Bill Giles, the country's favourite cheery weatherman, has been branded a "bully" by BBC colleagues.
Claims that the top Oxfordshire broadcaster was cruel to members of his 21-strong Met Office staff have been upheld by BBC bosses following a seven-month internal investi- gation.
And now the 59-year old could decide to call it a day - after a career spanning almost 28 years.
Two of Mr Giles's staff, 44-year old Richard Edgar and David Lee, 48, are on long-term sick leave after complaining that he subjected them to a campaign of upsetting e-mails and upsetting memos. But Mr Giles hit back at the allegations and claimed that some of his staff - who can double their basic £25,000 Civil Service salary from the Met Office by TV appearances - were "ego maniacs" who were "always moaning".
At the comfortable family home in Chinnor he shares with his second wife, Maureen, Mr Giles told the Oxford Mail: "Out of 21 staff, there were perhaps three or four who had a few gripes.
"If you are head of services, as I am, and you make a decision that people don't like, it's not difficult for them to throw their hands up and start complaining about 'harassment'. "This whole business is about one thing: should a manager be allowed to manage?"
The cruelty allegations were also levelled at BBC editor John Teather, with claims that both men "stalked the corridors of the weather centre like prefects at a public school" and made the lives of staff hell.
Mr Giles, who has been under severe stress as he awaited the findings of the inquiry, returned from a working trip to Fiji this week to face the latest stormy developments.
He said: "I enjoy my job. But at 60, most civil servants retire anyway - although I have already done a business plan which would take the Met Office's broadcasting plans up to 2004. "I'd like to carry on, but only if managers are allowed to manage.
"If it all gets too frustrating, well, I've got a nice garden here, so I'll just say 'to hell with it all'."
A Met Office spokesman refused to comment and said the investigation was still continuing.
Mr Giles added: "I am confident that eventually these accusations will prove groundless, but it is always a worry."
Story date: Friday 22 October
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