Met Office facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Met Office

Logo of the Met Office since 1987
Agency overview
Formed	1 August 1854; 171 years ago (1 August 1854)
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom
Headquarters	Met Office Operations Centre, Exeter, Devon (since December 2003)
Motto	Per scientiam tempestates praedicere
Employees	2,223 (March 2022)
Minister responsible	Rt Hon Michelle Donelan MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Deputy Minister responsible	Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP, Minister of State (Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation)
Agency executives	Penelope Endersby, Chief Executive Stephen Belcher, Chief of Science and Technology
Parent agency	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

The Met Office is the United Kingdom's main weather and climate service. It helps us understand and predict the weather. It is part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The current leader is Penelope Endersby, who became the Chief Executive in December 2018. She is the first woman to hold this important job. The Met Office makes weather predictions for all timeframes, from daily forecasts to long-term climate change studies.

History of the Met Office

Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy, who started the Met Office

The Met Office started on 1 August 1854. It was a small part of the Board of Trade. It was created by Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy. His main goal was to help sailors stay safe at sea.

A big storm in October 1859 caused a ship called the Royal Charter to sink. Sadly, 459 lives were lost. This event led to the first storm warning service. FitzRoy set up 15 stations along the coast. These stations could warn ships about strong winds.

The new electric telegraph helped spread warnings quickly. It also helped create a network for observing weather. The Met Office began giving weather forecasts to newspapers in 1861. FitzRoy used special tools called barographs to help with this. These tools recorded air pressure. After FitzRoy's death in 1866, forecasts stopped for a while. But they started again in 1879.

Working with the Military

The old Met Office building in Bracknell, Berkshire. It was knocked down after the move to Exeter.

After the First World War, the Met Office joined the Air Ministry in 1919. This was because weather information was very important for planes. Many Met Office stations were set up at RAF airfields. This is why you still hear military airfields mentioned in weather reports today. In 1936, the Met Office split. The Royal Navy then got its own weather forecasts.

In April 1990, the Met Office became an agency of the Ministry of Defence. This meant it had to act more like a business.

Changes in Government Departments

The Met Office has moved between different government departments over the years. It was part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2011. Then it joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in 2016.

Even though it's not part of the Ministry of Defence anymore, the Met Office still works closely with the military. It has offices at RAF and Army bases in the UK and other countries. The Mobile Met Unit (MMU) is a special team. These are Met Office staff who are also RAF reservists. They go with armed forces during conflicts. They tell the military about weather conditions, which is very important for battles and flying.

Where the Met Office Is

The Met Office headquarters building in Exeter, opened in 2003.

In September 2003, the Met Office moved its main office. It moved from Bracknell in Berkshire to a new building in Exeter. This new building cost £80 million. It was officially opened on 21 June 2004. This was just before the Met Office's 150th birthday!

The Met Office has offices all over the world. This includes a forecasting centre in Aberdeen. It also has offices in Gibraltar and on the Falklands. Some Met Office staff work at universities, like the University of Reading. They also have people at Army and Air Force bases in the UK and abroad.

Weather Forecasts

Shipping Forecast

The Shipping Forecast is a special weather report. The Met Office creates it. It is broadcast on BBC Radio 4. This forecast helps people who are sailing around the British Isles.

Weather Warnings

The Met Office gives out Severe Weather Warnings for the UK. These warnings tell people about bad weather that could cause problems. For example, they warn about weather that might affect transport or put people in danger. In 2008, they added a new type of warning called an 'Advisory'.

In September 2015, the Met Office and Met Éireann (Ireland's weather service) started naming storms. This helps everyone know which storm is being talked about. The first named storm was Abigail. In 2019, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) also joined this system.

How Weather Models Work

The main job of the Met Office is to create forecast models. They gather information from weather satellites in space. They also use observations from the ground. Then, powerful computers process this data. They use a special software system called the unified model.

For the UK, they use a detailed model that covers the UK and nearby areas. They also have models for Europe, the North Atlantic, and the whole world. The Met Office's global forecasts are known to be among the best in the world. Sometimes, human forecasters adjust the computer forecasts.

Flood Forecasting

The Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) started in 2009. It is a joint effort between the Environment Agency and the Met Office. Their job is to give advice about flood risks in England and Wales. The FFC is based at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter. In Scotland, a similar service is provided by the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service.

Seasonal Forecasts

The Met Office also makes forecasts for seasons and longer periods. They share these with people and businesses around the world. The Met Office was the first weather service to be recognized globally for its long-range forecasts. They share these forecasts with other national weather services worldwide.

Forecasts for TV

Some TV companies use Met Office data for their weather forecasts. For example, ITV uses Met Office information for ITV Weather.

