Clara Bullock,West of England and

Chris Lockyer,in Watchet

BBC Liz Elmont is pointing her camera lens at the viewer. She has short white hair and is standing in front of the sea, which is grey.BBC

Liz Elmont said taking pictures for BBC Weather Watchers helped her get over her stroke

A woman who struggled to leave the house after she had a stroke has said taking weather photos got her out of a “really dark place”.

Liz Elmont, from Watchet in Somerset, suffered a stroke in 2021 and said she was left housebound, and thought she would never be able to take photos again.

“One day, I thought ‘I should take a picture for [BBC] Weather Watchers, I haven’t done that in ages’. It suddenly became the thing that got me out of the house,” Ms Elmont said.

She now takes photos of her local area, capturing changes in the weather, and has had a few appear on BBC Points West, as part of the BBC Weather Watcher scheme – which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Liz Elmont is standing on a boardwalk by the harbour in Watchet. She is wearing a blue raincoat and is smiling at the camera.

Ms Elmont now takes photos again

Ms Elmont has been taking photos professionally throughout her life, for magazines and estate agents.

“Out of the blue, I had a stroke. I couldn’t get outside much anymore,” Ms Elmont said.

“I was really miserable. I sold off some of my lenses because I thought I’d never use them again, I was really in a dark place.”

One day, she said she decided to take out her phone and capture the weather to upload onto BBC Weather Watchers.

“It gave me a boost and helped me do things again,” Ms Elmont said.

“When you put a photograph on Weather Watchers and you see it was picked, it’s a real boost. Especially when it’s used on TV in the evening, it’s fabulous.”

Ant Walker is standing on a hill overlooking a valley and some trees. He is wearing a black coat.

Ant Walker takes photographs while out walking his husky

In Gloucestershire, Ant Walker takes pictures of the weather every day while walking his husky Anika.

Mr Walker, whose Weather Watcher profile is ‘Space Walker’, said he had not been much of a photographer before now.

“I just happened to be randomly checking the forecast for Gloucestershire on the BBC website, and I saw this thing about favourite Weather Watcher pictures and I thought, ‘I’ll have a go at that!’

“So, I took one at Upton St Leonards of a tree and a gate, and that same evening it happened to appear on Points West to my surprise and delight.”

A white husky is lying on a hill overlooking a valley. The husky is looking to a man who is standing with his back to the camera.

Husky Anika supports Ant during his photography walks

BBC Weather Watchers was launched in November 2015.

The crowd-sourcing weather club has more than 362,000 registered users sending in photos from across the UK, many of which are shown during weather forecasts.