Our history
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1854
Established as a small department within the Board of Trade as a service to mariners under Captain Robert FitzRoy. We later become part of the Ministry of Defence.
1922
Forecasts are broadcast for the first time by BBC radio.
1944
Forecasters advise General Eisenhower of a 36-hour ‘weather window’ for the D-Day landings. "Probably the only day during the month of June on which the operations could have been launched," President Truman later declares.
1953
A storm surge in the North Sea causes catastrophic flooding in south-east England. This leads to planning and construction of the Thames Barrier and the development of the Storm Tide Forecasting Service.
1977
The first European weather satellite, Meteosat 1, is launched. This collaborative project provides vital information for numerical models.
1984
We are awarded World Area Forecasting Centre status for aviation, one of only two globally to provide forecasts for flying at high altitude.
1987
The National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS) is established to provide warnings to the general public to protect life and property from the effects of severe weather.
1990
The Met Office Hadley Centre is opened. It quickly establishes its reputation as the foremost climate research centre in the UK and across the world. It goes on to play a key part in each of the IPCC Assessment Reports over the next 20 years.
1991
A supercomputer, a Cray Y-MP, becomes the first to be used by the Met Office. Capable of one billion calculations per second, it is able to process a single numerical model (merging ocean and atmosphere) to be used for climate and weather prediction. Over the next 20 years we remain at the leading edge of supercomputer technology, installing our latest IBM supercomputer in 2009. This is hundreds of times more powerful than the first, able to do more than 100 trillion calculations per second.
2006
Weather and health warnings are issued for the first time — helping people with a range of medical conditions avoid adverse effects of the weather.
2007
The fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is published, providing an up-to-date and the authoritative document on the science, impacts, and ways of tackling climate change. Our science plays a major role in the report.
2009
In partnership with the Environment Agency, we set up the Flood Forecasting Centre for England and Wales. Combining the expertise of both organisations, the centre is designed to greatly improve delivery of advance alerts for river, coastal and surface water flooding.
