How cookies are used by the Met Office
Related articles
Introduction
When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the Internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as 'cookies' or 'local storage'. They cannot be used to identify you personally.
These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example:
- enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task
- recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page requested
- measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fast
You can manage these small files and learn more about them from the article, Internet browser cookies - what they are and how to manage them. Please note, where a browser allows, local storage may be used in preference to cookies.
If you'd like to learn how to remove cookies set on your device, visit aboutCookies.org.
First-party cookies
Personalising the home page and weather pages
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| MoWxPreferredLocation | user's preferred forecast location | 31 days |
| MOWxFiveDayLocation | widget specific locations | 31 days |
| MOWxDaylightLocation | widget specific locations | 31 days |
| MOWxLocationLocation | widget specific locations | 31 days |
| MOWxPollenLocation | widget specific locations | 31 days |
| MOWxUVLocation | widget specific locations | 31 days |
| MOWxForecastLocation | forecast - for the /weather/forecast pages | 31 days |
| MOWxInternationalLocation | international forecast specific location | 31 days |
| MOWxDomesticLocationHistory | stores the location history used by the change location modal popup | 31 days |
| MOWxInternationalLocationHistory | stores the international location history | 31 days |
| MOWxTableLayout | stores which weather columns are shown/not shown and order of appearance | 31 days |
| MOWxTableLayoutBeaches | stores which leisure columns are shown/not shown and order of appearance | 31 days |
| MOWxTableLayoutWorld | stores which international columns are shown/not shown and order of appearance | 31 days |
| MOWxPrefs | for user's various preferences (e.g. language: English, Welsh or Gaelic) | 31 days |
| MOWxUnits | user's preference of units | 31 days |
| MOWxWidgetPreferences | user's selected widgets to be displayed on the home page set via the Customise button | 31 days |
Mobile Browsers
Used to assist Mobile and Handheld Browsers:
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| stop_mobi | on | when user exits session |
Customising the website navigation
Used to store your side navigation bookmarks, also known as hotspots. This is only used on older parts of the website and its use is being phased out.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| hotspot[1-30] | URL and title of page added to bookmarks | one year |
| hotspotsopened | "true" or "false" | one year |
Winter Olympic weather
Used to store the last viewed position on the map for the Winter Olympics forecasts. This is only used on older parts of the website and its use is being phased out.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| woMapPos | latitude and longitude | one year |
UK weather
Stores hour/day selected on the UK weather forecast/observation map. This is only used on older parts of the website and its use is being phased out.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| imagenumber | [0-24] - used to smooth-out potential image jumps in animation stepping | when user exits browser |
| fxlocation | The name of the location-based forecast you are viewing. Forecast location name e.g. "exeter" | when user exits browser |
Miscellaneous
Many of these are used on older parts of the website and are being phased out.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| III_EXPT_FILE | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
| III_SESSION_ID | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
| SESSION_SCOPE | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
| PHPSESSID | random letters and numbers | 4 hours 46 minutes |
| TWIKISID | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
| fontsize | large | < 24 hours |
| style | default | < 24 hours |
| __utma | 102488349.1362695363.1344967123.1344967123.1344967123.1 | 2 years |
| __utmb | 102488349.0.10.1344967123 | immediately |
| __utmc | 102488349 | when user exits browser |
| __utmz | (direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none) | 6 months |
| __utmv | immediately | |
| __utmd | 1 | immediately |
Hide a message
Hides a message informing you that the Met Office website uses cookies.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| eucookie | "1" - to signify a user's acceptance of the cookie policy | 10 years |
Hides a message shown to users of Internet Explorer 6.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| ie6mustdie | "true" | when user exits browser |
Help diagnose problems
If you are having problems with the Met Office website we may send you a link to a page which will test your browsers capabilities. One of these tests is to see if your browser will accept cookies.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| testcookie | "true" | when user exits browser |
Premium services
Used by our commercial services to manage which services you have access to.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| Meto-LocationGroup | your user groups | when user exits browser |
| Meto-Subscription | your subscriptions | when user exits browser |
| Meto-UserAccount | your username | when user exits browser |
Used by our commercial services to ensure your session is consistent.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| amlbcookie | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
Used to manage sign-on to Met Office services.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| authpath | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
| iPlanetDirectoryPro | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
| AMAuthCookie | random letters and numbers | when user exits browser |
| midtier | services02 | when user exits browser |
| infra | login01 | when user exits browser |
Ensure your session is consistent
Stores which web-server you have connected to in order to provide a consistent session.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| weare | pmsweb[1-6] - represents a web server number | when user exits browser |
Searching the web site
Set when you use the Search Met Office feature.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| JSESSIONID | randomly generated number | when user exits browser |
| __KBLoggedIn__ | 0 or 1 | deleted |
Embedded weather widget
Set when you use the embedded weather widget.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| comp2Prefs | preferences set in the weather widget | 30 days |
Smarter weather
For smartphones.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| [1-5] | the weather forecast for the next five days | six days |
Flash
Flash storage is frequently used to support Videos or Animations
| Name | Typical content |
|---|---|
| www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/flash/s/s/MetOffice.swf | miscellaneous / working storage |
| www.youtube.com/v/cvf6iZVnG9I?version=3&autohide=1 | miscellaneous / working storage |
| www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/flash/k/j/radar.swf | miscellaneous / working storage |
Third-party cookies
We use a number of suppliers who may also set cookies on their websites' on its behalf.
