Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether each of the Met Office's network of weather stations is (1) appropriately sited, (2) adequately maintained, and (3) able to provide consistently reliable meteorological data.

The Met Office’s weather station network currently consists of 405 sites across the United Kingdom (UK). This includes manual and automatic weather stations. The exact postal address of each site is not publicly available due to national security, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and land ownership reasons. The Met Office website provides a map of the UK station network.

The Met Office is ISO 9001 accredited and has a rigorous, internationally recognised quality-control process that includes calibration, inspection, and verification against World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards. The Government utilises a range of evidence, including information from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments and Met Office modelling and observations, ensuring climate policies are grounded in the latest scientific data.

Observation sites are chosen using strict criteria to ensure representative measurements and minimise external influences, as appropriate to the intended data use. The location of weather stations is vital to ensure consistency and continuity of measurements. When selecting station location the Met Office balances the operational need for coverage, whilst adhering to set standards. Regular physical inspections and maintenance of observation sites are carried out and all instruments undergo regular calibration, against externally recognised standards, to maintain measurement accuracy.