Royal Meteorological Society Professional Accreditation
We are incredibly proud to announce that our meteorologists have been awarded either Registered Meteorologist (RMet) or Chartered Meteorologist (CMet) accreditation from the Royal Meteorological Society!
Over the last few years we have been supporting our meteorologists in their progress to achieve professional accreditation from the Royal Meteorological Society. Achieving professional accreditation demonstrates our staff’s competency and credibility within the field of meteorology, whilst also bolstering their career through continuous professional development.
A big congratulations to those below for their amazing and well-deserved achievement!
We are pleased to announce that all our staff have completed Citation’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training course, led by the fantastic Natalie Hunter!
It was incredibly engaging and informative, educating our staff on common workplace biases, discrimination, inclusive practices, and legal frameworks such as the Equality Act 2010.
At WeatherQuest, we believe that EDI is incredibly important for a multitude of reasons and is directly integrated into our workplace policies. Providing staff with equal opportunities encourages everyone to have a voice and to engage/collaborate within a safe working environment. Not only does this make staff feel valued, increasing their wellbeing, enthusiasm, and trust, but it also makes the workplace more efficient by removing communication barriers.
WeatherQuest is also extremely fortunate to have strong ties with the University of East Anglia, providing us with access to a diverse pool of ambitious students for summer projects, internships, and potentially even hiring opportunities. This increases innovation within the company by opening the doors to these individuals with specific proficiency, experiences, and ideas, and enabling them to get stuck in working alongside the team on a variety of tasks.
Thank you, Natalie, for your time and expertise! Now that our staff are EDI-trained, we hope WeatherQuest has become an even more approachable and inclusive place of work!
On the 6th of January 2026, a low-pressure system began to develop out in the Atlantic. Starting off at ~1020 hPa, it was named Storm Goretti by Météo-France, as the most severe wind impacts were initially forecast for northern France. The low was pushed above the Azores high block, with its trajectory towards the Channel. By midday on the 7th of January, the low (shown in the blue ring below) deepened to 1017 hPa, and the Met Office issued Yellow and Amber weather warnings for wind, rain, snow and ice for large areas of the UK.
Main event
At midnight (00:00) on the 8th of January, the low deepened to 1006 hPa and was strengthening rapidly, losing 2 hPa every hour, reaching 994 hPa by 06:00. Due to its strength and trajectory, the Met Office upgraded their warnings to include a red warning for the Isles of Scilly and parts of Cornwall, and several amber warnings for western parts of the country and the Midlands.
By the evening, the storm travelled directly over Cornwall, with peak winds of 99 mph being recorded at St Mary’s Airport on the Isles of Scilly. The time series from Culdrose weather station, Cornwall, shows how sudden the drop in pressure was, reaching a low of 969 hPa, with the leading rain before and sharp wind gusts just after the centre of the low passed overhead. The highest wind gust recorded at this station was 90 mph.
The damaging high wind speeds can be explained not only by the position of the low, but also by the type; Strom Goretti was a textbook Shapiro-Keyser style cyclone. During a Shapiro-Keyser storm’s development, the cold front detaches from the leading warm front, allowing cool air from behind the cold front to rapidly sink, accelerate and wrap around warm front, potentially creating a sting jet of intense wind speeds. This detachment can be seen in the pressure chart for 18UTC on the 8th of January.
While the Southwest saw the brunt of the strong winds and rough seas along the coast, large amounts of snow fell across parts of northern England, Wales and the Midlands. Values ranged from 8cm at Nottingham, up to unofficial reports of >20cm over high ground. Across the South and the East, the main impact was a prolonged spell of rainfall. See the WQ Radar video below for a snapshot of the event.
Disruption
Winter windstorms can be very dangerous, and Goretti was a severe case. Below are just a few impacts the storm caused:
A man was unfortunately killed when a tree fell on his caravan in Helston.
>200,000 properties without power, 12,000 of which were still without power on Sunday the 11th.
The snow, combined with the mild weather after the storm meant there were many flood warnings and alerts in place all over the country.
Water mains pipes damaged by uprooting trees and freeze-thaw bursts, leaving around 30,000 properties without water.
Flights were cancelled and airports were shut down across the country.
Some cars and vans were overturned on some main roads.
We hope everyone stays safe during the storm season!
On the 10th of December, Ian, Morrie and Marcus headed up the Highland Hall, Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh to take part in the UK Offshore Wind Supply Chain Spotlight 2025. Supported by the Fit 4 Offshore Renewables program, WeatherQuest were provided a stand at the event to showcase the Offshore Wind tailored services we provide and create innovative connections with others in the sector.
