Met Office
Current logo, as of 2000
Agency overview
Formed	1854
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom
Headquarters	Exeter
Agency Executive	John Hirst
Website
www.metoffice.gov.uk

The Met Office (originally an abbreviation for Meteorological Office, but now the official name in itself), which has its headquarters at Exeter in Devon, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. Part of the Met Office complex in Exeter is the Met Office College, which handles the training for internal personnel and many forecasters from around the world. The current chief executive is John Hirst who replaced Mark Hutchinson on 17 September 2007. The city of Exeter is the county town of Devon, in the southwest of England, also known as the West Country. ... The city of Exeter is the county town of Devon, in the southwest of England, also known as the West Country. ... For other uses, see Devon (disambiguation). ... For the geological process, see Weathering or Erosion. ... is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

History

Established in 1854 as a small department within the Board of Trade under Robert FitzRoy as a service to mariners. The loss of the passenger vessel the Royal Charter and 459 lives off the coast of Anglesey in a violent storm in October 1859 led to the first gale warning service. In 1861 FitzRoy had established a network of 15 coastal stations from which visual gale warnings could be provided for ships at sea. The Board of Trade circa 1808. ... Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwins famous voyage, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality. ... This article is about maritime crew. ... Anglesey (historically Anglesea; Welsh: , pronounced (IPA)) is a predominantly Welsh-speaking island off the northwest coast of Wales. ...

The development of the electric telegraph in the 1870's led to the more rapid dissemination of warnings and also led to the development of an observational network which could then be used to provide synoptic analyses. Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ...

In 1879 the Met Office started providing forecast to Newspapers.

Following the First World War the Met Office later became part of the Air Ministry in 1920. In 1936 the Met Office split with services to the Royal Navy being provided by their own forecasting services. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The Air Ministry was formerly a department of the United Kingdom Government, established in 1918 with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the (then newly formed) Royal Air Force. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ...

It currently holds a quasi-governmental role, being required to act commercially but also remaining an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence. A little known branch of the Met Office known as the Mobile Met Unit (MMU) accompany forward units in times of conflict advising the armed forces of the prevailing conditions for battle, particularly the RAF. The Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research is also part of the Met Office. An Executive Agency is a British public institution that carries out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive. ... The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ... The Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, which is part of the Met Office and based at its headquaters in Exeter, provides a focus in the United Kingdom for the scientific issues associated with climate change. ...

The Shipping Forecast

One of the British stalwarts — the Shipping Forecast — is produced by the Met Office and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The Shipping Forecast has long been of real interest to, and vital to the safety of, Mariners traversing the Sea Areas around the British Isles and its broadcast on radio is still avidly listened to. Less vitally, the Shipping Forecast has been the subject of both books and song lyrics. The Shipping Forecast is a four-times-daily BBC radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. ... old Radio 4 logo BBC Radio 4 is a UK domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

Weather Forecasts and Warnings

At the Met Office, they have the responsibility to issue severe weather warnings for the United Kingdom through the National severe weather warning service (NSWWS). These are weather events that may affect transport infrastructure and endanger people's lives. In March 2008, the system was improved and a new stage of warning was introduced, the 'Advisory'.^[1] 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Their main role is to produce forecast models by gathering all the information from satellites in space and observations on earth, then processing it using supercomputers. If necessary, forecasters may then make adjustments to it. This main bulk of data is then passed on to companies who acquire it. In perticular, two of the main media companies, the BBC and ITV produce forecasts using the Met Office's data. At the BBC Weather Centre, they are continuously updated on the latest information arriving by computer, or by fax and e-mail. ^[2][3] The BBC's new graphics are used on all of their television weather broadcasts, but ITV use animated weather symbols. This is mainly how the public are informed of weather events which may affect day-to-day life. For other uses, please see Satellite (disambiguation) A satellite is an object that orbits another object (known as its primary). ... This article is about the idea of space. ... A supercomputer is a device for turning compute-bound problems into I/O-bound problems. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see ITV (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fax (disambiguation). ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Since the 2005 relaunch, a new glass globe has been the logo for BBC Weather and is shown at the beginning and end of all weather forecasts. ... For other uses, see ITV (disambiguation). ...

