A journalist who met Carol Kirkwood has revealed how she showed her true colours in an instant. After nearly three decades with the broadcaster, the Scottish weather presenter is bidding farewell to BBC Breakfast today (April 1).

On Wednesday, the 63-year-old delivered her final forecast and said goodbye to viewers. Sitting on the BBC Breakfast sofa with her co-hosts, an emotional Carol said she was ready to "begin a new chapter."

As part of her departure, she said: "As for what comes next, well for once I don't have a detailed forecast but I do know this - it’s time for a new chapter. Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives."

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As Carol parts ways with the Beeband sets off on a new adventure with her husband, Steve Randall, it seems one person who met her during her time in the spotlight will always remember the star for her "self-effacing" nature.

Susan Swarbrick, columnist at The Herald, interviewed the broadcasterearlier this year and posed a complimentary suggestion to her, but, true to form, Carolsaid she simply does her job to the best of her ability.

The Met Office-trained host reportedly gave a "bashful chuckle" and modestly batted away the comment when Susan asked how it felt to be an "integral part of daily life" for BBC Breakfast viewers.

Carol told the journalist: "It is nice of you to say that. I don't feel that I’m an integral part of people's lives in the morning; I just do my job to the best of my ability.

"I love it when I'm out and about, and I meet people who will come up and talk to me. That is the biggest compliment you can have, that anybody would spend their time chatting to you because they feel they know you.

"I do genuinely like that because I like meeting the audience."

Susan also noted the sheer volume of social media posts and "column inches" devoted to Carol’s on-screen outfitchoices, but, unsurprisingly, she brushed this idea off as well.

Carol said "more often than not", she wishes to herself that she'd tackled her ironing the night before or had put some thought into what she was going to wear, adding that she's the "same as everyone else".

Susan went on to conclude that Carol is "as nice in real life" as she is on TV, branding the presenter "genuinely lovely".

For now, though, with her BBC career in the rear-view, Carol and Steve are hoping to hit the road. She previously revealed they "plan to escape and travel for some time when we retire", either by camper van or car, adding that they want to "cross over to France and just drive".

She said: "We fell in love with Majorca, which is where we went so I could research my fifth novel, Meet Me at Sunset, about a woman running away from a shattered love affair.

"Steve and I also plan to escape and travel for some time when we retire, perhaps in a year or two. We'll either travel in a camper van or get in the car, cross over to France and just drive."