SHE might be the face of meteorology in Scotland, a leading physicist and now the proud recipient of an OBE thanks to her science talks for schools, but that doesn't mean Heather the weather' Reid is about to become a stuffy boffin on us.

In fact, it's almost with a childlike enthusiasm that she greets the flurry of excitement brought on by snowfall.

"I have been known to get up in the middle of the night just to go and see if it's snowing yet!" giggles the 37-year-old.

"The first thing I do every morning is have a wee look outside the curtains, I have to confess, to see what's going on."

The Paisley forecaster's sunny "hello there" has rung out from television sets across Scotland since March 1994, when she took over weather map duties on Reporting Scotland from Vanessa Collingridge.

Since then, technology has moved on but the challenge in forecasting snow remains the same.

"I think snow is always the biggest challenge - it's the most difficult weather to forecast.

"It's a very visible mistake when it goes wrong and it really affects people's lives."

Heather has been charged with giving the people of Scotland the most up-to-date, comprehensive information on rainfall, air pressure and temperature, as well as snow.

"I'm very conscious that fishermen, hillwalkers, farmers - people who really use the weather - tune in," says Heather, who has a degree in physics and a masters in satellite image processing from Edinburgh University.

A typical day in the BBC offices begins at 10.30am when she runs through the charts and guidance information from the Met Office in London.

The centre's "supercomputer" models the weather across Scotland, and it's up to Heather to add her own modifications using her knowledge of the country.

"The supercomputer produces charts of rainfall, sea level pressure and temperatures, but it can only look in so much detail.

"It doesn't take into account the small effects, like the mountains or the coastlines. That's where I come in."

After her radio broadcasts - lunchtime news and the four BBC regions in Scotland - she begins to concentrate on her Reporting Scotland weather bulletin, the graphics and the charts, which she produces on her own computer.

"It's almost like a storyboard, all these different frames that represent the scenes' that make up my weather show'."

With her make-up applied, she's on to her Reporting Scotland slot for her forecast. So what happens next?

"I get out of the door - usually as quickly as possible, although I do normally watch the forecast again at 10.25pm because they'll have some more data by then."

Like Scotland's climate, nothing stays the same for long, and Heather has the move to Pacific Quay later this year to look forward to, in addition to the constantly changing, continually freak weather conditions that we're currently experiencing.

"It makes sense," says Heather, "because global warming is all about there being more energy in the atmosphere, and that has to go somewhere.

"It's manifesting itself in these low-pressure systems and they're hurtling across the Atlantic at a great rate of knots!"

7am - Rise and shine The first thing I do every the morning is have a wee look outside the curtains, I have to confess, just to see what is going on! I generally try to work a three or four-day week.

My daughter Jenna usually sleeps until about 7am. We have a mixture of childcare - she goes to nursery one day, we have a part-time nanny and she sometimes goes to my mum and dad's in Paisley.

10.30am - Arrive at BBC In Queen Margaret Drive Most people think I start about 5 o'clock in the afternoon when I saunter into make-up, but I'm usually in work for about 10.30am.

It's about a ten or fifteen-minute walk along the road so that's nice and handy - and very environmentally friendly.

Normally I spend about half an hour looking at all the charts and reading the guidance that comes from the Met Office in London and really just getting up to speed on the situation.

11am - Begin initial forecast The supercomputer gives us a model of the first attempt at the forecast. Observations of the real weather come from weather stations, weather balloons, satellites and ships in the Atlantic, and that data is fed into the supercomputer which has all the physics of the atmosphere. It gives us a model of the atmosphere which we take as human forecasters and modify given the area you're forecasting for.

Noon - lunchtime bulletins I put together the detail for the television graphics and then write my radio scripts. We do quite a lot of radio - a bulletin at lunchtime, and local radio for the four BBC regions across the country.

2pm - Regular forecast re-evaluations I regularly keep an eye on the weather situation - every hour we spend ten or 15 minutes checking the latest observations and the latest satellite imagery.

I look at real satellite images to compare the satellite image with the supercomputer model and see if it's going according to plan, and if not, why not.

3.30pm - Weather update There are times of the day when a new model run comes in from the supercomputer. The latest one came in today at 3.30pm this afternoon, so I spend quite a lot of time analysing the data and checking the story.

4.30pm - Reporting Scotland preparation I start to focus on the Reporting Scotland script and set of graphics for the evening forecast. I can start off with a satellite image, a league of temperatures, or I can start off with the weather graphics.

5pm - Make-up The most relaxing part of my day!

6.30pm - Reporting Scotland The daily weather broadcast on BBC1 Scotland.

7pm - heading home I run out the door - usually as quickly as possible! Back home to two-and-a-half-year-old Jenna and husband Miles.

10.25pm - must-see viewing I always make sure to watch the evening broadcast, because they'll have some more data by then on the next day's weather. Who's who of TV weather

Michael Fish Arguably the most famed and longest-serving of Britain's weather forecasters, Michael Fish began broadcasting for radio in 1971, transferring to TV in 1974. Having become synonymous for failing to predict The Great Storm of 1987 which left 18 people dead, he retired in October 2004.

Ian McCaskill Immortalised forever with his very own Spitting Image puppet, this Glasgow-born forecaster was on our screens from October 1978 until his retirement in 1998. He most recently appeared as one of the celebrity weight-loss wannabes on Celebrity Fit Club.

Siân Lloyd ITV's sunny weathergirl, who suffered the ignominy of having fiance Lembit Öpik trade her in for a Cheeky Girl, made the reality TV crossover in 2003, taking part in I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

Ulrika Jonsson Starting her career as a fresh-faced TV-AM weather girl in 1989, the Swedish blonde bombshell has gone on to become something of a serial scandal magnet, with a string of well-publicised affairs.

Carol Kirkwood The face of the morning weather bulletins on BBC's Breakfast show, Morar-born Carol beat Michael Fish and Sian Lloyd to be named best TV Weather Presenter at the Television and Radio Industry's Club Awards in 2003.

Andrea McLean Another of GMTV's golden girls, Glasgow-born Andrea joined the morning team in June l997, having caught the weather bug when presenting for the Weather Channel and Talk Radio. She was one of the celebrity skaters to appear in last year's Dancing On Ice.

Ross King Having become Britain's youngest DJ when broadcasting from Radio Clyde age 15, the Glasgow-born presenter scooped a £1million deal to present weather and entertainment on TV in California after winning The Audition in 2004, an American weather idol contest.