Britain's longest-serving TV weatherman Michael Fish retired yesterday after charting more than 30 years of the nation's sunshine, showers and storms.

The moustachioed, bespectacled presenter admitted "I'll be in tears later" as he prepared for his last stint as the BBC's most famous forecaster.

Fish revealed that he was hoping to cash in finally on the notorious gaffe for which he will always be remembered - his comments ahead of the Great Storm of 1987.

In the broadcast, the weatherman declared: "Earlier on today apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way. Well, don't worry if you're watching, there isn't."

The next day Britain woke up to a trail of destruction left by the worst storm in 300 years.

"If I had a penny for every time that had been on, I would be a multi-millionaire now," he said on BBC One's Breakfast today.

"Until now, of course, I have been a little bit cross sometimes about it because I know it's a very great misrepresentation.

"But now is a chance to make a bit of money out of it, hopefully. So if anybody's out there from an advertising agency..?"

Defending his position, the weatherman has always insisted he was not referring to the UK, but to Florida instead.

Fish joined the Met Office in 1962 and was posted to Gatwick Airport as an assistant making the tea and plotting charts.

His break in broadcasting happened in 1971 when he started forecasting for BBC radio before securing a place on BBC Television's weather team in January 1974.

mfl Fish, 60, is one of the longest-serving broadcast meteorologists in the world.

His sometimes dubious fashion fads and ever present moustache have entertained audiences throughout his career.

Attempting to justify some of his clothing choices, Fish said: "I do have to be up at four o'clock in the morning to come into work.

"Yes, it is sometimes the case that sometimes I'm groping around in the wardrobe trying to find something."

The forecaster, who always opts for suitably appropriate fish designs on his ties, has won Tie Man of the Year three times.

He was even featured in the chorus of daft pop tune by A Tribe Of Toffs whose song declared: "John Ketley is a weatherman and so is Michael Fish."

Asked if he felt as though he had been doing the job for more than 30 years, Fish said: "It's beginning to feel a little bit like that now.

"I've got a long, long day ahead of me. It's been 32 years of reasonable fun, hopefully providing a good service and doing a good job. I'm proud of it."

Describing the move from magnetic weather symbols to hi-tech maps over the decades, he said: "Everything's changed. The Met Office now has huge super computers doing billions of calculations a second. We now have satellites covering the earth, without which we couldn't actually do the forecast."

He added: "I started off - cushy number - two or three broadcasts a day, nice hours ... now we're working the awful expression 24/7 and we're doing what will shortly be up to 120 broadcasts a day."

Of his plans for the future, Fish insisted he would not be vegetating and would still like to be involved in broadcasting.

"Obviously I would love to work proper hours at long last. I've done 42 (years) of shiftwork - let's say goodbye to the 4 o'clock starts and the night shifts," he said.

Next week the veteran forecaster, who lives in Middlesex and is married with two daughters, will take a trip to Buckingham Palace to pick up his MBE from the Queen.

His final weather broadcast will follow tonight's 10pm News on BBC1.