§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the number of weather ships attached to the meteorological service in 1979 and at the present; and if he will make a statement on the implications for surface weather forecasting, in the light of recent mis-forecasts.
§ Mr. Sainsbury[holding answer 19 November 1987]: A number of European nations fund ocean weather stations collaboratively under the North Atlantic ocean station agreement. In 1979 a total of nine vessels were provided and manned by Norway, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and the USSR, to operate four permanent ocean weather stations under this agreement. The United Kingdom provided two ships. The NAOS programme now operates three ocean stations and the United Kingdom provides one ship.
Ocean weather stations provide only one source of offshore observations for weather forecasting. In recent years a number of other platforms have come into use including meteorological satellites, buoys and ships and aircraft on passage.