The idea behind UNISDR International Day for Disaster Reduction 2017 (IDDR 2017)  (13 Oct 2017) is to raise global awareness of the work that goes on worldwide to reduce the risk of disaster faced by millions, highlighting the effective actions, policies and practices in disaster risk reduction (DRR).DRR is central to much of the work we undertake at the Met Office, and throughout this week we have published a number of blogs looking at some of the ways we are involved.

Our Head of International Development, Dave Britton talked about the wide ranging work we undertake in a blog at the start of the week. We have also highlighted some of our international science and development partnerships such as the Tanzania Meteorological Agency.  This partnership has had a strong focus on user engagement in the development of weather and climate services.

Meanwhile, the CSSP China project, part of the Newton-funded Weather and Climate Science for Services Partnership (WCSSP) programme, included scientists developing an innovative technique to assess the potential risk of physically plausible – but as yet unrecorded – weather extremes. This technique was then used in the UK’s National Flood Resilience Review (2017).

A very different view of DRR was provided by Met Office Weather Impact Research Scientist, Jo Robbins, following her recent voluntary work in Sierra Leone. Working as part of a MapAction team and in partnership with the UN, Jo supported recovery efforts following the recent landslides. Not only was Jo able to put her Met Office experience and skill to good use, she also developed a deeper understanding of emergency response in situations such as these.

Crisis and humanitarian response work was also the theme of our most recent blog from Gavin Iley, Met Office Head of International Crisis Management and Resilience. In particular, Gavin was keen to highlight the importance of considering impact when using weather information in disaster response.

To conclude our DRR focus week, our Chief Executive Rob Varley talks about the importance of global DRR partnerships and the part that the Met Office and national weather and climate services from around the world play in reducing risk.