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The BBC has apologised after viewers struggled to āunderstandā weather presenter Judith Ralston.
The Scottish presenter, 58, is a regular on the channel in the north, but spent a week working nationally in London earlier this month.
Some viewers claimed Ralston was āvirtually incomprehensibleā during segments like the lunchtime news, while another complained she āhas a hard accent to always understandā.
Scottish viewers defended the host, however, with one writing: āHer accent isnāt the problem, her microphone, however, seems to be an issue as it fades in and out.ā
The BBC confirmed there had been a technical issue, which has since been fixed, which caused āthe audio levels to be lower than intendedā.
A spokesperson said: āWe received complaints regarding the audio quality during weather forecasts presented by Judith Ralston. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.ā
Ralston joined BBC Scotland in 1999 as a reporter before moving into weather. The Edinburgh-born presenter was formerly opera singer but her career was cut short after she developed problems with the muscles in her voicebox.
The complaints comes after reports that BBC Weather could be facing a huge shake-up as two of the channel's most recognisable faces are purportedly considering leaving the network amid major cutbacks.
As part of plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs and make £500 million in savings, the national broadcaster is reportedly planning to downsize the national weather team, taking the number of presenters from 11 to 4.5.
According to The Times, three of the BBC Weather team's biggest names ā Tomasz Schafernaker, Louise Lear and Darren Bett ā are "considering taking voluntary redundancy" amid plans to make the broadcaster's meteorological coverage more digital.
While the three presenters, who have more than 86 years of presenting experience between them, are not said to have accepted the redundancy offer yet, changes are incoming at the channel to move away from the national weather team and focus more heavily on local presenters.


