Last night the Met Office won the Social Buzz Award for Best Public Sector Social Media Strategy for ‘Sharing the weather when it matters’.

The award is in recognition of the work of the Met Office has been doing to use social media to engage in online conversations about weather and climate, and to share important messages, such as impending severe weather forecasts and warnings, when it matters.

The Met Office has built a community of over 180,000 followers and fans across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and this news blog, sharing and engaging in conversations as varied as how severe weather may affect the UK, Saharan dust reaching the UK, and the Jet Stream.

Dee Cotgrove, Head of Communications at the Met Office said:

“The Met Office Social Media strategy has been a huge success for the Met Office over the past couple of years.  This award recognizes the interest people have in the weather and the important role the Met Office plays in keeping the nation up to date with the latest weather information when it matters.”

More information on the awards and a full list of the winners can be found on the Social Buzz Awards website.

This award follows our Computer Weekly best use of social media award in 2011 and being recognised as the 9th most social brand in Social Brands 100 earlier this year, putting us firmly at the forefront of social media within the public sector.