In September 1985 Charlton joined the
Met Office in
Bracknell, where she worked as a
computer programmer. In 1987, she transferred to the London Weather Centre as a forecaster, joining the
BBC weather team in March 1989. In the summer of 1990, she spent three and a half months working as a forecaster with the
RAF in Germany. She appeared on a range of channels including
Breakfast News from 1992. She took maternity leave from 1999, which she extended to bring up her son. Charlton returned to BBC Weather bulletins in March 2006, appearing regularly on
BBC News 24,
BBC Radio 4,
BBC World and
BBC One. She left the
BBC Weather Centre in March 2007. She is a
fellow of the
Royal Meteorological Society. ==Personal life==