ITV weather girl Sian Lloyd is as disappointed as everyone else that she can’t guarantee a sunny forecast for the months ahead, but on her personal horizon, the future looks set fair.

She’s been on screen for more than two decades and at 54 years old, she looks better than ever.

“Well, love certainly puts a spring in your step,” says Lloyd, who’s a size 10 and radiates contentment and charm as she chats about her career, her personal life, being reduced to tears by an allergy, as well as the thorny subject of age discrimination on television.

“I wish I could tell people there’s a great summer ahead but we don’t get the long-term forecast – that’s down to the Met Office – so I’m as much in the dark as everyone else,”

she says.

“I’m being bombarded with people coming up to me and asking, ‘Is summer on its way?’ “Ijust say, ‘IfI had my way, it would be’, with some rainfall at night and sunshine all day, but that’s not in my gift.”

Lloyd was born in Bridgend, Wales, trained as a journalist and won her role on ITV after doing documentaries about weather.

“I’ve always loved the weather – there’s never a dull moment with it, because Mother Nature is such a ferocious, unpredictable beast that you never know what’s around the corner.”

Lloyd is the channel’s longestserving weather presenter but she has endured stormy times in her personal life.

She dated Lembit Opik, former Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, for three-and-ahalf years but broke off their engagement in 2006, the year they were due to marry.

Six months after the break-up, Lloyd met millionaire motor-racing entrepreneur Jonathan Ashman, 63, and the couple married after a 10-month romance.

“Do I regret the relationship with Lembit? No, it was only a few years and I was able to nip it in the bud and move on,” she says.

“I think experiences make you stronger and help you to know what you want out of life. Once you’ve been with someone who’s a whirling dervish, you realise how tedious it is.

“Going through that dross allows you to recognise the real thing when you find it, the prince among the frogs if you like.”

She and Ashman married five years ago in Portmeirion, Wales, after he proposed to her at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, Kenya. They split their time between homes in London and North Wales.

“It was fate that we met, as I wasn’t looking for someone so shortly after my break-up.

“Apparently, Jonathan had noticed me a few times at events and we were finally introduced to each other by former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain.

“I tease Peter that he should be a matchmaker because he also introduced Jonathan’s daughter, Suzanne, to Tony Blair’s son, Euan, and they’re getting married in September.

“It was an instant attraction between Jonathan and I. He has such a kind face and Iimmediately tuned into that kindness. We both knew it was right very quickly.

“I’m so lucky because Jonathan’s truly my soulmate. When I’m with him, it’s like being with myself, because we’re so close that there’s no effort involved.

“We’re in tune with one another and enjoy so many of the same things, such as travelling, hiking and the outdoor life.”

There’s only one cloud looming in this sunny picture – her problem with hay fever, which is triggered by grass pollen.

“There are millions of hay fever sufferers and I know only too well the symptoms can be totally miserable.

“When I’ve done outside broadcasts in green spaces,I’ve had tears rolling down my cheeks from my streaming eyes, which become bloodshot and puffy, and I sneeze continuously.

“It’s certainly not a good look for TV, and at one stage it was a standing joke among the film crew who used to shout, ‘Stop the camera, Sian’s crying again!’ Over the years, she’s unsuccessfully tried a variety of remedies but recently found relief using a drug-free powder nasal spray, Care Allergy Defence.

“Even though I have an advantage in getting the inside story on the weather, so I know if the wind’s going to whip up the pollen or the rain’s going to dampen it down,I still need help when it happens,” she says.

“Care Allergy Defence has helped a lot and it’s ideal for me because it’s natural. Antihistamines make me drowsy and are unsuitable as I need to be totally alert as a broadcaster.I was at my wits’ end untilIfound this.”

Few viewers would guess her secret summer problem as Lloyd is known for her glamorous, perfectly groomed appearance.

“Undoubtedly, women in television seem to have to look 10 times better than the men.I don’t feel that pressure myself, but I’ve always believed in the importance of taking care of my health and looks, and ensuring Ilook as good as possible, for my own personal satisfaction.”

She swims, cycles and undertakes annual hikes for charity in various parts of the world. As a keen cook, she competed in Celebrity MasterChef in 2009, and she says her love of food means she prefers to focus on healthy eating rather than dieting.

While she’s enjoyed longevity on screen, she’d like to see television more reflective of all ages in society – for men and women.

“I think there is a bias to young, glamorous weather girls and boys, although I’ve passed the big 50 mark, so that’s a big tribute to ITV.

They’ve been very loyal to me,” she says.

“My big ambition is to see a larger, older woman, a sort of female equivalent of lovely former weather presenter Bill Giles, then I think women in broadcasting will no longer have anything to prove!

“A presenting role should be about what you know and how you do the job rather than how you look and what age you are, but I think television just reflects society in being biased to youth.

“Sometimes you look at some presenters and think, ‘Wow, the secret for selection is obviously to know as little as possible about a subject and then you’ll get chosen to present it!’”

Just before she sets off in the rain for the studio, Lloyd, who always carries waterproofs so she’s not caught out on screen with a ‘bad hair day’, says she’d also like to see longer weather forecasts.

“With an audience of about six to seven million for the weather, and when we have extreme conditions that can add an extra million viewers, its popularity isn’t in any doubt,” she says.

“Yet the forecast is usually squeezed into a tiny slot of around a minute, in actual broadcast time that can work out at about only 40 seconds for weather throughout the UK. Let’s face it, we’re a weatherobsessed nation and we should cater for that!”

Å Sian Lloyd uses Care Allergy Defence 500mg, approx 200 sprays, £5.99, to relieve her hay fever symptoms.It is available from Sainsbury’s pharmacies, Morrisons, Asda and Holland & Barrett stores. Visit allergydefence.co.uk