outdoors
Alongside news and forecasts, Best has built a substantial strand of documentary work that follows the natural world, coastlines and rural communities. He presents and often helps shape series such as Walk the Line, Weather Watchers, Coast Lives, Barra on the Foyle, Barra on the Bann, Barra’s Return of the Wild and Barra’s Wild Days Out, which take him out on the road to film in varied landscapes and meet contributors on location.
These programmes mix journalism and adventure, with Best travelling widely, interviewing guests and spending long days filming to capture how people live with their environment, from national parks and coastal communities to remote countryside.
His documentary work has been recognised inside the BBC, including a broadcast entertainment award for Barra’s Return of the Wild, underlining his ability to turn environmental and nature-led themes into programmes that draw broad audiences. This strand of his output makes him a natural fit for stories that sit at the junction of weather, biodiversity, outdoor recreation and food or farming culture.
Explaining science and seasons in plain language
Best’s reporting and presenting emphasise science and climate communication delivered without jargon. In his BBC explainer articles he describes how meteorological calendars work, using long-term averages and records to help audiences understand why a season feels unusual and how current temperatures compare with previous years.
His professional profiles highlight a focus on environmental storytelling and science-led themes, framing his work as making complex ideas about climate, nature and current affairs accessible to wide audiences. He has contributed to educational projects such as BBC Young Reporter, encouraging original stories from students and reinforcing the basics of journalism and fact-based reporting for younger audiences.
Across formats, his style is to ground scientific detail in concrete examples - how storms are named, why certain years are record-breaking, and what changing patterns mean for farmers, food producers and families planning daily life.
Public events and audience engagement
Beyond broadcast output, Best is highly active in public-facing roles as an event host, moderator and speaker. He regularly chairs or contributes to external events and panels, appearing among the most active BBC journalists on the corporation’s register of outside engagements, with a high number of paid speaking and hosting gigs in recent years.
His work includes judging community awards such as the BBC Northern Ireland Make a Difference honours and hosting major live charity broadcasts like Children in Need, where he brings the same on-air presence to stage and auditorium settings. In interviews he stresses the value of engaging with audiences on social media and in person, responding to feedback on forecasts and encouraging viewers to share their own weather and nature content.
This sustained emphasis on interaction means he is accustomed to shaping messages for live audiences, adapting technical information and environmental stories for rooms that range from schools and community halls to business conferences and sector gatherings.
4 more food journalists.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What's On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose food and leisure coverage is built around immersive, first-person reporting and concrete detail. He works at the Manchester Evening News, focusing on new restaurant and bar openings, regular food reviews, gig and event coverage, and issues affecting LGBTQ+ people. He treats restaurants, pubs, bars and experiences as stories about place, people and community, explaining what makes a venue different and how it fits into the local dining scene. His pieces cover pricing, service, atmosphere, crowds and concept, and he is willing to be critical when gimmicks undermine the experience. He writes character-led pub profiles, works shifts, joins treasure hunts and attends major cultural events, inviting readers to follow what he does and use his straightforward assessments to decide where to eat, drink and spend time.
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd is editor at Secret Manchester, where she treats food as part of how people live in the city, not as an isolated subject. She covers restaurants, bars, street food and casual dining, linking new openings and food trends to neighbourhood change, local businesses and everyday routines. Her pieces focus on accessible spots, comfort dishes like pizza and tacos, and clear details of menus, presentation, atmosphere and practical information such as opening hours and booking. She often combines food, drink and live events, producing guides to venues for major sports tournaments and themed pop-ups as part of wider things to do. Alice also reports on hospitality business pressures, city-centre public spaces, charity initiatives, transport and infrastructure, always showing how food and drink fit into community and lifestyle stories. She previously wrote for other regional “Secret” sites as a staff writer and describes herself as a writer and food fanatic.
Aly Walansky
Aly Walansky specializes in service-driven food coverage that treats cocktails and dining as tools for celebration, focusing on how logistics, ordering options, and menu choices turn everyday meals and major holidays into shared experiences. She is a longtime food and travel journalist now writing for Forbes, where her beat centers on cocktails and occasion-driven dining. Her work includes practical, expert-driven roundups such as guides to many variations on the classic martini, shipped-meals gift lists for Mother’s Day, and accessible formats for Thanksgiving and other holidays. She reports through structured lists, restaurant features, and menu-focused profiles that highlight signature dishes and dining trends. Across outlets, she extends this approach to home cooking, grocery shopping, and recipes, and runs a newsletter that shares her current assignments and industry commentary.
Amy Clarke
Amy Clarke stands out for turning food trends, sustainability and rising costs into practical guidance. She writes about changing tastes, new ingredients, formats and dining habits, as well as budget-friendly sustainable eating, nutrition, food shopping and the pressures extreme weather places on small food businesses. Her work includes forward-looking trend round-ups, advice on eating sustainably on a budget, cheaper alternatives to expensive superfoods and a report on how ice cream vans manage heat, logistics and profitability. She works as a multimedia reporter for News Shopper Series, with past work published in Sutton & Croydon Guardian, Yahoo News UK and The Conversation. Clarke combines reported features with clear explainers, expert voices and step-by-step advice. She uses plain language, specific examples and practical tips to show what food changes mean for readers and businesses.