Supercomputing leap in weather and climate forecasting

The Met Office has signed a multimillion-pound agreement with Microsoft for the provision of a world-leading supercomputing capability that will take weather and climate forecasting to the next level.

This new supercomputer – expected to be the world’s most advanced dedicated to weather and climate – will be in the top 25 supercomputers in the world and be twice as powerful as any other in the UK.

The data it generates will be used to provide more accurate warnings of severe weather.

The precision and accuracy of its modelling is also expected to help inform government policy as part of the UK’s fight against climate change.

It follows the announcement by government in February 2020 which committed £1.2bn of funding to develop this state-of-the-art supercomputer.

“We are delighted to be working in collaboration with Microsoft to deliver our next supercomputing capability,” says Penny Endersby, chief executive, Met Office. “Working together we will provide the highest quality weather and climate datasets and ever more accurate forecasts that enable decisions to allow people to stay safe and thrive. This will be a unique capability which will keep not just the Met Office, but the UK at the forefront of environmental modelling and high-performance computing.

“This investment by the UK government is a great vote of confidence in the Met Office’s world-leading status as a provider of weather and climate science and services as well as in our national commitment to build a more resilient world in a changing climate, helping build back greener across the UK and beyond.”