New developments within civil aviation

April 2009

Please note that due to essential upgrade requirements, the General Aviation Website will be taken offline for up to 2 hours between 1000 UTC and 1200 UTC (11.00am BST and 13.00pm BST) on Wednesday 22nd April 2009.

Users can contact the Met Office by telephone on 0870 900 0100 and request email/faxed copies of the F215/F214/Airmets.

The Met Office apologizes for the interruption in service. In the event of significant weather affecting large areas of the United Kingdom on the day of the planned upgrade, the Met Office may postpone the upgrade to a more suitable day.

November 2008

Please note that following further consultation with the CAA, the validity and outlook periods for the ballooning text forecast will be as follows:

Forecast	Issue time	Period of validity	Outlook
Summer (BST)
Morning	2130 local previous day	Dawn to 3 hours after dawn	3 hours before dusk until dusk
Evening	1030 local	3 hours before dusk until dusk	Dawn to 3 hours after dawn next day
Winter (GMT)
Morning	2130 local previous day	Dawn to midday	Midday to dusk
Afternoon	1030 local	Midday to dusk	Dawn to midday next day

The changes made ensure that the information provided relates to periods benefiting balloonists most.