The Met Office stands at the intersection of science, technology, and public service.
As the UK’s national meteorological service, our mission is to help people make better decisions to stay safe and thrive.
Our world is radically changing. We’re seeing increasingly frequent severe and extreme weather events; our climate is changing; we have unprecedented data availability whilst also adapting to new and emerging technologies like AI and machine learning.
Given this backdrop, the Met Office’s approach is not simply to provide weather data, but to combine that data with intelligence, both human and artificial, to deliver tailored, meaningful value to our customers and partners - helping them to understand not just what the weather will be, but what the weather will mean for them.
The evolution of weather data usage
Historically, weather information was consumed through forecasts delivered by forecasters after the news, or through specialist briefings for sectors such as the military or maritime community. The data behind these forecasts was vast, but the challenge was always to translate it into a story that was relevant and meaningful for each audience. For example, our iconic Shipping Forecast is focussed on mariners and provides crucial details of visibility, pressure levels, and wind strength, rather than temperature or precipitation which are of less relevance to their decision making. Understanding both the data and who it is for has always been central to how the Met Office provides value to its customers and partners.
Today, technology has transformed how weather data is accessed and used. Many users, from large technology companies to individual businesses, now want direct access to raw data, integrating it into their own systems, algorithms, and decision-making tools. The Met Office recognises that simply providing data is not enough; guidance, interpretation, and support are essential to ensure that data is used effectively and responsibly – combining purposeful data and intelligence to provide trusted, customer driven service
READ MORE: Next generation modelling systems at the Met Office
Simon McLellan, Head of Data Engagement at the Met Office said: “Providing data and data-based services is something we’ve always done. The challenge now is how we continue to do it with the growing volume, velocity and variety of weather and climate data – our systems handle around a petabyte of data every single day. People used to get their understanding of the weather because they watched or listened to the forecast after the news. We had all this data in the background, those observations of the weather from around the world, and the computer generated weather predictions, but the technology to use and understand it wasn’t as widely available as it is now, so we told the weather story in a way that was meaningful to our various audiences.
“Whether it’s the public, the military, mariners at sea, all that data is there, but we’re using our meteorological expertise and customer insights to understand what they need and what data they might not require.”
Understanding user requirements: The foundation of value
A key principle in the Met Office’s strategy is understanding the requirements of different users. Not all customers have the same needs or capabilities. Large technology firms may be able to ingest the raw high-resolution data from supercomputers, while other organisations require subsets of aggregated or tailored datasets, perhaps by postcode or region, to support specific applications such as insurance claims or energy management users across sectors such as health, retail, energy or transport.
This user-centric approach ensures that the data provided is at the right level of granularity and relevance. It also means that the Met Office can offer value-added services, such as solar energy potential analysis, which combine weather data with other contextual information to support decision-making in sectors like renewable energy.
Combining data with expert insights
The Met Office’s value proposition is not just about data, but about the intelligence that surrounds it. While advancements in technology have enabled more and more people and organisations to handle and analyse large amounts of data, the Met Office isn’t just about handing over huge volumes of it and that being the end of it.
“One of the things for us is helping people to understand how they can use our data, either by adding a service, or showing them ‘actually, we can take that data and we can do something with it for you. Or we can show you how to use it, or we can guide you how to use it and possibly, advise you how not to use it, we want to provide purposeful data and intelligence,” explained Simon.
READ MORE: What do meteorologists do at the Met Office?
Expert meteorologists play a crucial role in interpreting data and providing guidance. The Met Office has embedded forecasters in key locations such as airports, highways agencies, and military operations centres, as well as advisors supporting national and local government and emergency responders in critical situations. These experts are able to respond in real time to operational needs, interpreting data in the context of specific incidents, such as advising emergency services during a chemical fire, or supporting the safe operation of critical infrastructure.
Supporting effective data use: Guidance and education
With the proliferation of data, one of the Met Office’s key roles is to help users understand how to use weather data effectively. This involves providing guidance, training, and support to ensure that data is interpreted correctly and used to inform sound decision-making.