The BBC used to use Met Office forecasts. But in 2015, the BBC decided to use a different company called MeteoGroup. This was to get the best value for money. However, the BBC still uses some Met Office data, especially for severe weather warnings and the Shipping Forecast.

World Area Forecast Centre

The Met Office is one of only two World Area Forecast Centres (WAFCs). It is called WAFC London. The other one is in Kansas City, USA. WAFC data is used every day to help planes fly safely and efficiently. This data tells pilots about wind speed, air temperature, clouds, and other important things for long flights.

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre

The Met Office also runs the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC). This centre forecasts where volcanic ash clouds might go. Volcanic ash can be very dangerous for planes. The London VAAC covers the British Isles, the north-east Atlantic, and Iceland. It uses satellite images, seismic data, and observations from Iceland's active volcanoes. A special computer model called NAME helps predict where the ash clouds will move.

Air Quality Forecasts

The Met Office also gives air quality forecasts. These forecasts use a model called NAME. NAME was first made after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 to track nuclear accidents. Now, it helps predict how different things in the air will move.

The forecast tells us about pollutants and their effects on health:

Long-Term Climate Predictions

The Met Office helps bring together long-term climate predictions from around the world. They publish a summary each year called the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update.

Working with the IPCC

Until 2001, the Met Office hosted a working group for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This group focused on climate science.

Supercomputers

The Met Office needs very powerful supercomputers. This is because predicting weather and climate needs a lot of calculations. In November 1997, the Met Office supercomputer was the third most powerful in the world!

Helping Customers

The Met Office Contact Centre (called the Weather Desk) has won awards for its customer service. In 2015, they won awards for being top in combined channels, social media, call service, and email service. They were also named best in the public sector.

Weather Stations

The Met Office gets reports from many weather stations. Some stations are fully automatic, meaning machines do everything. Others are semi-automatic or manual, where people are involved. Many stations have special sensors and cameras. There are also 'upper air' stations that use balloons with instruments called radiosondes.

Some stations report only at certain times. Others, especially at RAF and Army Air Corps bases, report continuously. This is because military operations need constant weather updates. The usual report time is once an hour. But at airfields, reports are often twice an hour, with extra reports during bad weather.

Some stations only collect CLIMAT data. This includes things like maximum and minimum temperatures and total rainfall over a period. Often, people not directly employed by the Met Office, like Air traffic control staff, help with weather reports.

• Eskdalemuir Observatory
• Lerwick Observatory
• Penkridge weather station
• Prestatyn weather station
• Stonyhurst
• Sutton Bonington
• Wye weather station
• RAF Benson
• RAF Brize Norton weather station
• RAF Coningsby
• RAF Cranwell weather station
• RAF Kinloss weather station
• RAF Leeming weather station
• RAF Leuchars weather station
• RAF Linton-on-Ouse weather station
• RAF Lossiemouth weather station
• RAF Marham weather station
• RAF Northolt weather station
• RAF Odiham weather station
• RAF Shawbury
• RAF Waddington weather station
• Wattisham Flying Station weather station
• RAF Valley
• AAC Middle Wallop weather station

Weather Research

Meteorological Research Unit and FAAM

The FAAM BAe146-300 plane taking off at RIAT, RAF Fairford, England.

The Met Office has a Meteorological Research Unit (MRU) at Cardington. This unit studies the boundary layer, which is the lowest part of the atmosphere. They use a special tethered balloon for their research.

The Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) is based at Cranfield Airport. It works with the Natural Environment Research Council. FAAM uses a special modified plane, a BAe 146 type 301, to measure things in the atmosphere. This plane helps UK scientists study the atmosphere all over the world.

The FAAM plane helps with many types of studies, including:

• How light and clouds affect the atmosphere.
• Measuring chemicals in the troposphere (the lowest part of the atmosphere).
• Studying how clouds form and move.
• Understanding how weather systems work.
• Studying the Boundary layer and air movement.
• Checking ground-based instruments.
• Testing satellite instruments.
• Taking part in research trips in the UK and abroad.

Leaders of the Met Office

• Sir William Napier Shaw 1905–1920
• Sir Graham Sutton 1954–1965
• Sir Basil John Mason 1965–1983
• Sir John Houghton 1983–1991
• Julian Hunt 1992–1997
• Peter Ewins 1997–2004
• David Rogers 2004–2005
• Mark Hutchinson 2005–2007
• John Hirst 2007–2014
• Rob Varley 2014–2018
• Penelope Endersby 2018–

See also

In Spanish: Met Office para niños

• Climate of the United Kingdom
• Climate change in the United Kingdom
• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
• Met Éireann, the Irish weather service
• Winter storm naming in the United Kingdom and Ireland

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