Updated at 1:03 p.m. ET: LONDON -- Prince Charles, the heir to Britain's throne, made a surprise appearance as a television weatherman Thursday.

He gave viewers of BBC Scotland the news that it would be "cold, wet and windy" across most of the country.

The prince -- who is Queen Elizabeth's first-born son -- was on a visit marking 60 years of BBC Scotland Television.

Robin McCallum, a weather presenter for ITV London, told NBC News that the prince looked "very relaxed."

"He's doing a very good job of explaining the weather," McCallum added. "He's very easy on-screen."

More coverage of Britain's royal family

However, McCallum said Charles wasn't quite perfect -- describing him as "a little bit trigger happy."

"I have to point out a slight criticism -- he's pressed his plunger -- which is the thing that scrolls from one graphic to the next -- and we should really still have been on the graphic at the end of the weather report. Other than that, it's an immaculate job."

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Donald Trump swept into Scotland's parliament on Wednesday to demand the country end plans for an offshore wind farm he fears will spoil the view at his exclusive new $1.2-billion golf resort.

In a typically blunt display, the property tycoon told an inquiry into renewable energy to stop the wind power efforts in the country's north.

"Scotland, if you pursue this policy of these monstrous turbines, Scotland will go broke," he said. "They are ugly, they are noisy and they are dangerous. If Scotland does this, Scotland will be in serious trouble and will lose tourism to places like Ireland, and they are laughing at us."

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Donald Trump speaks to members of public following his address to the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday.

Members of the committee are looking at how achievable the Scottish government's green targets for 2020 are. The plans for 11 200-foot tall wind turbines are part of the government's goal of positioning itself as a leader in renewable energy.

When challenged to produce hard evidence about his claims on the negative impact of turbines, Trump said: "I am the evidence, I am a world-class expert in tourism."

The public gallery burst into laughter.

'They wanted my money'
Trump claimed Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and his predecessor Jack McConnell gave him verbal assurances a wind farm would not be built off the coast of his resort.

"They wanted my money," Trump said. "I was lured into buying the site, after I had spent my money they came and announced the plan. At the time I bought the land I felt confident the wind farm was not going to happen."

The inquiry, recorded by broadcaster BBC Scotland, heard that Trump paid $7.2 million for the majority of the land eight miles north of Aberdeen in January 2006. The resort is due to open on July 10.

There was an irony to Trump's complaints: When Salmond backed Trump's plans for the resort, he was hailed a "great man" by the tycoon.

Only four years ago, the two men appeared to be the best of golfing friends, when Mr Trump invited Salmond and actor Sir Sean Connery – who endorses Salmond’s pro-independence political party -- to join him on the first tee at the opening of the resort.

But Trump turned on the leader over plans to put the wind farm off the coast and within view of the golf course. He claims the turbines will ruin the environment and will be bad for tourism.

In February, Trump wrote a public letter to Salmond announcing an international crusade against wind farm developments around Scotland’s coast, The Scotsman reported.

In a furious attack, Trump accused Salmond of being “hell-bent on destroying Scotland’s coastline and therefore Scotland itself.”

He wrote: “You will single-handedly have done more damage to Scotland than virtually any event in Scottish history!”

The course was built on sand dunes despite protests from locals and environmentalists. The dunes, which were home to rare wading birds, were bulldozed to make way for the fairways in 2009 and 2010.

Scotland's tourism agency said its own research shows 83 percent of UK visitors will not be turned off by turbines.

"We are both reassured and encouraged by the findings of our survey which suggest that, at the current time, the overwhelming majority of consumers do not feel wind farms spoil the look of the countryside," said VisitScotland chief Malcolm Roughead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sweetie, a female giant panda, met her intended breeding mate, Sunshine, at Edinburgh Zoo a day ago.

Sparks flew, there was "vocalization," lots of encouragement and some physical contact, but the prospective lovers did not close the deal due to a lack of experience, said Iain Valentine, director of research and conservation at the zoo.

“Each time the pair met we saw a huge amount of eagerness and attraction between Tian Tian (whose name means Sweetie in Chinese) and Yang Guang (Sunshine)," Valentine said in a statement. "... He mounted her several times, however full mating did not occur. Although both have bred before and have borne cubs with other pandas, they are both still relatively inexperienced."

