Weather forecasting is not just about temperatures, sunshine and showers. For many sectors, trusted weather and climate data is vital for safe and efficient operations as well as their long-term planning.
At the Met Office we provide tailored weather and climate intelligence services that address very specific challenges across transport, infrastructure, energy, and environmental safety.
Here are some of the highly specialised forecasts we provide for business and industry:
Rail adhesion
Autumn brings more than golden leaves. It brings leaf-fall, and with it a surprising hazard: low rail adhesion.
Leaves on the line can be a big issue at this time of year. When trains run over leaves on a track, it creates a poor adhesion environment, where heavy trains struggle to get the friction required to move and stop efficiently, costing the rail industry and wider society an estimated £355 million every autumn.
The Met Office works with leaf adhesion services to help rail operators plan efficiently, improve network performance, and adapt to climate change. Our bespoke forecasts, datasets, and consultancy help rail networks run services safely and on time, regardless of the weather.
Bridge forecasts
The Met Office helps keep bridges safe by providing location-specific forecasts that warn of hazardous weather conditions, supporting safer travel and infrastructure protection. With each bridge having its own weather thresholds, conditions need to be carefully monitored to ensure the safety of those working and travelling on them. Our bridge forecasts consider the additional factors contributing to the impact of the weather - from wind at the height of the deck, to how the thermal properties of the deck surface and construction will affect the temperature.
Ice accretion
Ice accretion might sound like a very niche topic, but it’s a major concern for energy networks.
Ice accretion is the build-up of ice layers on solid objects, caused by a range of meteorological parameters, such as air temperature, wind speed, precipitation rate or liquid water content. It poses significant safety and efficiency challenges for energy infrastructure. While the UK experiences less severe snow and ice compared to countries such as Norway or Canada, its impact on infrastructure design and maintenance remains crucial, particularly in northern regions with colder climates.
The Met Office has worked closely with SSEN Transmission (Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Transmission) to develop a solution that utilises the best science and data, focusing on practical operational requirements for both new construction and infrastructure upgrades.
Remote airport forecasting
The Met Office has provided embedded services at St Helena Airport since scheduled flights began in 2016. Our Operational Meteorologists and Field Service Engineers deliver daily aviation and marine forecasts that support scheduled flights, medevac operations, and port activity. The cliff-edge airfield presents unique meteorological challenges, and the team’s expertise ensures safe and efficient operations in this remote location.
Space weather
When we think of weather impacts, we usually picture heavy rain, snow or heatwaves. But there’s also a lesser-known force businesses and industry are working to guard their operations against: space weather caused by activity on the Sun. Solar flares and geomagnetic storms can disrupt GPS and radio communications and even damage satellites and power grids and impact aviation and ground-based infrastructure.
The Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre (MOSWOC) is working around the clock to protect national systems and services from the Sun's activity and to provide critical information to help build the resilience of UK infrastructure and impacted industries in the face of space weather events. We also work with partners around the world to develop space weather forecasting capability and share knowledge about space weather and its impacts.
Transporting radioactive waste
One of our lesser-known contributions is to the Transport Container Standardisation Committee. The transport of radioactive materials is tightly regulated and controlled in order to maintain very high levels of safety. Our reports for the Transport Container Standardisation Committee focus on the current range of temperature and solar irradiance values experienced around the UK and model projections of these two variables over the next few decades. They also consider the changes possible in response to climate change und ultimately help shape guidance for safely transporting radioactive packages within the UK.
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash poses a serious hazard to aviation, with the potential to damage aircraft engines and systems. As the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs), we are responsible for monitoring and forecasting ash dispersion from volcanic eruptions originating in Iceland and the north-eastern corner of the North Atlantic. Specialist forecasters produce volcanic ash advisories and guidance products using a combination of volcano data; satellite-based, ground-based and aircraft observations; weather forecast models and dispersion models.
In November 2025 a new quantitative volcanic ash provision will be introduced: The Quantitative Volcanic Ash (QVA) Forecasts - Met Office, a cutting-edge meteorological service designed to deliver high-resolution forecasts of volcanic ash concentration and probability.
Supporting UK industry 24/7
From bridge forecasting to volcanic eruptions, and from ice build-up to space activity, forecasts that seem very ‘niche’ are supporting our infrastructure and powering our industries 24 hours a day. Through targeted prediction, expert consultancy, collaborative research, and innovative decision support, the Met Office helps keep UK businesses and industry safe, efficient, and resilient.
