BBC weather presenter caught giving the finger

A BBC weatherman has found himself at the centre of a storm after he was caught live on air 'giving the finger' to his presenter colleagues. Tomasz Schafernaker raised his middle finger to BBC News 24 anchors Simon McCoy and Fiona Armstrong.

Schafernaker's gesture yesterday morning came after McCoy made a cheeky link to the weather, saying: "Now we will have the weather forecast in a minute and or course it will be 100 per cent accurate and provide all the detail you can possibly want." He added: "I've just seen Tom Schafernaker preparing for it."

Thinking he was still off-camera, Schafernaker, 31, 'flipped the bird'. As he realised he was on air, the horrified-looking meteorologist swiftly put his hands to his face, pretending he was scratching. "Oh!" exclaimed a surprised Armstrong.

An unflappable McCoy, meanwhile, quickly quipped: "Every now and then there's always one mistake: that was it."

It is not the first time Schafernaker - previously described by the BBC as "popular for his cheerful and enthusiastic presenting style" - has hit turbulence live on air. Last year he got into trouble for telling Radio 4 listeners about the "muddy shite" forecast for Glastonbury. He had meant to say "muddy site".

In 2007 he had to apologise to Scottish vewers for referring to the Outer Hebrides and Western Isles as "nowheresville".

Despite such blunders, the Polish-born Schafernaker was voted 'best weather TV presenter' by his broadcasting peers at the annual Tric (Television and Radio Industries Club) Awards in March.

Last night the BBC apologised for "any offence caused" by Schafernaker's "gesture". A spokesman added: "Whilst the gesture was only shown for a second, it was not acceptable”. Ofcom said there had been no complaints about the incident. ·