HE was one of the country's longest serving television weather forecasters and a familiar face to millions of television viewers across the south for 25 years.

Trevor Baker, who presented the weather on the regional ITV news, across three decades has died after a short illness aged 94.

Because of his Welsh origins, he soon established the nickname "Trevor the Weather" although to many he was simply "Trevor".

He began his TV career at the BBC when weather forecasting was still in its infancy.

Before his broadcasting debut Trevor had to wait an extra nerve-wracking 45 minutes as John Glenn - the first American astronaut to orbit the earth - decided to hold a news conference at the exact time he was supposed to be on air, forcing Trevor to endure an anxious 45 minutes before his television debut.

In 1963 he moved to Southern Television, where he was the regular evening presenter on Day By Day. He soon became more a personality than simply a weatherman and he did a great deal of charity work.

In 1991 he was given his own show The Trevor Baker All Weather Show.

A second series was commissioned, but Southern Television lost its franchise and Television South (TVS) took over.

Trevor continued to present the weather on the nightly news show, Coast to Coast, until he retired in 1987.

Trevor Baker was born in Swansea in 1921.

At 18 he joined the Met Office, but his career was interrupted by the outbreak of war. He joined the RAF as a non-commissioned meteorologist and became a pilot officer.

He was posted to West Africa where he spent nearly two years. During that time he was involved in a fatal accident when a Sunderland Flying Boat, in which he was an observer, crashed shortly after take-off, killing three crew members.

After the war he returned to the Met Office and in 1953 was posted to Hong Kong for three years.

In 1964 he married a Swansea girl, Olga Borgen, a former actress who had trained at Rada. They had two children.

After retiring he took up painting and golf.

He worked as a volunteer at Southampton General Hospital for more than 20 years, taking a trolley of fruit or confectionery round the wards.

Following the death of his wife Olga in 2008, he moved to London to be closer to his children and grandchildren.

He continued his voluntary work, teaching art to residents at a care home, even though he was older than many of them.

He is survived by a son and daughter, four grand-daughters and three great grandchildren.