TELEVISION weatherman Paul Mooney shed some light on the forecasters' art to an eager young audience.

The BBC North-East Met man was the guest of youngsters at Langley Park Primary School, in County Durham.

Headteacher Dorothy Brennan said the visit of the genial Scottish presenter caused great excitement among the youngsters.

While behind-the-scenes goings-on at the BBC were of great interest to the younger age groups, some of the older classes were keen to find out how changes in the weather can accurately be predicted.

Mrs Brennan said: "He went to speak to each of the infant classes and they were keen to find out what it was like being on the television.

"But the older ones have studied the weather as part of their national curriculum work and were keen to know about things like global warming and how he gets information for weather forecasts.

"They were asking about the use of equipment like weather balloons and even weather satellites. He seemed to warm to the questions."

It was the first of two engagements in the village for the busy weatherman, because he returned after his evening news forecast to switch on the Langley Park Christmas lights, on Thursday night.

Mr Mooney was the guest of Esh Parish Council, which has provided the Front Street decorations and the 28-ft tree, with help from local forestry business David Oliver, and event sponsors Wharton's Landscaping.

Children from the school have also helped by providing decorations for the base of the tree.

Further trees will be lit in neighbouring villages of Esh and Quebec in the parish as the area prepares for Christmas.