Emma Jesson: The ITV Weather Presenter Behind the Famous “Bye Bye” and a 30-Year Broadcasting Career
If you have watched regional ITV news in the North of England or the Midlands, you already know the sign-off. A bright smile, a quick wave and a high, cheerful “Bye Bye.”Emma has been delivering forecasts that way for more than three decades. She is also a racing forecaster, an awards host, a voiceover artist and a green ambassador for ITV.
This guide pulls together what is publicly documented about her age, family, career, relationships and 2026 work. Where sources disagree or say nothing, the article says so plainly instead of guessing.
Emma Jesson Quick Bio
Here are the most useful facts at a glance.
| Detail | Fact |
| Known as | Emma Jesson |
| Full name in company records | Emma Louise Jesson-Hargreaves |
| Family surname | Hargreaves |
| Profession | ITV weather presenter, event host, voiceover artist, media trainer |
| Born | October 1968 (month and year from Companies House; exact day not confirmed) |
| Age in late 2026 | 57, turning 58 in October 2026 |
| Birthplace | Lancashire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| ITV Weather run | From 1992 per ITV Weather’s on-air staff list |
| Main ITV regions | Granada and Central, plus cover for Border, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire |
| National cover | Good Morning Britain weather back-fill |
| Signature | The “Bye Bye” sign-off and #ByeBye |
| Father | Bob “Bobby” Hargreaves, amateur National Hunt jockey (died 7 April 2009) |
| Mother | Shirley Hargreaves (died March 2019, according to reports) |
| Grandfather | Major Thomas Edward Jesson, racehorse owner and MP for Rochdale 1931 to 1935 |
| Former partner | William Roache, Coronation Street actor (2010 to 2012) |
| Marital status | No confirmed husband |
| Children | Not publicly confirmed |
| Siblings | Not publicly confirmed |
| Business names | Racing Weather and Racing Ladies |
| Based | UK and Los Angeles |
| Social media | @EmmaJessonTV on X, with the #ByeBye hashtag |
| Net worth | No verified figure |
Who Is Emma Jesson?
Emma Jesson is a British television presenter best known for ITV Weather. ITV describes her as one of its longest serving weather presenters, and the ITV Weather page on Wikipedia calls her the longest serving forecaster.
She grew up in Lancashire and still sounds like it. Her warm, cheeky style stands out from the more formal approach many viewers expect from a weather map.
Her work goes well beyond the studio. She hosts awards ceremonies, fronts corporate videos, records voiceovers, presents environmental features and runs a horse racing weather service.
Emma Jesson Age and Date of Birth
Her age is one of the most searched questions about her, and sources do not agree.
Companies House lists a director called Emma Louise Jesson-Hargreaves with a birth date of October 1968. That is an official register, so it is the strongest evidence available. Some entertainment databases give 19 October 1970 instead, but they do not show where that date comes from.
Going with the official record, she is 57 and turns 58 in October 2026. The exact birth day has not been confirmed by a reliable source.
Emma Jesson Early Life and Birthplace
Emma was born in Lancashire. A local newspaper report from the Fylde coast says she grew up in the area, and her mother lived in Lytham.
ITV’s own profile jokes that growing up in the North West gave her plenty of weather to watch. It is a fair point.
Her childhood was shaped as much by horses as by rain. That connection matters later in her career.
Emma Jesson Parents
Her father was Bob “Bobby” Hargreaves. According to her official website, he was an accomplished show-jumper and one of the leading amateur National Hunt jockeys in the North of England. He died on 7 April 2009 after a battle with cancer.
Her mother was Shirley Hargreaves. After Shirley died, Emma described her publicly as her best friend and soulmate, and a local paper reported that Emma had stepped away from screens for about ten months to care for her. Reports place Shirley’s death in March 2019.
Her Family Connection to Horse Racing
Horse racing runs deep in the family story.
Her website says her grandfather, Major Thomas Edward Jesson, was a racehorse owner, retired lawyer and magistrate. He also served as MP for Rochdale from 1931 to 1935. Locals knew him as “The Galloping Major.”
Her father rode many of the Major’s horses. In 1961 he won the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree on Law and Order, and he chose the silver trophy over a cash prize.
In 2010, Emma and her mother donated that trophy to Aintree so it could be presented every year in his memory. Exactly one year after his death, Emma made the first presentation herself.
Emma Jesson Education
No official biography names a school, college or university.
Some online profiles say she trained towards becoming a vet before moving into broadcasting. That claim appears in secondary sources only, so treat it as reported rather than confirmed. No veterinary school or qualification has been identified.