With time running out for a mating this year, the pair may have to wait until 2013, zoo officials said.

The pandas arrived in the Scottish capital in December from China as part of a 10-year conservation project. They have been munching their way through nearly 110 pounds of bamboo a day since then as they settled into their new home, the zoo said.

Sweetie, 8, has previously given birth to twins. She is described by the zoo as being mischievous and quite fussy with her food, but also a panda of "great character and very smart." Sunshine, also 8, is a "gentle giant," who allows keepers to get very close and loves food and being outside -- even in heavy rain.

The pair had their first close encounter after 9 a.m. Tuesday, when the zoo's "panda cams" were turned off and an indoor enclosure was lifted so they could make one another's acquaintance. "Amidst much excitement, most of it from the pandas, the two met," the zoo said in the statement.

David Moir / Reuters

Yang Guang, a male giant panda rubs himself against the barrier to the enclosure of female giant panda Tian Tian, as he walks in his enclosure at Edinburgh zoo in Scotland April 4, 2012.

There were several other encounters on Tuesday and Wednesday, and they were to see each other later Wednesday. But the chances of achieving a successful mating this year have decreased, the zoo said. Females can only conceive once a year and there is a narrow 36-hour window to mate, which can make reproduction tough.

Experts had decided the time was right after doing hormone testing and observing their behavior over several weeks. Valentine had noted Sweetie going into her pool in late March, which he said she was likely to be doing to cool down as her body prepared for ovulation, and that Sunshine was doing handstands to show "how fit and virile he is."

Visitors had "also spotted them both with their paws up against the grate between the two outdoor enclosures at the same time, popularly dubbed the ‘love tunnel,’" Valentine said.

Although they didn't end up mating, the experience for them and the zoo was "immeasurable," the zoo said. 

"We are hugely encouraged by how much the natural sparks flew between the two animals as, like humans, not all male and female pandas are attracted to each other. Both were keen to mate, but their inexperience showed," Valentine said.

The pandas came to Scotland after an agreement was signed in January 2011 between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Organization. China has historically sent the furry creatures abroad as a sort of cultural ambassador.

Giant pandas are in serious decline due to habitat loss, with fewer than 1,600 remaining in the wild. China's Wolong National Nature Reserve has 60 sites set up to help protect the panda population and increase its numbers in the wild, which has helped, though they are still an endangered species, the zoo said.

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LONDON -- Experts who worked on the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico have been called in to halt the flow of natural gas from a rig in the North Sea.

All 238 workers were evacuated from French oil group Total's Elgin platform, which is located about 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, after the leak was detected on Sunday. An exclusion zone has also been established around the site.

Total has said it may take six months to stem the flow of gas, according to Reuters.

ITV's Scotland correspondent Debi Edward reports.

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A teenager in Scotland who was told to clean his room last month discovered more than just dirty socks: He found 12 lottery tickets, among them, a winner.

STV in Scotland reported that after his mother nagged him for weeks, Ryan Kitchin, of Penicuik, discovered the stub but didn’t know he had picked a lucky combination of five numbers and the bonus ball for the Feb. 8 draw.

"I was about to bin them but at the last minute I got this strange feeling that I should get them checked,” Kitchin, 19, told the Telegraph of London.

Instead, he brought the tickets to Tesco, the supermarket store where he works part time.

At work, a colleague checked the numbers and named him a winner -- although Kitchin couldn’t tell how much he was about to pocket. A call to the lottery operator Camelot revealed that he won £52,981, or $83,781.

“I had to phone up Camelot and the woman was asking me lots of questions, and I just wanted her to get to the point,” he said, according to the Mirror. “When I gave her the last number of the serial code, she said I had won £52,981. I just couldn't believe it.”

Kitchin’s plans? To pay off his car loan and take his mom on a much-needed vacation.

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Donald Trump reportedly chastised Scotland's first minister over plans for a windfarm off the coast and near his luxury golf course development.

Donald Trump claims Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, seems "hell-bent on destroying Scotland's coastline" and making a laughingstock of the country with a wind farm near the billionaire businessman's golf resort, British media reported Thursday.

