Official news blog

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The unbelievable May that had everyone talking

“I’m not sure anyone believes you, it was a very cold month”, “My heating was on all month”. Just two examples of the replies to our statistics release that May 2024 was the warmest on record for UK mean temperature in a series dating back to 1884. In a month that was wet and dull for many, people certainly didn’t feel that May was a record breaking month. But what could cause such a disconnect between perception and statistical reality?

A cool career studying the impacts of a warming planet  

Professor Peter Stott MBE writes about his recent interview on the BBC programme 'The Life Scientific' and reflects on his career.

Ten years of forecasting beyond the skies

The Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre (MOSWOC) celebrates ten years of operations this week, looking back on a decade of forecasting potential impacts from the Sun.

On the path to delivering next generation UK weather forecasts

Reporting on progress of the Met Office and Alan Turing Institute AI for Numerical Weather Prediction project.

Looking back on a storm-laden season

With publication of the latest storm names for use for 2024/25 due later this week, we look back at the storms of 2023/24 in what was a wet and windy autumn and winter for many in the UK.

When sounding the alarm feels too alarming

As part of our August climate theme of climate anxiety, Emma Lawrance, Neil Jennings and Jessica Newberry Le Vay from Imperial College London have written this guest post on concerns around the psychological impact of working in climate science fields and on others in society alarmed by climate change.

Nasa Space Apps Challenge returns to Exeter

The Met Office will play its part in the world’s largest hackathon when it hosts NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge once again. Up to 150 participants will gather for the two-day event at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter on 5-6 October to take on challenges set by NASA on the theme of ‘the Sun touches everything’.  

20 years on from Boscastle – how would things be different?

It’s now 20 years since a devastating flood swept through the small Cornish village of Boscastle. A month’s worth of rain fell in just two hours, causing two rivers to burst their banks and about two billion litres of water to rush straight into the village. Whilst rainfall was in the forecast that day, the intensity of that rainfall and its impact on the village was not predicted, meaning residents had little time to react.

Assembling our capability for ensemble weather forecasting

The real world is neither black, nor white. It is made from shades of grey. The weather forecast can contain many possibilities, but forecasters usually try to distil it down to the most likely outcome. Why should a weather forecast try to determine a single ‘black’ or ‘white’ outcome, rather than present a more well-rounded picture of all of the shades of the weather that could possibly come?

‘Significant’ impacts from Tropical Storm Debby in United States – will it influence UK weather?

Tropical Storm Debby – which made landfall in northern Florida on Monday as a hurricane – will continue to impact eastern and southeastern parts of the United States in the coming days.

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This is the official blog of the Met Office news team, intended to provide journalists and bloggers with the latest weather, climate science and business news, and information from the Met Office.

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