Children in Need: Weatherman's 24hr Drumathon smashes record

BBC weatherman Owain Wyn Evans has made Children in Need history after his drumathon became the charity's most successful 24hr challenge ever.

The broadcaster has raised £3m since first picking up his drumsticks on Friday morning.

He added he had been overwhelmed by the public's generous response, after finding out it had smashed the record.

"I've heard that something has been broken - I don't know what, other than lots of drumsticks!" he said.

"To hear that it's raised that much... I'm speechless."

"Even when I did that first video in the April at the start of the first lockdown, I had no idea that was going to do what it did," he said.

"I just thought that it might just make some people smile because it was a really terrifying time."

During his 24-hour challenge, Owain, from Ammanford in Carmarthenshire, needed five-minute breaks every hour for health and safety reasons.

"A lot of the time I wanted to carry on. But because I was getting injuries as time was passing, they needed to be managed," he said.

He added he had been joined by an "incredible array of drummers", including Skunk Anansie's Mark Richardson.

But he was proud to have completed the challenge in his own style.

"I wanted it to be something that inspired people hopefully and to show that anyone can play the drums... you don't have to look a certain way," he said.

"I wanted to do it my own way, and starting with Celine Dion and finishing with Britney Spears was very much me, darling!"