Forecast is brighter for Met Office
The Met Office and Microsoft are to build a world-leading supercomputer capable of providing more accurate warnings of severe weather as part of a multimillionpound agreement.
It is expected to be the most advanced machine of its kind dedicated to weather and climate, ranking among the top 25 supercomputers in the world and twice as powerful as any other in the UK, the Met Office said. It is due to go online in the summer of next year.
The Met Office and Microsoft are to build a world-leading supercomputer capable of providing more accurate warnings of severe weather as part of a multimillion-pound agreement.
It is expected to be the most advanced machine of its kind dedicated to weather and climate, ranking among the top 25 supercomputers in the world and twice as powerful as any other in the UK, the Met Office said.
The supercomputer has a 10-year lifespan and is due to start working from summer 2022, based in the south of the UK.
It comes as the country tries to better prepare for the impacts of increasingly extreme storms, floods and snow. The technology will be able to produce more detailed models, improve forecasting of local-scale weather using high resolution simulations, as well as supplying the aviation industry with more accurate forecasts of wind and temperature.
Penny Endersby, chief executive of the Met Office said: "We are delighted to be working in collaboration with Microsoft to deliver our next supercomputing capability. Working together we will provide the highest quality weather and climate datasets and ever more accurate forecasts that enable decisions to allow people to stay safe and thrive.
"This will be a unique capability which will keep not just the Met Office, but the UK, at the forefront of environmental modelling and high-performance computing.
"This investment by the UK government is a great vote of confidence in the Met Office's world leading status as a provider of weather and climate science and services as well as in our national commitment to build a more resilient world in a changing climate, helping build back greener across the UK and beyond."
The development follows a commitment by the Government in February 2020 to pump £1.2 billion of funding into building the state-ofthe-art supercomputer, as it attempts to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.
It will also be one of the world's most environmentally sustainable supercomputers, powered using 100% renewable energy, which is expected to save 7,415 tonnes CO2 in its first year of operation.
Clare Barclay, chief executive of Microsoft UK, said: "The Met Office has long been synonymous with excellence and innovation in our understanding of the impact of weather and climate.
"To make progress with the ecological challenges we face requires innovation, technology and partnerships.
"The potential of the deep expertise, data gathering capacity and historical archive of the Met Office, combined with the sheer scale and power of supercomputing on Microsoft Azure will mean we can improve forecasting, help tackle climate change and ensure the UK remains at the forefront of climate science for decades to come."
Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said the partnership is a "ringing endorsement for the UK'S credentials in protecting our environment" as we prepare to host COP26 later this year.
"The new supercomputer, backed by a billion pound UK Government investment, will act as a catalyst.”