Matt, 47, has covered many of the world's biggest stories.

He was embedded in Afghanistan with British forces, was on the ground in Haiti after the devastating quake, and covered terror attacks in the UK and France.

Matt has also reported on UK general elections and US politics, interviewing a host of world leaders as well as famous names from sport and entertainment.

He'll start on the Breakfast show this weekend, before taking on programmes across the week - standing in on the News Hour from 5pm, The UK Tonight from 8pm weekdays and Sky News Today, among others.

Matt will also present a weekly Sunday show from 10am-2pm, following Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, with all the day's big stories and interviews.

"Now is the perfect time to join Sky News as it continues its exciting evolution under relatively new leadership," said Matt.

"With much of the world's population heading to the polls this year, including general elections in the USA and - most likely - the UK, there is nowhere better to be involved with breaking news.

"I'm looking forward to providing our audience with a trusted and balanced understanding of what is happening in an increasingly polarised world, with humility, honesty, and humour too."

Executive chairman of Sky News Group, David Rhodes, said: "Matt brings considerable journalistic experience to the challenges we engage with every day at Sky News. He'll be an important part of the multi-platform story we are telling today.

"We're so encouraged that someone of Matt's skill and perspective is joining us in this critical time for our profession and our world."

Before joining Sky, Matt was consulting for leading UK public relations firm Freuds.