Judith Ralston was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and grew up across the Shandon, Trinity, and Joppa areas of the city. Her father, Alex, worked as a sailor. She discovered a love of music at St Cuthbert’s Primary School and went on to train as a classical singer at St Augustine’s High School, Edinburgh.

She studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, graduating in 1991, before further training at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and built a professional opera career performing across the UK and Europe. A vocal injury ended her singing career at age 28.

She joined BBC Scotland in 1999, initially as a traffic reporter, before moving into news and then weather presenting, becoming a fixture on Reporting Scotland.

Since 2023, she has co-presented BBC Scotland‘s Scotland’s Greatest Escape alongside Grado, exploring unique places to stay around the country. She is married to Fraser Ralston and has three children.