What is the Met Office and how does it operate?
The Met Office is busier than ever, having served for more than 170 years
Talking about the weather is the UK’s favourite pastime, and with news about climate change and never-ending rain, the Met Office is as busy as it has been in its 170-year history.
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News of early spring heatwaves comes in the same week as forecasts of snow and ice, which means meteorologists have been on their toes to keep Britons informed.
And the agency is not standing still, recently announcing that it will make 14-day forecasting the norm, while its A-Z storm names are now well established but have only been in place for a decade or so.
Here is all you need to know about the agency that is dedicated to keeping you in the know, whether it rains or shines.
Read more: Such a beautiful horizon! Britain is hotter than Barcelona as temperatures reach 18C
What is the Met Office?
The Met Office is Britain’s national weather service and provides forecasts, weather alerts, warnings, predictions, and reports about climate change. It also provides flooding information and air quality measurements.
The Meteorological Office, as it was known until 2000, was founded back in 1871 by Vice Admiral Robert Fitzroy, initially as a service to mariners. It then began publishing reports in newspapers and has latterly become a website and app, while also providing forecasting for TV and radio broadcasting.
It is financed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and has been based at the Exeter Business Park since 2003.
The Met Office is not the only weather provider to cover the UK, although it is the brand that is used and approved by the British government. The BBC had a period of consulting MeteoGroup, but has since switched back to the Met Office.
How accurate are the Met Office’s weather forecasts?
The Met Office has weather stations around the UK, as well as in Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, and operates using some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world.
Although forecasting has improved significantly in the past 30 years, it is still known as a “chaotic” system, with the slightest shift in conditions having big effects.
“Even seemingly small discrepancies in the current conditions can lead to inaccuracies that grow as the forecast runs further into the future,” the Met Office said.
“However good our observations, we can never know every detail of current conditions.
“Therefore, relying on ensemble modelling, where we run many simulations from very slightly different starting conditions, is much better than just one run of one weather simulation model.”
Weather forecasting is improving all the time as models and systems become better understood, while technology also develops.
Who is in charge of the Met Office?
The Met Office is governed by a board, led by an independent, non-executive chairman, with additional non-executive members.
Professor Penny Endersby has been chief executive since 2018, when she became the first woman to take the role - and later became the first female president of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in 2023.
The Met Office said of her: “Penny Endersby is an outstanding scientist, engineer and inspirational leader who has made significant contributions to the delivery of life-saving science and services in defence and security and weather and climate, both in the UK and internationally.”