In a letter to Salmond, Trump said of the proposal for 11 64-story offshore turbines, "With the reckless installation of these monsters, you will single-handedly have done more damage to Scotland than virtually any event in Scottish history."

Trump is nearing completion of the first golf course at his $1.2 billion resort near Aberdeen. It was to include a second 18-hole course, a five-star hotel, luxury villas and timeshare apartments, but last month he froze plans for all but the first course until a decision is made on the "ugly monstrosities."

The windfarm, The European Offshore Wind Deployment Center, is a $237 million venture by Swedish utility company Vattenfall, engineering firm Technip and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, the Scotland Daily Record reported.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, was the subject of a scathing letter by billionaire businessman Donald Trump.

Trump, who touts his "world's greatest golf course" as a generator of 7,000 jobs, said he will fight the wind farm, which Scottish officials have said could power the country seven times over.

"As a matter of fact, I have just authorized my staff to allocate a substantial amount of money to launch an international campaign to fight your plan to surround Scotland's coast with many thousands of wind turbines." He added: "Please understand that I am doing this to save Scotland."

The BBC reported that Trump also said in the letter, "Taxing your citizens to subsidize wind projects owned by foreign energy companies will destroy your country and its economy. Jobs will not be created in Scotland because these ugly monstrosities known as turbines are manufactured in other countries such as China.

"These countries are laughing at you," he wrote, likening the turbines to "bars of a prison."

"Luckily, tourists will not suffer because there will be none as they will be going to other countries that had the foresight to use other forms of energy."

The Scottish government says the country's waters "are estimated to have as much as a quarter of Europe's potential offshore wind energy. A recent study suggests that harnessing just a third of the practical resource off our coast by 2050 would enable us to generate enough electricity to power Scotland seven times over.... An independent Scotland will be able to take full responsibility for this renewables revolution, along with the investment and thousands of jobs it brings."

Trump last year blamed a failing global economy for delaying Aberdeen's luxury development, according to a report at the time in The Guardian. "The world has crashed" since 2005, Trump said, citing the timing of his purchase of the Menie estate and dunes.

The purchase provoked a long-running battle with local residents, councillors and environmental groups about his proposals, which involved heavily altering the legally protected rare dunes, The Guardian reported.

Trump is using the wind farm as an excuse to cut and run, David Milne, a neighbor of the Trump property who has refused to yield to the developer and sell him his home, told The Guardian in January.

In pursuing the Scottish estate for his project, Trump has touted Scotland as the birthplace of his mother, Mary MacLeod. A New York Daily News story from June 2008 shows him outside a house in Tong, on the Isle of Lewis, where his mother was brought up before she emigrated to the U.S.

"She grew up in a simple croft until she landed in Manhattan at the age of 20 and her first language was Gaelic," says a Trump-signed letter on the Trump International-Scotland website, which also traces his Scottish ancestry.

Msnbc.com's Jim Gold contributed to this story. 

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Marco Fois of Italy dives into the Tiber River from the Cavour bridge, as part of traditional New Year celebrations in Rome Sunday.

Thousands of people across Europe celebrated the arrival of the New Year by jumping into chilly seas, rivers and lakes Sunday.

In Italy, several people dived into the River Tiber in a New Year's tradition that stretches back to 1946.

In Netherlands, thousands of people were said to have run into the icy waters of the North Sea near The Hague.

Peter Dejong / AP

Despite temperatures of around 52 degrees Fahrenheit, thousands of people celebrate the New Year by running into the North Sea at Scheveningen, near The Hague, Netherlands.

Further north in Scotland, scores of people took part in the annual "Loony Dook" (which roughly translates as mad dive or "ducking" in the water) event in the Firth of Forth, an estuary leading to the North Sea.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

New Year revelers, many in fancy dress, braved freezing conditions in the River Forth in front of the Forth Rail Bridge during the annual "Loony Dook" swim Sunday.

And in Germany, New Year's day swimmers in a Berlin lake included a group known as the "Berlin Seals."

Maurizio Gambarini / AFP - Getty Images

A winter bather of the "Berlin Seals" poses in near-freezing water of the Orankesee lake during a New Year's swimming event Sunday.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.