Public surveys

We run a range of surveys with the public to enable us to monitor levels of satisfaction with the services and products we provide, from our daily forecasts to our warnings. They also help us to identify new requirements and ensure that we are providing services the public need.

These surveys are carried out for the Public Weather Service Customer Group (PWSCG) by independent market research companies to ensure these are unbiased.

National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS) surveys

It is important to ensure that the warnings we issue reach the people who need them and that they find these useful. We, therefore, carry out surveys following selected severe weather warnings.

• Telephone interviews of 500 people in the affected area .
• Monitors awareness and usefulness of the warning against targets.
• At least six surveys are carried out each year.

Results

These will be updated whenever a new survey is carried out.

Usefulness of warnings

• Respondents were asked "Overall how useful would you have said this severe weather warning was?".
• Answers included: Very useful, fairly useful, not very useful, not at all useful and don't know.
• 89% of respondents found their warning very or fairly useful in 2010/11.
• Target for 2010/11 was 84% (average for at least six surveys).

Reach of warnings

• Respondents were asked "Did you see or hear anything about this severe weather warning?".
• 77% of respondents had seen or heard their warning in 2010/11.
• Target for 2010/11 was 75% (average for at least six surveys).

Public perception survey

It is important to ensure that the forecasts we issue reach the people who need them and that they find these useful. It is also important that we know how people are accessing forecasts, e.g. mobile, television, internet, and where from. To do this we carry out a survey every year around November.

• Face-to-face interviews with around 2000 people across the UK.
• Monitors satisfaction, use, awareness and visibility of forecasts.

Results

These will be updated each year when the next survey is carried out.

Accuracy of forecasts

• Respondents were asked "Generally speaking, how accurate or inaccurate do you think most weather forecasts are?".
• Answers included very accurate, fairly accurate, neither accurate or inaccurate, fairly inaccurate, very inaccurate or don't know.
• 77% of respondents felt that forecasts were very or fairly accurate in 2010.
• Target for 2010 was 75%.

Usefulness of forecasts

• Respondents were asked "Overall how useful would you say weather forecasts are these days?".
• Answers included very useful, fairly useful, not very useful, not at all useful and don't know.
• 90% of respondents felt that forecasts were very or fairly useful in 2010.
• Target for 2010 was 89%.

Drawing together your feedback

One of the biggest shifts for the Met Office has been to draw together findings from a variety of surveys, to look at the whole customer experience rather than just one aspect for one particular customer group. This customer-focused approach ensures that actions are taken as a result of what customers are telling us as opposed to what we think customers want.

One new element to the mix is the MetPS (Met Promoter Score).

The MetPS

The MetPS was launched in November 2009 with the objective of obtaining ongoing feedback from customers who have a transactional relationship with us. When a customer buys a product, the transaction is recorded on a database, which then triggers the MetPS software to send out an email.

This links to a mini-questionnaire requesting feedback:

1. Asks customers to rate their satisfaction with us.
2. Asks how likely they are to recommend us (scale of 1-10).
3. Asks how the Met Office can improve.

In January 2010 95% of our customers said they were satisfied, or very satisfied and the MetPS score was 49%. All feedback is then fed into our overall strategy.

We welcome all feedback and you can always contact us via email, phone or in writing to our Customer Centre  or via Twitter  or Facebook