Met Office locations

The new building on the edge of Exeter

In 2003 the Met Office moved its headquarters to Exeter, in Devon from its previous location of Bracknell in Berkshire and it has a worldwide presence — including a forecasting centre in Aberdeen and offices in Gibraltar and on the Falklands. Other outposts lodge in establishments such as the Joint Centre for Mesoscale Meteorology (JCMM) at University of Reading in Berkshire, the Joint Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Research (JCHMR) site at Wallingford in Oxfordshire and there is also a Met Office presence at many Army and Air Force bases within the UK and abroad. Royal Navy weather forecasts are generally provided by naval officers, not Met Office personnel. Download high resolution version (1100x400, 102 KB)Panorama of the new UKMO building in Exeter, taken 2005/02/08 by William M. Connolley with a nikon coolpix 950. ... Download high resolution version (1100x400, 102 KB)Panorama of the new UKMO building in Exeter, taken 2005/02/08 by William M. Connolley with a nikon coolpix 950. ... The city of Exeter is the county town of Devon, in the southwest of England, also known as the West Country. ... For other uses, see Devon (disambiguation). ... Charles Square, Bracknell , Bracknell is a town in the Bracknell Forest borough of the English county of Berkshire. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Aberdeen (disambiguation). ... The Falkland Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the South Atlantic consisting of two main islands known as East Falkland and West Falkland and a number of smaller islands. ... Whiteknights Lake Whiteknights Lake in winter The University Great Hall, on the London Road Campus The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. ...

World Area Forecast Centre

The Met Office is also one of only two World Area Forecast Centres or WAFCs, and is referred to as WAFC London. The other WAFC is located in Missouri, USA but known as WAFC Washington. WAFC data are used daily to safely and economically route aircraft, particularly on long-haul journeys. The data provide details of wind speed and direction, air temperature, cloud type and tops, and other features of interest to the aviation community, such as volcanic ash eruptions. A World Area Forecast Center (WAFC) is a meteorological center that provides real-time meteorological information broadcasts for aviation purposes. ...

Air quality forecasts

The Met Office issues air quality forecasts made using NAME, the Met Office's medium-to-long-range atmospheric dispersion model. It was originally developed as a nuclear accident model following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, but has since evolved into an all-purpose dispersion model capable of predicting the transport, transformation and deposition of a wide class of airborne materials. NAME is used operationally by the Met Office as an emergency response model as well as for routine air quality forecasting. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a standardized index of the air quality in a given location, given in parts per billion. ... The NAME atmospheric pollution dispersion model [1][2][3][4] was first developed by the UKs Met Office in 1986 after the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, which demonstrated the need for a method that could predict the spread and deposition of radioactive gases or material released into the atmosphere. ... Industrial air pollution source Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. ... The nuclear power plant at Chernobyl prior to the completion of the sarcophagus. ...

In the air quality forecasts, the level of pollution is described either as an index (ranging from 1 to 10) or as a banding (low, moderate, high or very high). These levels are based on the health effects of each pollutant as shown just below.

The forecast is produced for a number of different pollutants and their typical health effects are shown in the following table.

High Performance Computing

Due to the large amount of computation needed for Numerical Weather Prediction the Met Office has had some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. In November 1997 the Met Office supercomputer was ranked third in the world. ^[4]. An example of 500 mb geopotential height prediction from a numerical weather prediction model Numerical weather prediction is the science of predicting the weather using mathematical models of the atmosphere. ...

Weather stations

Reports (observations) from weather stations vary considerably. They can be automatic (totally machine produced), semi-automatic (part-machine and part manual), or manual. Some stations produce manual observations during business hours and revert to automatic observations outside these times. Many stations now also feature recent innovations such as "present weather" sensors, CCTV, etc. A technician examines a weather stations anemometer. ... This article refers to a surveillance system. ...

