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Joint Weather and Climate Research Programme (JWCRP)

JWCRP aims to further the interests of the Met Office and NERC in growing the UK's leading role in weather and climate research.

JWCRP facilitates the joint research between the Met Office and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Its overarching goal is to ensure that the UK maintains and strengthens its leading international position in weather and climate science.

The JWCRP has two major elements. The first addresses the joint commitment to sustaining and growing the UK's national capability and research in observing, understanding, modelling and predicting weather and climate, along with the infrastructure required to deliver that national capability and research. The second is to align major research initiatives and programmes to ensure the most effective impact of the research and pull-through into the delivery of services to government and business.

Science strategy

The Science Programme Board, consisting of Met Office Science Directorate and NERC Heads of Centres (NCAS, NOC, CEH, NCEO, BAS and PML), is responsible for setting the strategic and scientific agenda for JWCRP activities. The SPB oversees a number of core research programmes and enabling posts aimed at over-coming barriers to collaborative research.

Group photo of the members of The Science Programme board.

From left to right; Mark Bailey (CEH), Andy Brown (MO), Ned Garnett (NERC Swindon), John King (representing Jane Francis, BAS), Steve de Mora (PML), Stephen Mobbs (NCAS), Ed Hill (NOC), Gilbert Brunet (MO), Cath Senior (representing Stephen Belcher, MO), Jemma Gornall (JWCRP Manager), Peter Jan van Leeuwen (NCEO), Jon Petch (MO) and Julia Slingo (MO) - Photo courtesy of Dave Offiler.

Joint facilities 

The JWCRP oversees the major jointly-owned infrastructure. Examples of these are the research aircraft the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) and the Met Office and NERC joint supercomputer system (MONSooN) which enables NERC and Met Office scientists to share data and develop models on the same platform.

Key aims

  • To ensure that the UK has access to internationally competitive tools and infrastructure for maintaining its world-leading national capability in observing, understanding, modelling and predicting weather and climate, and their impacts;
  • To enable closer collaboration between NERC and the Met Office by working to eliminate existing barriers, to align more closely their respective research activities, and to ensure effective participation in relevant new research programmes from both organisations;
  • To propose new activities to address critical gaps in the existing national portfolio of weather and climate research and to be actively involved in promoting and developing those activities;
  • To develop mechanisms to promote the more effective pull through of research and development into improved weather and climate forecasts.

Core research programmes

  • Development of a world leading Earth System Model based on cutting-edge UK research and Development (UKESM);
  • Development of the United Kingdom Chemistry and Aerosols (UKCA) Model model;
  • Building a high-resolution global coupled model to improve seasonal to decadal variability and predictability (HiRig);
  • Research, Design and develop a new dynamical core for operational weather and climate simulations (GungHo);
  • Develop and update a world leading global ocean model (JOMP) and coastal-ocean model (JCOMP) for use in a range of applications;
  • Build and evaluate high resolution UK Environmental Prediction systems, through integration of atmosphere, ocean and land surface models;

The JWCRP is an accredited programme of Living With Environmental Change (LWEC).

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