Meet the Met Office!
Discover all there is to know about the UK’s national weather service…
The weird and wonderful world of weather is truly fascinating! Did you know that the average cloud weighs about the same as 70 African elephants? Or that there are around 2,000 thunderstorms happening at any given moment around the world? Yikes!
Nobody finds weather more intriguing than the Met Office. They are a big team of meteorologists, weather and climate scientists, and more, who use satellites, weather stations and other cool hi-tech stuff to predict the weather, create maps, work out how climate change is affecting our world, and so much more!
Pushing the boundaries of science and technology for 170 years, the Met Office is one of the most trusted forecasters globally, helping us plan our day and stay safe, whatever the weather!
Did you know: ‘Met’ is short for ‘meteorology’ – the scientific study of the Earth’s atmosphere!
Met Office Facts
Grab your brolly, because it’s raining facts!
– In 2015, the UK’s Met Office, along with weather organisations in Ireland and the Netherlands, began naming storms impacting these regions. The names, suggested by the public, reflect names from each country. One of the storms in the 2023/24 list is named after Beano character Minnie the Minx!
– The Met Office doesn’t just do earthly forecasts – they also monitor space weather. They use awesome space tech to keep an eye out for solar flares, radiation, geomagnetic storms and more. Epic!
– Founder of the Met Office, Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, set up the first Shipping Forecast broadcast in 1861 to issue weather warnings to ships.
– The Met Office has over 2,200 staff worldwide! This includes meteorologists predicting the weather, climate scientists studying how the world is changing, engineers building important equipment, IT experts making sure everything runs smoothly, and so much more. It’s like a big team of weather wizards!
– The Met Office’s supercomputer is one of the world’s most powerful for monitoring weather and climate. It can take in a whopping 215 billion global weather observations daily. Woah!
– In 2007, the Met Office and Environment Agency opened the Flood Forecasting Centre – helping to monitor and prepare for flood risks.
Are you a weather whizz?
Think you know the weather? Put your knowledge to the test with this multiple-choice quiz!
Learn with the Met Office!
What is the meteorological calendar?
Do you know why we call it spring even when it still feels a bit chilly? Well, there are two ways we decide when each season starts. One way is by looking at how the Earth moves around the Sun, called the astronomical way, which can get a little confusing because the dates are always changing. The other way is by looking at how warm or cold it is, based on the annual temperature cycle, which is called the meteorological way.
The meteorological way is easier to understand because it consists of splitting the seasons into four periods made up of three months each. So, meteorological spring always starts on 1 March and lasts until 31 May. That’s when we start seeing flowers bloom and trees grow new leaves.
Whether it’s playing in the leaves in autumn or building snowmen in winter, meteorological seasons help us know what to expect and when to expect it. Nice!
CLICK HERE TO WIN A COPY OF THE MET OFFICE’S BOOK VERY BRITISH WEATHER
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