Weather people

Who are we?

The Met Office was formed in 1854, with the aim of helping sailors know what was happening to the weather. Even before this time people kept weather diaries.

Who do we inform?

The Met Office provides information to a range of different types of people.

The general public Millions of people watch or listen to the weather forecast every day, or look in a newspaper or on a web site to see what the weather is going to be like. They can also get information over the telephone from services such as Weathercall or Marinecall.
	Fig 1: Man listening to the radio.

Aircraft

It is very important that airports and aircraft receive the most up-to-date information on the weather. Airline pilots receive information from weather forecasts, to help them plan how much fuel to carry and which route they should fly.

	Farmers It is vital that farmers receive information about the weather. If they are spraying crops, they need to know the direction and speed of the wind. If they are harvesting, they will need to know when fine weather is due.
Fig 2: Bearded farmer.

Shipping

The Met Office provides special information for ships and small boats. On BBC radio 4 the Shipping Forecast tells them what the conditions will be like out at sea. The Inshore Forecast tells yachts and small boats what it will be like nearer land.

Warnings

Bad weather can cause a lot of damage and so the Met Office issues special severe weather warnings; these go out on television, radio and web sites. The Storm Tide Forecasting Service watches for high tides and sends out warnings to areas which might be flooded.

	Defence The Met Office provides information about weather conditions to the RAF and Army, to ensure that their operations are carried out safely. The Royal Navy has its own forecaster network.
Fig 4: Royal Air Force pilot.

Let's find out

Find out what you can about how the different people use weather forecasts.

Things to make

Find an open spot outside in the playground or on the school field. Set up your own weather station.

Raingauge

Raingauges need to be out in the open and somewhere away from trees. They should not be moved, so it is a good idea to bury the bottom of them into the ground.

To make your raingauge you will need: a large plastic bottle; a small container or plastic bottle; a pair of scissors.
	Fig 5. A home-made raingauge.

With the help of an adult, cut around the bottle about half way down. Turn the top upside down and check that it fits into the bottom.

Put the smaller bottle into the bottom part of the large bottle.

Bury the large bottle until only the top is showing. Fit the top back in.

Check the rain gauge every day and measure the amount of water in the smaller bottle.

Take a plastic box and cut a number of slits into one side. Paint the outside white. Fit the screen onto a pole. Put two thermometers inside. One should have a piece of cloth wrapped around the end resting in a small container of water. By taking the readings of the two thermometers and working out the difference you can find out the humidity. On days when there is a large difference between the two values the air is dry, when the two values are close together the air is very wet, perhaps even foggy or raining.

Fig 6: A simple thermometer screen.

Anemometer Fix a thin piece of card to a piece of rod. Make a scale and then read off according to the strength of the wind. It should be possible to mark it off using the Beaufort scale once you have checked the different strengths of the wind.
	Fig 7: A simple anemometer.

Did you know?

The deadliest tornado ever recorded killed 747 people on 18 March 1925 across three southern states in the USA.  Experts believe the tornado stayed on the ground for well over three hours, covering some 352 km (219 miles) and at times was almost 5 km (3 miles) wide and travelling at speeds of up to 117 km/h (73 m.p.h.).

Typhoon Tip (in October 1979) was the largest and most intense tropical cyclone (hurricane) on record, with maximum wind speeds of 305 km/h (190 mph) and a world record low pressure of 870 hPa (mb) being recorded.  It was also the largest tropical cyclone on record, with a diameter of 2,220 km (1,380 miles).