Good Morning Britain star defends controversial segment after outrage from viewers-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Laura Tobin has fired back at her critics (Picture: Brett D. Cove / SplashNews.com)

Good Morning Britain star Laura Tobin has addressed fierce backlash after she travelled to the Arctic for a report on the dangers of global warming.

The 42-year-old meteorologist and weather presenter, who appears frequently on ITV’s breakfast show, was heavily criticised in the past when she went with a crew to report on location about the impact climate change is having on the region.

Laura has been called out by viewers several times over the years for her trips, but she has responded to the backlash and defended the decision to travel for the coverage.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, she said ‘If I do something, like, we flew to the Arctic, people said, “Oh, you’re going to the Arctic to talk about climate change, why are you flying there?”

‘We had minimal crew, we flew economy, we offset our carbon footprint, because it was much more valuable to the planet for us telling a story that people would have heard, rather than not going, and not telling it.’

Laura argued that plenty of viewers were inspired by the broadcast, which was enhanced by being on location showing the impact first hand.

She added: ‘And the amount of people that came to us and said, “Oh my goodness, we talked about this school, we changed our way of living and found things that we could do to make a difference.” ‘

During her trip to the Arctic Circle in 2021, Laura explained how significant an impact the region has on the UK and rest of the world.

‘The Arctic is one of the main drivers for the weather in the UK, meaning warming here will change our weather,’ she wrote on ITV’s website at the time.

The GMB star has been vocal about the impacts of climate change (Picture: Shutterstock)

She added: ‘I wanted to come and tell the story but it’s not a story, it’s reality. What was impossible is not possible and becoming more probable.’

At the time, viewers hit out at the coverage, claiming it was hypocritical to tell the story on location while urging people to make changes.

‘How much has it cost to fly Laura out, what’s her carbon footprint for the journey? Hypocrites,’ argued one viewer at the time.

Another added: ‘I know, we’ll FLY somewhere to moan about our carbon footprint and global warming. They could have easily done this from the studio. What an own goal.’

GMB has defended her from the backlash (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

And a third person said: ‘Absolute hypocrisy in its pure form, flying a crew out to film Laura live from the Arctic Circle, to preach to us all on climate change, which she could have easily done from the studio.’

However, GMB insisted the trip was ‘carbon offset’, and that it was important to show the realities of the situation first hand.

A spokesperson said: ‘All flights booked as part of Good Morning Britain’s trip to the Arctic were carbon offset.

‘The Norwegian Polar Institute worked very closely with GMB on the trip, as they were keen to demonstrate what impact global warming is having in the region.’

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1.

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