AN ANDOVER weatherman has decided to take a rain check on a career spanning 65 years.

John Coates-Greetham, 82, has announced the closure of his Andover business in forensic meteorology this September.

Originally from Scarborough, Mr Coates-Greetham said he got involved with meteorology after talking with a jobs counsellor at school.

After hearing about his interest in weather, the counsellor told him of job openings in the Met Office.

With unemployment high at the time, Mr Coates-Greetham took the opportunity and starting training in London.

A couple of years later, in 1953, he was called up and joined the RAF where was able to travel around the world including Singapore.

After two years of national service, Mr Coates-Greetham went back to meteorology as an observer and in 1966 earned some qualifications and became a weather forecaster.

He decided to start his own business from home in 1988, which took about a year and half to get going.

As a forensic meteorologist, Mr Coates-Greetham assessed the weather conditions relevant to legal cases, including surface conditions for road traffic accidents.

The great-grandfather has enjoyed his career and struggled to pick one case which was his favourite.

He has helped police with a murder case of a young boy, on the death of liberal leader David Penhaligon, Manchester Airport on its second runway and many road traffic accidents.

The Junction Road resident said: “One of the daftest ones was urinating in public.

Police came to me and said we spotted these two blokes and they were peeing on the side of the road and we want to know if you can see the steam.

“So I had a couple of beers, went to the back of the garden... and yes you can. They dropped the charges in the end. That was good fun.”

On why he is retiring, Mr Coates-Greetham said: “No work, literally. Plus the fact I’m 82 and to be honest it’s not worth doing unless I’ve got work. I’m too old for it.”

He added that he believed it was the legal culture of ‘no win, no fee’ where solicitors try to settle before a case goes to court has lessened their need for him.