The BBC and the Met Office recently announced a new partnership that aims to deliver the most trusted and accurate weather service in the United Kingdom. The partnership brings together the BBC’s journalism and broadcasting expertise with the Met Office’s weather and climate science and intelligence to provide a better public service for all things weather.
The expansive and long-term agreement will be developed in phases over the coming years and will focus on weather education and countering mis-and-dis-information in the weather and climate realms. It will also create communities where people can share weather information and stories.
The overall goal of the two entities reuniting is to combine their joint expertise, provide a better public service, and help more people stay safe, thrive, and understand the wonder of weather.
For the last eight years, the BBC’s TV, radio, and climate forecasts have been provided by the Dutch MeteoGroup, which was subsequently acquired by the U.S. weather services company DTN. Prior to February of 2018, the Met Office had provided weather data and forecasts to the BBC since the corporation’s first radio weather bulletin on November 14, 1922. The reason for the separation in 2018 was because the BBC was legally required to secure the best value for money for license fee payers and they had to tender the contract to outside competition.
Further details on the new partnership are expected to be announced later this year.