Measuring website usage (Webtrends Analytics)
The Met Office uses Webtrends Analytics to understand how people are using the website and identify areas that can be improved or removed. The Webtrends cookie is not used to identify individual users, but to produce anonymised statistics on how the site is used. The Webtrends cookie therefore allows us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the site when they're using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example by making sure users are finding what they need easily.
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| WT_FPC | your IP address and a unique ID | 10 years |
Sharing content with other websites
- Google +1 button
- Google DFP (DoubleClick For Publishers)
- AddThis - used by the share this page features on Barometer magazine and some scientific collaboration micro-sites.
- OpenObjects Search
| Name | Typical content | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| GOOGAPPUID | 3-digit number | 6 months |
| GoogleAdServingTest | Good | when user exits browser |
| APISID | Random letters and numbers (set by google.com) | 10 years |
| HSID | Random letters and numbers (set by google.com) | 10 years |
| NID | Random letters and numbers (set by google.com) | 6 months |
| PREF | Random letters and numbers (set by google.com) | 2 years |
| SAPISID | Random letters and numbers (set by google.com) | 10 years |
| SID | Random letters and numbers (set by google.com) | 10 years |
| SSID | Random letters and numbers (set by google.com) | 10 years |
| BEAT | Random letters and numbers (from plusone.google.com) | 1 day |
| psc | Random letters and numbers (set by addthis.com) | 2 years |
| ssc | "facebook;1" (set by addthis.com) | 10 years |
| ssh | Random letters and numbers (set by addthis.com) | 2 years |
| sshs | "facebook" (set by addthis.com) | 2 years |
| uid | Random letters and numbers (set by addthis.com) | 2 years |
| uit | "1" (set by addthis.com) | 2 years |
| uvc | Random letters and numbers (set by addthis.com) | 2 years |
| __gads | Random letters and numbers (set by Google DFP) | 2 years |
| __KBCookie__/metoffice/metoffice/ | Random letters and numbers (set by OpenObjects Search) | when user exits browser |
Note that the third party cookie list above is a snap-shot example and liable to change without notice
Embedded media and other external sources of cookies
- YouTube.com
- Twitter.com
- WebTrendsLive.com
- DoubleClick.net
- FCO.gov.uk
- Pixel.QuantServe.com
- Maps.Google.com
- D1.Openx.org
- WembleyStadium.com
- Search.Yahoo.com
- Digg.com
- StumpleUpon.com
- Delicious.com
- Reddit.com
- Lib.Exeter.ac.uk
- Subscribe.Wordpress.com
- MetOfficeNews.Wordpress.com
- ServedBy.FlashTalking.com
- Accounts.Google.com
Effective advertising
To enable advertisers to ensure that adverts you see are relevant. These will come from doubleclick.net but may also come from third party advertisers such as MDN or OpenX.
Affiliate tracking cookies
The Met Office may participate in affiliate schemes with third party advertisers. As a result of such schemes, if you click on any advertisement on our website, our advertisers may place a cookie on your machine to indicate that you visited the Met Office website before clicking on the advertisement. The purpose of these cookies is to show that you were referred to a merchant by the Met Office. Should you wish to refuse these cookies, please follow the advice below.
How to control and delete cookies
We will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you.
However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by our websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The 'Help' function within your browser should tell you how.
Alternatively, you may wish to visit AboutCookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your machine as well as more general information about cookies.
Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of our website.
If you wish to view your cookie code, just click on a cookie to open it. You'll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
To opt-out of third-parties collecting any data regarding your interaction on our website, please refer to their websites for further information.
