WHEN Paul Hudson was seven-years-old he was running his own weather station from his bedroom.

By the age of 11, he had his own 'weather column' in the Keighley News - the Telegraph & Argus's sister paper - and was already focused on a career in meteorology. "I remember seeing a massive thunderstorm on Haworth Moor as a child, and was mesmerised. I've been fascinated by the weather ever since," says Paul.

Nearly four decades later, he finds the weather just as fascinating. Keighley-born Paul, 45, is the popular weather presenter on BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and presents a weekly radio programme, The Weather Show. He's also presenting and reporting on the new series of BBC1's Inside Out, a regional current affairs programme examining a range of subjects, from fly-tipping to modern slavery.

"It's very diverse, I'm enjoying the variety," says Paul, who next year sees his 20th anniversary on Look North.

There was a time when weathermen, like newsreaders, spoke in clipped vowels and looked like office clerks. But Paul's sunny nature and good-natured banter endears him to viewers, and makes weather presenting a more interactive process.

"Twenty years ago you wouldn't have had someone like me doing the weather, with my Keighley accent," smiles Paul. "But it's a different world now. Everyone has a camera, and people take pictures of the weather and tweet them to me. It's instant and interactive. There was a time when you just couldn't do that - by the time you got your photos developed the weather would've changed."

He might share the odd cheeky joke with Harry Gration on air, but forecasting the weather is a serious business.

"The one thing we all talk about is the weather, and forecasts are important to people. But of course they can't always be accurate," says Paul. "Cricket matches rely on the forecast the night before, and ticket sales depend on it. If I predict a shower and it turns out to be sunshine, I feel the responsibility.

"People will always let me know if it's wrong - Harry's regular line is: 'Here's tonight's weather guess'."

As well as the world being more interactive, another shift is the way subjects like science are taught. And the likes of Paul, and Professor Brian Cox, are making science and meteorology more accessible, relevant and inspiring.

"I do talks on the environment and climate change in schools, and it's a great way to engage kids," says Paul, a father-of-two. "I do think science is taught in a more interesting way, and there are a lot of careers in meteorology now, in research and all sorts of other fields.

"I love presenting my radio show because it's all about the weather, there's no other radio show like it in the country. I have scientists on, I play music, I take calls from listeners. It's great interaction. It's a fascinating time to be in meterology."

Paul, who went to Bronte Middle and Oakbank School in Keighley, started recording the weather as a youngster. Using a 'kids weather station' his parents gave him, he recorded it every day for several years from his bedroom, drawing up graphs and bar charts to predict patterns. The documents are now kept at Keighley Library. Aged 11, he was interviewed on TV by Richard Whiteley - a quarter of a century later Paul was elected honorary Mayor of Wetwang, a post previously occupied by Richard.

"I grew up watching Bob Rust, the Calendar weatherman. I decided it was what I wanted to do, and when I found out you had to do physics I thought: 'Right, that's what I'll do'," says Paul.

He went on to read geophysics and planetary physics at Newcastle University, gaining a First Class degree, then joined the Met Office.

A keen golfer, cricketer, fisherman and Bradford City fan, (as a 14-year-old he had a narrow escape from the blazing stand during the club's devastating fire of 1985), he is relishing the chance to take on more diverse subjects in Inside Out.

The first programme, which aired last night, was Brexit-themed and when I speak to Paul he's on his way to Barnsley to do a report on sexual abuse.

"For the Brexit show I talked to fishermen who were massively anti-EU because their fishing quotas were being hammered, and now they're frustrated because nothing has happened in 10 weeks. It was looking at people's unrealistic expectations of what leaving the EU was all about," he says.

"In another programme I'm looking at the policy of bussing Asian children out to schools in predominantly white areas in the 1970s. It was done with the best intentions, but it ended up making the children feel more ostracised.

"I've also done a report on fly-tipping, which involved rooting through rotting garbage in a back alley in Doncaster! We ended up finding an electric bill in the rubbish and went to the address, which led to a woman being fined for fly-tipping. And I've done a report on the increase of laser attacks on 'planes flying into Leeds Bradford Airport.

"The investigations highlight some shocking issues in our communities, and they have brought about change. In last year's series a lad in a wheelchair went through customs with a screwdriver and other weapons in his bag. He wasn't checked and got them into Malaga. Since that went out, the authorities have made changes to security. A report into conditions at the Sports Direct warehouse led to an investigation into how it treats its employees.

Adds Paul: "For me, it's good to spread my wings a bit and report on diverse issues. I go from 'bussing' to rainbows and thunderstorms. It's great"

* Inside Out is on BBC1 on Mondays.