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| Met Office National Meteorological Archive | |
|---|---|
| Name | Met Office National Meteorological Archive |
| Established | 1860s |
| Location | Exeter, England |
| Type | National meteorological archive |
| Website | Met Office |
| Director | Met Office |
Met Office National Meteorological Archive The Met Office National Meteorological Archive is the principal repository for the United Kingdom's historical atmospheric observations, operational records, and climatological data. It supports work by scholars, forecasters, and policy bodies including Royal Society, Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Research and Innovation, Natural Environment Research Council, and international partners such as World Meteorological Organization, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Archive underpins studies linked to Falklands War, Great Storm of 1987, Heatwave of 1976, and North Atlantic Oscillation research.
The Archive traces roots to the 19th century when figures like Admiral Robert FitzRoy, Charles Darwin, James Glaisher, and institutions including the Admiralty, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Hydrographic Office, and Board of Trade formalised meteorological observations. Early correspondence involved names such as Alexander von Humboldt, Francis Beaufort, John Dalton, William Herschel, and Sir George Airy. Collections expanded through association with events like the Great Storm of 1703 studies, the Industrial Revolution era climate records, and wartime weather work supporting Battle of Britain and D-Day planning. Later 20th‑century integration connected the Archive with Met Office, UK Met Office Headquarters, and collaborations with British Library, National Archives (UK), Public Record Office, Royal Society of London, and Royal Meteorological Society.
Holdings include handwritten ship logbooks gathered by the Royal Navy, surface station registers from sites such as Kew Observatory, Heathrow Airport, RAF stations, and records from observatories like Greenwich Observatory, Ben Nevis Observatory, and Leuchars. The Archive preserves instrumental datasets from manufacturers like Kew Pattern Anemometer collections, rain gauge series, and barographs connected to engineers such as James Six and Alexander Adie. Meteorological charts, synoptic maps, and facsimiles include material associated with forecasters like George Manley, Percy Kidson, Francis W. Reichelt and datasets used in studies by Gilbert Walker, Lewis Fry Richardson, Edward Lorenz, and Gilbert White. Collections also document climatological indices such as the Southern Oscillation Index, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and records used in Hadley Centre analyses and IPCC assessments.
The Archive provides access for historians, climatologists, and operational staff through catalogues, reading rooms, and data requests involving partners like University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Reading, University of Exeter, Imperial College London, University College London, and international universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. Services link to consortia such as Copernicus Programme, UK Data Service, Met Office Hadley Centre, Climate Data Store, and projects with British Antarctic Survey and National Snow and Ice Data Center. Users engage with custodial institutions including National Maritime Museum, Science Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Natural History Museum. Access protocols involve collaboration with legal bodies like Intellectual Property Office and heritage programmes such as Heritage Lottery Fund.
Digitisation programmes build partnerships with Turing Institute, European Space Agency, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, British Geological Survey, JISC, and digitisation vendors used by National Archives (UK). Projects include mass digitisation of logbooks that serve initiatives like Old Weather, Weather Rescue, and transcriptions linked to Zooniverse. Preservation employs techniques from conservation specialists at Victoria and Albert Museum, British Library, and standards set by ISO committees and practice from International Council on Archives. Digital curation aligns with FAIR principles championed by Research Data Alliance and storage with infrastructures such as Jisc DataVault and European Open Science Cloud.
Researchers utilize the Archive for studies in historical climatology, extreme weather attribution, and model validation with teams at Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, Met Office Hadley Centre, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, University of Reading's Walker Institute, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and Met Éireann. Educational outreach includes collaborations with Royal Meteorological Society, UK Schools Climate Education, Science Museum Group, and public engagement via exhibitions at British Library, National Museum of Scotland, and Maritime Museum. The Archive supports publications in journals like Nature, Science, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Journal of Climate, Geophysical Research Letters, and contributions to reports by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, World Weather Watch, and Global Framework for Climate Services.
Facilities are based in Exeter alongside operational units of Met Office, with governance involving Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, advisory input from Royal Meteorological Society, oversight by statutory bodies like National Archives (UK), and partnerships with Environment Agency and Defra. Infrastructure includes climate-controlled repositories, digital servers compliant with ISO 27001, and collaboration spaces used by organisations such as European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, National Oceanography Centre, and Science and Technology Facilities Council. Policy, funding, and strategic direction intersect with programmes run by UK Research and Innovation, Natural Environment Research Council, and international agreements negotiated through World Meteorological Organization.
Category:Archives in Devon Category:Meteorological archives