Some stations have limited reporting times, while other report continuously, mainly RAF and Army Air Corps stations where a manned met office is provided for military operations. The "standard" is a once-hourly reporting schedule, but automatic stations can often be "polled" as required, while stations at airfields regularly report twice-hourly, with additional (often frequent in times of bad weather) special reports as necessary to inform airfield authorities of changes to the weather that may affect aviation operations. For schedule in computer science, see schedule (computer science). ... For other uses, see Airport (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Airport (disambiguation). ... Aviation encompasses all the activities relating to airborne devices created by human ingenuity, generally known as aircraft. ...

Some stations report only CLIMAT data (e.g maximum and minimum temperatures, rainfall totals over a period, etc.) and these are usually recorded at 0900 and 2100 hours daily. Weather reports are often performed by Observers not specifically employed by the Met Office, e.g. Air traffic control staff, Coastguards, University staff, etc. Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ... In meteorology, precipitation is any kind of water that falls from the sky as part of the weather. ... For the Canadian musical group, see Air Traffic Control (band). ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ...

• Penkridge weather station
• Wye weather station
• RAF Lossiemouth weather station
• RAF Kinloss weather station
• RAF Leuchars weather station
• RAF Leeming weather station
• RAF Marham weather station
• RAF Cranwell weather station
• RAF Waddington weather station
• RAF Odiham weather station
• RAF Brize Norton weather station
• AAC Middle Wallop weather station

Penkridge weather station is a weather station at Penkridge in Staffordshire, England, operated by the Met Office. ... Wye Weather Station is a Met Office weather station in Wye, Kent, England. ...

Notable former Director Generals and Chief Executives

• Sir William Napier Shaw 1905-1920
• Sir Graham Sutton 1954-1965
• Basil John Mason 1965-1983
• Sir John Houghton 1983-1991^[5]
• Julian Hunt 1992-1997
• Peter Ewins 1997-2004
• David Rodgers 2004-2005
• Mark Hutchinson 2005-2007
• John Hirst 2007-

Sir Napier Shaw (March 4, 1854 - March 23, 1945), British meteorologist. ... Basil John Mason FRS (1920?- ) is a former Director of the UK Meteorological Office, and an expert on the physics of clouds. ... Professor Julian Hunt, Baron Hunt of Chesterton (born 1942) is a leading British authority on turbulence modelling. ...

See also

• ADMS 3 atmospheric pollution dispersion model
• Burns' Day storm
• Climate of the United Kingdom
• Compilation of Atmospheric Dispersion Models
• Eskdalemuir Observatory
• Great Storm of 1987
• Met Éireann, the Irish meteorological service, which separated from the UK Met Office in 1936.
• Meteorology
• Michael Fish
• North West Shelf Operational Oceanographic System
• UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee
• UK Dispersion Modelling Bureau
• Natural Environment Research Council

The ADMS 3 (Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System) is an advanced atmospheric pollution dispersion model for calculating concentrations of atmospheric pollutants emitted both continuously from point, line, volume and area sources, or intermittently from point sources. ... The Burns Day Storm occurred on January 25–26, 1990, over Northwestern Europe and is one of the strongest storms on record. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Atmospheric dispersion models are computer programs that use mathematical algorithms to simulate how pollutants in the ambient atmosphere disperse and, in some cases, how they react in the atmosphere. ... The Eskdalemuir Observatory is located in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. ... Satellite image of the powerful storm The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on October 15 and 16, 1987, when an unusually strong weather system caused hurricane force winds to hit much of the south of England. ... Met Éireann is the national meteorological service in the Republic of Ireland, part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. ... // Meteorology (from Greek: μετέωρον, meteoron, high in the sky; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... Michael Fish (born April 27, 1944) was a weather forecaster, most known for his BBC television weather presentations, although he was actually employed by the Met Office. ... The UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee (ADMLC) is composed of representatives from UK governmental departments, agencies and research organizations as well as from non-governmental organizations and groups. ... The UK Dispersion Modelling Bureau is part of the Met Office (originally an abbreviation for Meteorological Office, but now the official name in itself) which is the UKs national weather and meteorological service. ... NERC logo The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council. ...

References

External links

• Met Office homepage
  • History of the Met Office
• BBC Weather Centre
• BBC Shipping Forecast page
• Joint Centre for Mesoscale Meteorology at the University of Reading
• Joint Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Research