For some users, this means direct support from Met Office experts. For others, it may involve the provision of documentation, best practice guides, or interactive tools that help users explore and understand the data. The aim is always to empower users to make the best possible use of the information available, while avoiding common pitfalls or misinterpretations.
Visualisation: Making data meaningful
Visualisation plays a vital role in making weather data accessible and actionable. For human users, maps, graphs, and other visual representations help to convey complex information in an intuitive way. For example, plotting wind speeds over the Severn Bridge to anticipate the potential need for closures due to strong winds or utilising rainfall radar maps to anticipate the arrival of heavy rainfall and when that is due to pass.
READ MORE: How the Met Office uses data assimilation to produce its forecasts
However, not all data consumers are human. Algorithms and automated systems may not require visualisation, instead ingesting data directly for analysis or decision-making. By understanding the needs of a variety of user communities we can provide and present data in the most appropriate format, whether that is a visual map, a data feed, or a tailored report.
Simon added: “A lot of time, people assume that it's a visual thing, and it is, because humans often consume these sorts of things visually. But at the same time, does a machine learning algorithm necessarily need data to be visually presented? Absolutely there's a role for visualization and again, it's understanding who our data consumers are. Is it a person, is it software or an algorithm? It comes back to knowing where our data is going and how it’s going to be used so we can make it purposeful.”
Value-added services and partnerships
The Met Office works closely with partners across the public and private sectors to deliver value-added services. These partnerships enable the Met Office to extend its reach and impact, supporting innovation in areas such as renewable energy, transport, and emergency response, and supporting the economy. By combining data, intelligence, and sector-specific expertise, the Met Office helps partners unlock new opportunities and address complex challenges, maximising the value of the investment in its supercomputing capabilities and its data assets
Case study: Decision support for critical operations
A powerful example of the Met Office’s approach is its support for critical operations during major incidents. When emergency services respond to incidents such as chemical fires, the Met Office provides real-time advice on wind direction, plume dispersion, and safe approaches. This guidance is based on a combination of data, expert interpretation, and an understanding of the operational context, ensuring that responders can act quickly and safely
Similarly, embedded forecasters at airports and in military operations centres provide ongoing support, helping to manage risks and optimise operations in dynamic environments. These services demonstrate the value of combining data with intelligence to deliver actionable insights when they are needed most.
Simon continued: “It's something that we've done even going back as far D-Day, where there weren't satellites looking at weather patterns over the Atlantic. There were a few ships and even fewer aircraft reporting basic weather information.
“There were maybe a dozen observation points scattered across Ireland and the Southwest approaches, and through that, our expert meteorologists identified a potentially gap in the weather, This was arguably our most important forecast ever, and was instrumental in delaying D-Day by 24 hours – and the rest, as they say, is history.
“The intelligence of those meteorologists and those precious few data points that they had available at the time, really is a brilliant example of combining data with expert intelligence, and with very little data. The challenge we’re taking on now is, with so much data, how do we continue to do that?”
The future: Embracing data abundance with intelligence
The challenge facing the Met Office today is not a lack of data, but an abundance of it. With advances in observation technology, supercomputing, and data sharing, the volume, velocity and variety of weather data available has grown exponentially. The Met Office’s response is to embrace this abundance using intelligence to filter, interpret, and deliver the right information to the right people at the right time.
This approach ensures that the Met Office remains a trusted partner for customers across the UK and beyond, helping them to make better decisions, manage risks, and seize opportunities in an increasingly complex world.
Delivering value through purposeful data and intelligence
The Met Office’s commitment to combining data with intelligence, rooted in a world leading scientific knowledge, deep understanding of user needs, expert interpretation, and innovative technology, ensures that it continues to add value for its customers and partners. Whether through tailored data services, expert guidance, or cutting-edge AI applications, the Met Office’s approach is always purposeful, user-focused, and grounded in scientific excellence.
By supporting effective data use, providing actionable insights, and working in partnership across sectors, the Met Office helps people and organisations stay safe, thrive, and make the most of the opportunities that weather and climate data can offer.
Keep up to date with weather warnings, and you can find the latest forecast on our website, on YouTube, by following us on X and Facebook, as well as on our mobile app which is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from the Google Play store.
