Weather centre at the forefront of climate change

A university's plan for a European weather centre headquarters has begun and is due to be completed in 2027.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) will be located next to the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology.

The facility will be home to up to 300 scientists to support world-leading work on all aspects of weather prediction systems, forecast production, and research into climate change.

University of Reading's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Robert Van de Noort said: "It will benefit everyone in having better forecasts and being able to act on those forecasts more quickly. "

Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez at the University of Reading explained that the new building will cover more than medium range which is two to 14 days.

He said: "They run models out into the sub-seasonal range, out to maybe six weeks ahead, and even on the seasonal time scale.

"It will be looking at the seasonal outlook, what can we predict the winter is going to be like if we're making a forecast in November, for example."

"There's already a move to quantify how much these heat waves cause excess deaths," he added.

As the world warms up, he said "it's ever more important we know what's coming down the track to keep people safe".

The science minister Lord Vallance said it would bring 300 of the country's best climate experts into the one place.

He said: "This is exactly the sort of really world-class activity that we ought to have in the UK. "

A point reinforced by Professor Robert Van de Noort: "Bringing all these scientists onto the campus will allow them to work even more closely with the academics we already have here.

"I think that will benefit everyone in having better forecasts and being able to act on those forecasts more quickly. "

The recent floods in America, in which more than a hundred people died, show the importance of early weather warnings.

The university's climate expert Hannah Cloak said "we need to be better prepared for them."

She said: "Floods in Texas have really brought that home in the last few days haven't they and of course next week we're going to have a heat wave."

"Within the next two years I can see us really transforming the way that we do meteorological science.

"We're going to make some great breakthroughs, I think, in being able to forecast floods better, more accurately and in good time so we can help get people out of the way of those floods."

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