Weather forecasts for tennis events
Can the Met Office help protect your event?
Planning an outdoor event? Let the Met Office keep you informed of the latest weather in your area.
We supply information to events as diverse as Wimbledon, school sports days, music festivals, motor racing, horse racing or pigeon racing. We can supplement all the information that we supply free of charge, with a bespoke forecast to fully meet your needs and help you work around whatever the weather throws at you.
Contact media@metoffice.gov.uk to discuss how we can help you.
Wimbledon tennis championships
The weather during a British summer is notoriously changeable. It is our job to keep Wimbledon officials ahead of the latest picture and arm them with forecasts for SW19 that will allow them to plan as many hours of play as is possible.
Every year players and spectators at Wimbledon hope for 14 days of warm sunshine with a hint of a breeze. Every year, you can almost guarantee that they will be disppointed at some stage during the tournament.
How we help the decision makers
The
referees make the decision on whether to halt play and it's not
taken lightly. Thanks to the Met Office that decision is made easier
by our up-to-date rainfall radar -
via a special terminal in their office - and by having our forecasters
available to advise.
Focusing on SW19 the rainfall radar shows the path, speed and intensity of the rain in the vicinity, allowing the referees to see for themselves what is coming.
During the tournament our forecasters are in constant contact with the referees, giving them forecasts for days ahead or more frequently, as play intensifies. At any time the referees can contact our forecasters for clarification or more detail.
A retractable roof, allowing the spectators to spend rain delays in relative comfort, has been installed. However, Met Office forecasts will still be required to determine when to close the roof and, perhaps even more importantly, when it is safe to open it again.
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