Met Office

• 1. The Storm That Built A Service

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  On the 1st of August 1854, Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy established a small department within the Board of Trade to serve mariners. This new office aimed to protect lives at sea through timely warnings. The tragedy of the Royal Charter passenger vessel changed everything. In October 1859, a violent storm off the coast of Anglesey claimed 459 lives. FitzRoy responded by establishing a network of 15 coastal stations. These stations provided visual gale warnings for ships still at sea. The electric telegraph enabled rapid dissemination of these critical warnings. It also led to the development of an observational network capable of synoptic analysis. By 1861, the Met Office began providing weather forecasts to newspapers. FitzRoy requested daily traces from the photo-barograph at Kew Observatory. Francis Ronalds had invented this instrument to assist in forecasting tasks. Similar barographs and instruments to record other meteorological parameters were later distributed across the observing network. Publication of forecasts ceased in May 1866 following FitzRoy's death. They recommenced in April 1879.

• 2. Departments And Moving Offices

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  Following the First World War, the Met Office became part of the Air Ministry in 1919. Weather observed from the top of Adastral House gave rise to the phrase "The weather on the Air Ministry roof". The need for aviation information caused the office to locate many observation points on RAF airfields. This accounts for the large number of military airfields mentioned in weather reports even today. In 1936, services to the Royal Navy split into their own forecasting services. The organization became an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence in April 1990. A machinery of government change moved it to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the 18th of July 2011. It subsequently joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy after a merger on the 14th of July 2016. In September 2003, headquarters moved from Bracknell in Berkshire to Exeter Business Park. The new £80m structure sat near junction 29 of the M5 motorway. Robert May, Baron May of Oxford officially opened the building on the 21st of June 2004. This opening occurred just weeks short of the Met Office's 150th anniversary.

• 3. Computers That Predict The Sky

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  Numerical Weather Prediction requires massive computation power. The Met Office has operated some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. In November 1997, its supercomputer ranked third globally. Early systems like the Ferranti Mercury delivered only 3 kiloflops of calculation speed. By 1965, the English Electric KDF9 reached 50 kiloflops. The IBM System/360 195 arrived in 1972 with 4 megaflops. The CDC Cyber 205 boosted capacity to 200 megaflops by 1982. A Cray Y-MP C90/16 followed in 1991, achieving 10 gigaflops. The Cray T3E 900/1200 in 1997 reached 430 gigaflops. An NEC SX-6 system launched in 2004 provided 2.0 teraflops. The NEC SX-8 and SX-6 combination in 2006 hit 5.4 teraflops. An IBM Power6140 system in 2009 delivered 140 teraflops. A Cray XC40 in 2015 achieved 16 petaflops. Microsoft Azure systems deployed in 2025 now provide 60 petaflops. These machines run the Unified Model released in 1990. This model forms the basis of all operational numerical weather prediction.

• 4. Guardians Of Global Flight Paths

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  The Met Office operates one of only two World Area Forecast Centres globally. It is known as WAFC London while the other sits in Kansas City, Missouri. Daily data from this centre routes aircraft safely and economically on long-haul journeys. Information includes wind speed, direction, air temperature, cloud type, and tops. Aviation safety also relies on the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre. This facility provides forecasts to the aviation industry regarding volcanic ash clouds. The London VAAC covers the British Isles, north east Atlantic, and Iceland. It uses satellite images plus seismic, radar, and visual observation data from Iceland. Active volcanoes within its area of responsibility feed into these alerts. The NAME dispersion model developed by the Met Office forecasts ash movement six, 12, and 18 hours from alert time. Different flight levels receive specific predictions based on this model. International Civil Aviation Organization established these centres under the International Airways Volcano Watch.

• 5. Broadcasting Weather To Millions

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  One main media company, ITV, produces forecasts for ITV Weather using Met Office data. They utilize animated weather symbols alongside raw information. The BBC used to use Met Office forecasts for all output until August 2015. On the 23rd of August 2015, the corporation announced it would replace the Met Office with MeteoGroup. This decision fulfilled legal obligations to provide best value for money for licence fee payers. The BBC still uses some Met Office data for certain forecasts today. Severe weather warnings and the Shipping Forecast remain key examples. In July 2025, the BBC announced a partnership return with the Met Office. Commercial relationships involve licensing agreements between government bodies and private networks. These contracts ensure public broadcasting receives accurate meteorological predictions. The system allows millions of viewers to access reliable weather updates daily.

• 6. Measuring Air From Above And Below

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  The Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements operates from Cranfield Airport. It is part of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. A collaboration exists with the Natural Environment Research Council. Main equipment includes a modified BAe 146 type 301 aircraft registered as G-LUXE. BAE Systems owns and operates this plane on behalf of Directflight Limited. Campaigns occur in the UK and abroad covering radiative transfer studies. Tropospheric chemistry measurements form another area of application. Cloud physics and dynamic studies utilize the aircraft's capabilities. Dynamics of mesoscale weather systems are analyzed during flights. Boundary layer and turbulence studies benefit from airborne sensors. Remote sensing verifies ground-based instruments while satellite ground truth provides radiometric measurements. Meteorological research previously occurred at RAE Bedford using barrage balloons until closure in the 1980s. The association with Cardington continued via a Meteorological Research Unit until 2025. This unit conducted boundary layer research using tethered balloons kept in portable hangars. Six main radiosonde stations exist across the UK including Camborne, Lerwick, Albemarle, Watnall, Castor Bay, and Herstmonceux.