WMO Statement on UK Met Office Observations

The World Meteorological Organization this year marks its 75th anniversary as the UN’s authoritative voice on weather, climate and water. Throughout that time, the UK’s Met Office has been one of our most committed and active Members and has been a champion of free exchange of high-quality observations and data for the global good.

The Met Office weather and climate stations, as well as the subsequent data processing, follow international standards. It is important to note that the observing stations numbered siting classification is not an indication of the station quality or suitability for weather and climate monitoring, it is a measure that helps the scientists understand the ability of the station to represent a region. Some stations are deliberately situated close to airports to provide aeronautical information –and these are different in nature from those used to provide weather and climate information.

The Met Office is also spearheading international efforts to establish a world-wide network of high-quality climate reference stations. It operates one of the world-leading global climate data centres, which generates quality-controlled time series data suitable for climate monitoring. In climate trend analysis, impact of changes in station characteristics over the years, such as those caused by urbanization, is reduced or eliminated by scientifically robust procedures following WMO guidelines.

Furthermore, the Met Office is instrumental in helping developing countries to strengthen their own meteorological services to close the global gap in observations.

Every day, the Met Office generates and shares millions of weather observations. This vast data flow supports public safety, economic growth, and climate resilience around the world.     

The WMO has utmost confidence in the quality and reliability of this data and is grateful to the Met Office for its commitment to international meteorological cooperation and trust.