§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Secretary of State for Defence if any check is made on the accuracy of forecasts issued by the Meteorological Office.
§ Mr. JohnChecks are carried out on the forecasts prepared by the Meteorological Office as a matter of routine. The checks show continued improvement in the accuracy of forecasts in recent years, particularly in respect of the outlooks for two or three days ahead and in forecasts for aviation of winds and temperature in the upper air.
§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current cost of the meteorological service in the United Kingdom and the comparative cost of the service 10 years ago; and if he will list the present day uses of the service.
§ Mr. JohnThe net cost to Defence Votes of the Meteorological Office, including its United Kingdom and overseas outstations, for the financial year 1975–76 is currently estimated to be £19.7 million. The comparable net cost for 1965–66 was £5.3 million. This represents an increase in real terms of just under 20 per cent.
Present day uses of the meteorological service comprise:
- (a) The provision of weather forecasts and warnings and transmission of data to meet international commitments to the World Meteorological Organisation and the requirements of the Armed Forces, civil aviation, nationalised undertakings, local authorities, agriculture, shipping, commerce and industry and the general public. Special forecast warning services include those for frosts and dry spells for agriculture; severe weather, high winds and ice for local authorities and the
805 police; low temperatures for gas and electricity boards; wave heights for offshore industry; rainfall for water authorities. - (b) A wide range of other meteorological services for public and governmental activities in such fields as agriculture, building and civil engineering, education, flood control and drainage, heating and ventilating, medicine, sport and transport. They include services that are based on climatology information, studies of solar radiation and the upper atmosphere, identification of weather/disease links in crops and animals.
Original programmes of research are carried out by the Meteorological Office, often in collaboration with other Government Departments or universities or with the meteorological services of other countries, to enable many questions of practical importance to be answered, notably in regard to agriculture, aviation, water supply, land use, dispersion of atmospheric pollution and climatic change.
During the 10-year period the demand for meteorological information from industry, civil aviation and the public has more than doubled.
§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether there is any system in operation whereby forecasts concerning severe storms are passed on to local authorities and local police forces.
§ Mr. JohnYes. The Meteorological Office provides on request warnings of strong winds, gales, heavy rainfall and other weather hazards to local authorities, regional water authorities, police forces or any other interests which may have a need for them. There is also a long-standing arrangement with the BBC and most of the independent broadcasting companies to enable special warning of severe weather conditions to be broadcast at short notice.