Reading and Met Office renew mission to protect the planet

Every time a storm threatens the UK coastline, solar activitydisrupts Earth’s magnetic environment, or a drought grips sub-Saharan Africa, there is a reasonable chance that someone at the University of Reading has played a part in the science behind the response.

Since 2010, Reading has been one of the Met Office's closest research partners, and this month that partnership was renewed for another four years.

The University of Reading is one of just eight universities to have been selected as a partner in the Met Office Academic Partnership, continuing a relationship that has shaped some of the most important advances in weather and climate science. 

Professor Helen Dacre said:

“For more than 30 years, Reading researchers have been working alongside the Met Office on some of the most challenging questions in weather and climate science. That work finds its way into the forecasts people rely on when a storm is coming, the warnings that protect power grids and aircraft from solar storms, and the climate projections that governments use to plan for the future. Being selected for this partnership is a reflection of the range and quality of Reading’s research and expertise, and of a relationship that has grown deeper and more substantial with every passing year." 

From space weather to storm warnings

The University of Reading's work through this partnership touches almost every aspect of how we understand and prepare for a changing planet.

When a solar storm is heading towards Earth, the warning that reaches satellite operators, airlines and power companies is partly based on a model built at Reading. The HUXt solar wind model, developed by Professors Matt Owens and Chris Scott and Dr Luke Barnard, delivers new probabilistic information to Met Office forecasters, giving the people who run our most critical infrastructure time to prepare before a geomagnetic storm hits.

Closer to home, Reading researchers, including Professors John Methven, Sue Gray and Claire Ryder have for years flown research aircraft into some of the most challenging weather systems on the planet, gathering data that helps the Met Office understand how windstorms form, how rain develops, how atmospheric dust varies, and why forecasts sometimes get it wrong. Working with the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements, Reading scientists have gathered data that feeds directly into improvements in how the Met Office models clouds, rainfall and dust. 

Professor Helen Dacre said:

“We are living through a period when the questions weather and climate science can answer have never mattered more. But that science does not happen by itself. It takes years of investment, trust and commitment from partners who believe in what you are trying to do. That is what this partnership with the Met Office gives us, and it is why renewing it means so much."

Understanding our future climate

Predicting how the climate will change over coming decades requires software of extraordinary complexity.  National Centre for Atmospheric Science research scientists Drs Till Kuhlbrodt and Robin Smith, based at the University of Reading,are core partners in building those programmes. New work on ocean circulation and ice sheet behaviour developed at Reading is now built directly into the Met Office climate models used for national projections.

For the UK, and for communities around the world already experiencing the consequences of a changing climate, accurate forecasts are vital. Professor Carol Wagstaff’s work with the Met Office supports the UK governments’ planning for climate change, while NCAS researcher Dr Linda Hirons works with partners across Africa to turn climate science into practical tools, from health risk forecasts to drought and early warning systems that help aid organisations respond more effectively.

Investing in the scientists of tomorrow

Reading is one of only eight UK universities to have been awarded a place on the Met Office Academic Partnership Science Delivery 2 Framework (MOAP) for 2026-2030. While all successful universities meet a core set of partnership criteria, Reading was also awarded a place across every specialist research area on offer, including observations, prediction and projection, data supply, and climate products and services.

The partnership is one of the most significant routes for training the next generation of weather and climate scientists. Around 30 Reading PhD and master'sstudents currently work with Met Office supervisors, with additional joint research positions part-funded by the Met Office.

The renewed framework makes up to £28 million available across the partner universities over four years, supporting collaborative projects and giving researchers the resources to tackle some of the hardest problems in weather and climate science.

Professor Helen Dacre said:

"For a young scientist at the start of their career, working alongside the Met Office is genuinely transformative. It means working on problems that are real, urgent and meaningful from day one, with access to some of the best operational scientists in the world. Ourstrong partnership with the Met Office is one of the reasons Reading remains one of the best places in the world to study weather and climate science."