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Northern girl with terminal brain cancer achieves bucket list dream of presenting BBC Weather
Laura Nuttall has been making her way through her bucket list after being diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer in 2018.
A terminally-ill Northern girl has achieved one of the dreams on her bucket list this week by getting to present a BBC Weather forecast.
22-year-old Laura Nuttall, from Barrowford in Lancashire, was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme – an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer – following a routine eye test back in 2018, and was told she only had around 12 months to live after she was found to have eight tumours.
Since her diagnosis, Laura has bravely endured a craniotomy to remove the largest tumour, been through a gruelling programme of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and has regularly travelled to Germany for innovative new immunotherapy treatment.
Laura’s shock diagnosis initially led to her leaving university in London to concentrate on treatment and ticking items off her bucket list.
After responding so well to the immunotherapy treatment, Laura was able to restart her studies, this time a little closer to home at The University of Manchester, and grabbed headlines last week as she graduated with a 2:1 degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and was able to celebrate with her mum Nicola, dad Mark, and sister Grace proudly watching on.
But despite all these achievements, she wasn’t done with her bucket list just yet.
Meeting former First Lady Michelle Obama, commanding a Royal Navy ship, and taking legendary Bolton Peter Kay to the pub for drinks are some of the things Laura has been able to tick off her bucket list over the last few years, but she still had her sights set on her weather presenter dreams.
This week, those dreams came true, as she was invited to the BBC studios in Salford to present a weather forecast on BBC North West Tonight alongside resident weatherman, Owain Wyn Evans.
In a clip shared by the broadcaster to Twitter, which has since been racking up thousands of views, Owain spoke to Laura backstage as she was having her makeup done in preparation for the broadcast, asking her: “How are you feeling about doing your first weather forecast?”
Laura replied that she “can’t wait” and was “looking forward to it”.
Read more: ‘Incredible’ student with terminal brain cancer graduates from University of Manchester
Owain then revealed that he had a surprise for Laura, and told her that they would be sharing the weather-presenting slot and would swap places so that she could speak about the pressure chart and what the public can expect on Wednesday.
Laura’s name also appeared on the monitor set to air on TV underneath ‘BBC Weather’.
While she looked a little nervous in one of her first takes, Laura then calmly-read off the teleprompter while rehearsing for the final go – and went on to deliver her live report like a true professional.
She then signed off with a huge smile on her face, telling viewers: “That’s the weather from me.”
Owain later praised Laura’s performance, and took to Twitter to say: “Laura, you’re amazing. So wonderful to have Laura on BBCNWT yesterday doing our weather [and it’s] currently most watched on the BBC News website, which is just fabulous.”
How brilliant is this?
As well as making her way down her bucket list, Laura is also working as an ambassador for The Brain Tumour Charity, continues to help out in her community, raise awareness of brain conditions and the work being done at the University of Manchester.
She has also recently joined the board of OurBrainBank – a charity that’s working to make glioblastoma change from being terminal to treatable.
Featured Image – BBC North West Tonight
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The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
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Featured image: The Manc Group
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Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
In the statement announcing his death last night, it was confirmed that Sir Patrick had a ‘brief but poignant journey’ with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Read more:
Sir Patrick Stewart’s farewell performance will be in Avengers: Doomsday, which is being released in UK cinemas on 18 December 2026
Featured Image – Gage Skidmore (via Flickr)
Emily Sergeant -
27th July 2022 
