Devolved administrations

How our services support decision making in devolved administrations

As experts in climate modelling and operational weather forecasting our expertise and services can be used to inform policy and assist devolved administrations in their decision making. Our outputs are designed to help improve the effectiveness of decisions, in a number of areas including contingency planning, risk management and understanding the impacts of climate change.

How we work with ministers across the UK and Europe

Working with Scotland

We are committed to helping the Scottish Government plan to reduce, mitigate and prepare for the effects of climate change. With a dedicated Edinburgh office and our forecasting centre in Aberdeen we cover a range of services which help deliver against Scottish Government objectives.

Safer Scotland

To help protect lives, homes and livelihoods, the Met Office and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have the set up the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service - a partnership that provides Category 1 and 2 responders with better indications of flood risk.
A team of Edinburgh-based Public Weather Service Advisors work with Scottish Resilience, a department of the devolved Government, to ensure everyone is prepared for high-impact weather.
The National Severe Weather Warning Service keeps people informed of severe weather through TV, radio and the web.
Daily weather forecasts, supported by dedicated heavy rainfall warnings and visual information systems, support the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in their flood warning activity.
New radar systems to improve Scottish coverage have been installed, which will lead to more accurate forecasts of extreme rainfall.
The United Kingdom Coastal Monitoring and Forecasting service provides forecasts and warnings of tidal alerts around the coasts of Scotland.

Impact of weather on Scotland's trunk road network - case study

Healthier Scotland

We are working with Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) and local doctors to support people self-managing some long-term conditions known to be impacted by weather conditions. Our Healthy Outlook service helps those with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Wealthier Scotland

The Met Office in Aberdeen delivers forecast services to commercial and public customers, including the North Sea offshore energy and oil & gas extraction industries.

Greener Scotland

The Met Office Hadley Centre is a recognised leader in climate change prediction and impact assessment. Working with the Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER) we have helped produce an assessment of climate trends for Scotland. Using Met Office wave data, the University of Edinburgh completed a project for the Scottish Executive looking at the potential for wave power generation in the seas around Scotland.

Working with Wales

As with the other national jurisdictions within the UK, we provide information and scientific evidence specific to our role in Wales for members in line with their devolved areas of interest.

These include:

Environment and countryside - science and services relevant to climate change adaptation and mitigation
Farming and animal health - provision of weather services in support of agriculture
Culture and sport - using weather and climate services to encourage people to make use of the natural environment
Business and economy
Tourism

Working with Northern Ireland

The Met Office plays a vital advisory role to emergency responders in Northern Ireland through our Public Weather Service.

We work with Assembly Committees and Assembly Members in a variety of ways, providing information on a number of matters, including:

Weather and resilience
Climate change
Environment and countryside - including animal health and long range forecasting
Weather and climate-related health issues