What her own biography does stress is practical training. She learned television from the ground up, which is covered next.
How Emma Jesson Started Her Career
Emma did not walk straight onto a weather set.
Her website lists a long run of behind-the-scenes jobs: runner, researcher, radio reporter, floor manager and stage manager. She has also presented for ITV, BBC and Channel 4 across her career.
ITV’s regional profile says she worked in almost every role behind the camera and spent time as a radio journalist before reaching her goal of joining the ITV Weather team.
Emma Jesson ITV Career Begins
ITV Weather’s on-air staff list gives 1992 as the start of her run, which is where the “30-year career” description comes from. By 2026 that is more than 34 years.
One older Blackpool Gazette report said she joined ITV Weather in 2005. The two dates do not match and no source explains the gap, so 1992 is the better documented start.
Agency biographies also describe her as a former GMTV face. Over the years she has covered Granada, Central, Border, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire.
Emma Jesson and ITV Weather
Weather is the backbone of her career.
She is best known for Granada Reports, the North West news programme, and for Central coverage across the Midlands. Weekend rotas have also placed her across several northern regions, and she has been described as a familiar face across the North of England and the Midlands.
Her style is friendly and quick, with a joke never far away. Viewers tend to remember her personality as much as the isobars.
The Famous “Bye Bye”
Her “Bye Bye” is the most recognisable part of her screen identity. Local press regularly introduces her as the presenter with the sunny catchphrase.
It even inspired a radio campaign. DJ Graham Mack recorded a tribute song that jokingly blamed her high-pitched farewell on a helium balloon habit, and other stations followed with their own remixes. Emma still counts it as a career highlight.
Today she uses #ByeBye on social media, which keeps the sign-off working for her online as well as on air.
Good Morning Britain and This Morning
Emma’s reach goes beyond regional bulletins.
Her official website says she provides weather back-fill for Good Morning Britain, which puts her in front of a national audience when the main team is away.
She has also appeared on This Morning. In one daytime segment she joined Good Morning Britain’s Laura Tobin and former TV-am presenter Ulrika Jonsson to look back on life as a TV weather presenter. The press coverage of that segment called her the channel’s longest standing weather reporter.
Emma Jesson Climate and Environmental Work
As weather has become a bigger public concern, her work has moved with it.
Agency biographies say she has presented her own strand on Granada Reports focused on the environment and sustainability, and that she is a green ambassador for ITV. Her current professional description also lists climate ambassador.
Recent examples include:
- An August 2026 ITV feature on extreme weather and the struggle for wildlife in northern rivers, where she meets volunteers monitoring climate change effects on local waterways.
- A farming report for Granada Reports filmed at Salford Quays.
- A hospital sustainability feature, reported to cover greener practices, asthma and alternative anaesthetics.
Together they show a presenter who treats weather as a human story, not just a map.
Emma Jesson Racing Weather Career
Racing Weather is where her family history and her job meet.
Her website describes it as a specialist forecasting service for horse racing. The forecasts are “time specific, race specific and evapotranspiration specific,” and the service has been delivered directly to some of the top racecourses in the country.
It grew into Racing Ladies, a bespoke ladies’ day and event service. She also hosts company race days and has organised tables at the racing awards known as The Lesters, where guests have included jockeys such as AP McCoy.
Aintree and Cartmel
Aintree and Cartmel are two of the racecourses most linked with her forecasts.
For the 2024 Grand National Festival, ITV News Granada published a special forecast from her. A secondary profile also reports that she shared race-day weather updates from Cartmel in June 2026. Going on firm ground matters hugely to trainers and racegoers, so a local, specific forecast is more useful than a general one.
Racing Weather Limited
Companies House shows Emma Louise Jesson-Hargreaves as a director of Racing Weather Limited (company number 06264273), appointed on 31 May 2007.
Some profiles say the company has since been dissolved, although the Racing Weather name is still used as a professional brand. Anyone who needs the current legal status should check the Companies House register directly.
Racing Ladies Limited
Reports also name her as a director of Racing Ladies Limited, a company set up in 2008 around her ladies’ race day service.
As with Racing Weather Limited, secondary sources say it is no longer active. The brand, however, still appears on her racing pages.
Corporate Events and Awards Hosting
Hosting is a large part of her working life.
Speaker agency SpeakOut says she has built a strong niche presenting award ceremonies for clients including The Law Society, the NHS, the Northern Marketing Awards, the Institute of Asian Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce. Her own site adds conferences, away days and events across Europe.
