Providing Climate Advice During Extreme Weather in the UK

Oral Presentation 

As the UK feels the tightening grip of climate change, increasingly questions around climate change are raised during extreme weather events. Is this weather event caused by climate change? Do we expect more similar events in future climate? Responding to these questions during the extreme weather promotes weather action by supporting where events are outside prior experience, and promotes climate action by better linking a particular event’s impacts to climate change. 

Two approaches have been taken to provide climate information: one focussing on event attribution, and the other providing rapid climate advice. Firstly, we developed a protocol for moving climate attribution towards a service, meaning that it that could be called upon swiftly during an extreme weather event. Secondly, we compiled summaries of climate context aligned to the hazards included in the UK’s National Severe Weather Warning Service, allowing the latest climate science to be included alongside weather warnings. Both of these approaches, alongside others that we are developing for future work, draw together experts from across the Met Office to better deliver weather and climate science and services in a changing world.