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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.
The blog will post latest news releases and related content, news diary and information supporting news stories already in the media.
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- Here is the latest #rainfall radar - a wet commute home for some... ☔️☔️☔️ https://t.co/Zeqa7aywFv 59 minutes ago
- The #rain band will continue to push southeastwards during #RushHour so take care on your journey home 🚗💦 https://t.co/xWS41QJLbn 2 hours ago
- #Rain has been slowly moving southeastwards today 💦 bringing cool conditions in Northern Ireland and western Scotla… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 hours ago
- If you're going to #RIAT19 here's an overview of what to expect from the weather over the course of the event ⛅️🌦️✈️ https://t.co/jJwYSyfkPK 3 hours ago
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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a swarm of flying ants! 😮 . Normally, our radar network only detects rain or snow. This morning, large blobs of blue appeared over parts of southern and eastern England – despite the weather being dry. . So, why does the radar detect flying ants and not other insect or even birds? . Radio waves emitted from an antenna travel out at the speed of light, only bouncing back when they encounter an object. When radar was first used during the Second World War, we were trying to detect enemy targets and not rain or snow. On a clear day, radar could quickly tell us the position of aircraft in the sky. On a wet day, echoes visible from the radar signal would only tell us about the weather. . Since the 1950s, radar has told us more and more about the weather as it happens – from rain to snow and from light drizzle to supercell thunderstorms. . The UK is now covered by 15 radar sites, collecting data at 1 km resolution every five minutes. . However, anything from birds and insects in the sky to hills and buildings on the ground can and have interfered with the vertical radar signal and returned false data. . Since a recent upgrade of the UK radar network, we now send two radar beams at once using a technology known as dual-polarisation. . One beam travels horizontally, one vertically, allowing us to build a 3D picture of any objects in the sky. There are now thresholds in place that allow us to discount larger objects such as birds or flies. Flying ants are so small, they slip under the threshold. But if the threshold were smaller, we’d miss some of the rain or snow in the sky. . . #flyingants #radar #weird #satellite #uk #ukweather #wednesdaywisdomMeanwhile, over on Twitter 👀 . . #worldemojidayTake a look at this beautiful (almost) full moon pic taken on Monday night 😍 . The full moon on Tuesday night will look quite different, if you’re lucky enough to spot it. Clear-skies-permitting, a partial lunar eclipse will be visible in the skies above the UK. This occurs when the Earth moves between the sun and the moon but only part of the moon’s visible surface enters the dark part of the Earth’s shadow, the central region called the umbra. . The best time to spot Tuesday night’s partial eclipse will be between 10 pm and 11 pm and, with clear spells expected for much of the UK, there’s a good chance of spotting this lunar spectacle. . Massive thanks to @emmamcdsmith for sharing this with us 🙌🏻 . . #moon #fullmoon #clearskies #umbra #ukweather #lunar #spectacleA great #loveukweather photo sent to us from @gbc123 earlier today ☀️ Here is your weather outlook: Headline: Largely dry overnight, sunshine and scattered showers Tuesday. This Evening and Tonight: Fine and dry for most this evening and overnight with long clear spells, and some short lived fog patches developing in rural areas around dawn. Cloudier across Northern Ireland and western Scotland, with a few showers likely after midnight. Tuesday: A warm day with sunny spells, but the rising temperatures may trigger scattered/isolated heavy showers, particularly across Northern Ireland, southern and eastern Scotland, perhaps Wales and the Midlands. Outlook for Wednesday to Friday: Cloudy and wet in the northwest on Wednesday, sunny spells with showers elsewhere. Sunny spells and some heavy showers on Thursday. Turning windy on Friday with longer spells of rain in places.This is a beautifully moody photograph taken by @prc_photo on the Northumberland coast today. We could see skies like this again at times during the coming week, after a largely fine and bright day tomorrow. Here are the details ⤵️ . Headline: Dry with warm sunny spells. Today: Mostly dry with variable cloud and warm sunny spells for most. The best of the sunshine in the north and west. Perhaps a few isolated showers in the southwest. Feeling warm in the sunshine. Tonight: Mostly dry with variable cloud and clear spells, these mainly in the west where it will feel chilly with a few fog patches possible. Isolated light showers along eastern coasts. Monday: Fine and dry with early cloud in the east breaking up to give sunny spells for most. Isolated showers possible in the west and feeling warm in the sunshine. Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday: Some heavy showers in the northwest on Tuesday, extending to other areas through midweek. Driest in the southeast. Warm at first, but cooling down on Thursday.It was a beautiful start to the day for many. If you weren’t up and about early enough, thanks to @IrishPixel for capturing this spectacular dawn image 🌄 Will there be more opportunities to capture photos like this in the coming days, or is there a change on the way? Find out below ⬇️ UK 5 DAY WEATHER FORECAST Saturday 13 Jul - Wednesday 17 Jul Headline: Mostly dry with some clear spells tonight. A little cooler. This Evening and Tonight: Daytime showers fading, albeit quite slowly, with perhaps some showery rain across east and southeastern parts of England overnight. Some clear spells elsewhere, but with some low cloud drifting in off the North Sea into eastern, southern and central parts. Sunday: Mostly dry with variable cloud and warm sunny spells for most. The best of the sunshine in the north and west. Perhaps a few isolated showers in the southwest. Outlook for Monday to Wednesday: Fine, dry and warm across most parts of the UK at first. Turning increasingly unsettled towards midweek, mainly in the north and west with heavy showers. Driest in the southeast.Archives
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Met Office News- A cold and bright Bank Holiday weekend 2 May, 2019
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Category Archives: Met Office News
A warm and wet March
Rain may not be the first thing you think about when reflecting on March 2019, but it was in fact the 5th wettest March on record for the UK as a whole. Much of the rain fell during the first half of March and for many (except north west Scotland) there was a rather dry … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
Will we see a record-breaking spring?
There have been some headlines in the media in the last few days around predictions for a record-breaking spring in the UK. It would appear these stories have been based, in part, on the latest Met Office three-month outlook produced … Continue reading
Storm Hannah or no Storm Hannah?
That is the question. And the answer from the Met Office is no, not this weekend. Which left many people (including us) feeling quite confused as we read headlines like “Hell storm Hannah” and “Britain to be battered by Storm … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
Prestigious Award for Met Office scientist.
A Met Office Hadley Centre scientist has won a prestigious award for his pioneering research into sea level rise and its response to anthropogenic climate change. Professor Jonathan Gregory has been given a prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (Climate … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
Tagged climate, climate change, Climate model, climate science, Met Office Hadley Centre, sea level, sea level rise
Is there another ‘Beast from the East’ on the way?
There have been many headlines in recent days proclaiming a return of the ‘Beast from the East’ and ‘triple polar vortex to trigger heavy snow’ with bookies reportedly cutting the odds that this month will end as the coldest January … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
Tagged Beast from the East, El Nino, heavy snow, Madden Julian Oscillation, polar vortex, snow, SSW, sudden stratospheric warming, Winter
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September statistics
Despite seeing the first two named storms of the 2018/19 season, named by the Met Office and Met Éireann, and the remnants of an ex-tropical storm, Storm Helene, September in general was a fairly average month. Area Max act … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
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An active September for Tropical Cyclones
September is usually the most active month of the year for tropical cyclones worldwide, but in 2018 there were 21 named tropical cyclones active at some point during the month – just one short of the record of 22 set … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
‘Medicane’ bringing ‘rough seas’ to Mediterranean
A strong storm developing in the Mediterranean Sea, frequently referred to as a ‘medicane’, has been making the news in the last couple of days, but what exactly is a ‘medicane’? How is it defined? There is actually no official … Continue reading
A weak El Niño is likely
Consensus is growing among scientists from a range of climate centres across the world that a weak El Niño is likely to occur during the coming northern hemisphere winter. Professor Adam Scaife is the head of long-term to decadal climate … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
Tagged climate science, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, El Nino, Met Office, Met Office Hadley Centre, Pacific Ocean, qbo
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Meeting the Met Office’s Thai Cave rescue hero
The rescue of the 12 Thai boys and their football coach from the flooded cave complex they had been trapped in for days captured the world’s imagination last month. The heroic rescue team was assembled from the handful of people … Continue reading
Posted in Met Office News