Another speaker agency, PepTalk, packages her as a “weather with a wink” presenter, which is a good summary of the tone she brings to a stage.
She is also a registered celebrant, according to ITV’s Tyne Tees profile, so her skills extend to ceremonies as well as business events.
Voiceover and Corporate Video Work
You may have heard her before you saw her.
Her agency profiles say her voice has been used on radio and TV ads across the country, and she fronts corporate videos. She can also self-edit video for clients and works as a media trainer, helping professionals get comfortable on camera and in interviews.
The skill set comes from years of live television, where every second of airtime has to count.
Emma Jesson Theatre Career
Weather presenters rarely appear in pantomime, but she has.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach announced her as part of its Cinderella cast, and later named her among the local stars returning for Beauty and the Beast at The Globe theatre. A secondary profile reports she has played Fairy Forecast and Mrs Potts.
Her catchphrase made her a natural choice. Pantomime audiences enjoy a familiar face, especially one who already knows how to work a live crowd.
Emma Jesson Husband and Relationships
There is no confirmed husband in any reliable public source.
Her best-known relationship was with Coronation Street actor William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow. Wikipedia’s entry on Roache says he dated her from 2010 to 2012. They were never married.
In a 2018 interview with the Majorca Daily Bulletin, she described Roache as a close friend who had supported her through a difficult time.
Beyond that, she keeps her private life private, and this article does not speculate about a current partner.
Does Emma Jesson Have Children?
Nothing reliable confirms that she has children, and nothing confirms that she does not. Her children status is simply not public.
Emma Jesson Height, Weight, Religion and Ethnicity
Her height and weight have not been reliably published, and sites that quote exact numbers rarely name a source.
Her religion has not been publicly stated either. She is British and was born in Lancashire. Nationality does not tell us anything about ethnicity, and she has not discussed it, so it is better left unsaid.
Emma Jesson Accent
She has a warm northern English accent with Lancashire roots. Her voiceover and hosting work shows she can adjust her tone for different jobs, from a lively regional forecast to a polished corporate presentation.
Emma Jesson Net Worth and Salary
There is no verified net worth for her, and ITV does not publish presenter pay.
Websites that quote a precise figure usually cite no financial records, so they should not be treated as fact. A more honest approach is to look at where her income can come from.
Emma Jesson Sources of Income
- ITV weather presenting and national cover
- Awards, conference and event hosting
- Voiceover work for radio, TV and corporate clients
- Corporate videos and media training
- Racing Weather services and race-day hosting
- Pantomime and stage appearances
- Celebrant services
Emma Jesson Latest News in 2026
She remains busy in 2026. Recent public activity includes:
- Regular ITV Granada weather presenting.
- An August 2026 river and climate feature on extreme weather and wildlife.
- A farming package for Granada Reports from Salford Quays.
- Racing forecasts from Aintree and Cartmel during the spring and summer racing season.
- A climate and hospitals feature in her green reporting.
- Continued event hosting, with her website showing a 2026 copyright date and her base split between the UK and Los Angeles.
Emma Jesson Legacy
Her legacy is longevity with personality.
She has outlasted several changes in how ITV presents the weather, and she did it without losing the humour that made viewers like her. The “Bye Bye” gave her a brand. Her range, from racing to climate reporting to live events, kept her relevant.
She has also honoured her father’s racing history in a practical way, by keeping his Aintree trophy in public view every year.
Conclusion
Emma has turned a regional weather slot into a wide, durable career. Her record includes more than three decades with ITV, a racing forecasting service rooted in family history, a busy hosting diary and a growing role in climate coverage.
Some personal details, such as height, children and net worth, are not publicly confirmed, and this article leaves them that way. What is documented points to a presenter with strong northern roots, a gift for live television and a catchphrase no one forgets.
FAQs
1. Who is Emma Jesson?
Emma Jesson is a British ITV weather presenter, event host and voiceover artist, known for her “Bye Bye” sign-off and her racing weather service.
2. How old is Emma Jesson?
Companies House records give her birth date as October 1968, so she is 57 and turns 58 in October 2026.
3. Who are Emma Jesson’s parents?
Her father was Bob “Bobby” Hargreaves, an amateur National Hunt jockey who died in 2009. Her mother was Shirley Hargreaves, who died in 2019, according to reports.
4. Is Emma Jesson married?
No reliable source confirms a husband. She dated actor William Roache from 2010 to 2012, but they were never married.
5. Does Emma Jesson have any siblings?
No siblings have been publicly confirmed. Her biography focuses on her parents and her racing family.
