BBC weather presenter Alexis Green has spoken out about the "horrendous" harassment case she has had to deal with in the past few months.

She had to take time off from presenting on BBC South Today after being harassed by Timothy O'Brien.

Ms Green was bombarded with scores of sexual messages, photos and videos, which had a huge impact on her life.

The harassment started in November 2022 and went on for several months before Ms Green went to the police.

Officers arrested O'Brien and after admitting harassment against Ms Green in court on March 15, the 55-year-old was jailed for 17 weeks and given a restraining order.

Alexis Green had to take time off work due to the harassment she suffered (Image: Rolf Marriott/BBC)

Ms Green spoke to Sally Nugent on BBC Breakfast to discuss the impact this all had on her.

She hopes speaking out will help other people seek assistance if they are experiencing the same sort of harassment.

'I was trying to hold it together on air'

BBC News reported that Ms Green had blocked the sender initially but he ended up creating a new Facebook profile and started messaging her again, about two to three times each day.

As well as sending messages O'Brien also started sending her explicit videos about his own sexual desires.

The harassment preyed on her mind while she was at work, leaving her feeling "physically sick" thinking about how the man sending her these messages was watching her on the programme.

She said: "My legs were shaking, my hands were shaking, I was trying to hold it together on air.

"Obviously you've got a job to do, you have to present something to the public.

"I felt I had a job to do but I also felt very anxious and scared at the same time."

The distress also had a huge impact on her personal life, away from the studio.

"I am a keen runner so I'd go out and pound the streets on my own but I found myself looking over my shoulder, really scared to see if he'd been lurking in the bush," she said.

"It got to the point where I'd go to bed at night and I wouldn't sleep at all.

"The dog would bark downstairs and I'd be instantly opening the curtains, thinking there was someone out there or he was out there."

'The court case was horrendous for me'

The case went to court and Ms Green described it as a "horrendous" experience.

She explained: "I had to sit in a room with him in court.

"Obviously the court case was horrendous for me... I sat there in the dock shaking.

"It was really, really hard but at the end of it I had a result."

Ms Green does hope that speaking about her experience will encourage others to come forward if they are dealing with similar harassment.

"I felt that being on the television, I was the voice of the people out there who are going through exactly the same thing," she said.

"I wonder if sometimes there's an element of acceptance - a certain level of harassment that goes on online - a lot of the time to women.

"Maybe we just accept it but maybe we shouldn't.

"I think I can focus on the future - I just have to take it a day at a time. Hopefully, with time, things will get better."