It was an early start, with the trio having set up the WeatherQuest stand by 08:00 ready for the delegate registration and entry beginning at 08:30 and the main event start at 09:00. Throughout the day, there were many great exciting conversations between delegates and the WeatherQuest team, providing some really exciting opportunities for future partnerships, projects and products.
Have a look below at some action shots taken by Morrie!
The day was a great success for us, and we thank the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Offshore Wind Growth Partnership for providing us the opportunity to showcase what we do for the offshore industry and creating potential future links with others in the sector.
Budburst leads to a period of vulnerability to springtime frost in the vineyard. Budburst timing varies according to grape variety and to year as a function of Growing Degree Days (GDD). When a frost is forecasted during the budburst period and when vineyard temperature measurements show a convincing trend in that direction, vineyard managers need to rapidly assess which frost mitigation measures may most effectively mitigate the potentially devastating impacts. For this, an understanding of frost type is important.
Radiation Frosts generally involve cold air at the ground surface and significantly warmer air above (a situation also known as a Temperature Inversion). Clear skies and light winds overnight help to encourage the development of such an Inversion and, if the starting temperature in the evening is cool enough, the ground may lose enough energy overnight for a Ground Frost to occur. This may be followed by the potential for a frost in the overlying air too (an Air Frost) as the ground cools the adjacent air above. In these conditions, the overnight ground temperature is usually colder than the air temperature at bud height (typically1m above ground) which in turn is usually colder than the temperature recorded by a typical weather station (usually at 1.5m height). Those temperature differences can commonly be several degrees Celsius, sometimes more.
Advection Frosts, meanwhile, such as those which occurred on the 26th and 27th February 2018 (The Beast from the East), don’t exhibit such significant Temperature Inversions, so lack any natural heat source to mitigate the frost impacts. They are typically associated with a deep layer of cold Polar or Arctic Air, sometimes with strong accompanying winds, and often affect large areas when they occur. Advection Frosts are more difficult to defend against due to the sheer volume of cold air involved – a significant surface heat source is required.
The graph below shows how the start of budburst in Pinot noir has varied in different counties over the last 30 years, based on our budburst model (Day 90 = 31st March, Day 120 = 30th April). Each county here is represented by a specific vineyard, but we can repeat the calculation for your specific location too. The dotted line shows how budburst has been starting progressively earlier, moving forward by 3 days per decade on average. So, although the climate is warming overall, and frost frequency declining, this change in phenology is compensating for this, meaning frost risk remains a significant problem.
As an example, May 15th 2020 (Day 135, the horizontal red line on the graph) saw a very late spring frost event across major vineyard areas. Budburst in Pinot noir that year was estimated to be around Day 105 in East Sussex and Day 115 in Norfolk. But it’s easy to see how much more damaging it could have been if it had happened say in 2016 or 2021, when budburst in these same counties was around Day 130.
Vineyard locations overlayed on the minimum temperatures during May 15th 2020.
So, the first challenge is to be aware when buds are vulnerable, to then have access to site specific vineyard forecasts and finally to be able to distinguish between radiation frosts and advection frosts in order to optimise frost mitigation measures.
This is where our frost forecasting tool, VineBuddy, comes in. VineBuddy provides site-specific bud-height frost forecasts, including Frost Type, helping vineyard managers take timely and well-informed action. Integrated with in-field sensors, VineBuddy takes account of the variations in temperature which naturally occur in the vineyard due to topography, ensuring you’re never caught off guard.
The VineBuddy service process.
The VineBuddy service consists of an easy-to-use WebApp dashboard, showing the past 30 days of local temperatures, a GDD budburst threshold monitor and 48-hour ahead frost forecasts, with an option to integrate your own within-vineyard weather sensors. The WebApp is complemented by WhatsApp Frost Alerts and the option to call the WeatherQuest Forecast team, when you need to, for peace of mind.
The Viticulture dashboard.
If you would like to find out more, speak to WeatherQuest’s Steve Dorling at the Vineyard Show on 19th November 2025 where Steve is a speaker in the seminar programme. Or visit the Vinescapes stand at the show to express your interest and sign up for a free VineBuddy trial during February 2026. If you can’t make the Vineyard Show, you can also head to the Vinescapes website and complete the VineBuddy form:
WeatherQuest Invests in Mental Health First Aid Training
News / WeatherQuest Invests in Mental Health First Aid Training
WeatherQuest Invests in Mental Health First Aid Training
WeatherQuest is pleased to share that two members of our team, Ian Gooch and Ruby Warner, have recently qualified as Mental Health First Aiders through a two-day course delivered by St John Ambulance.
While Mental Health First Aiders are not therapists or counsellors, the training equips Ian and Ruby with the skills to recognise signs of mental ill-health, listen non-judgmentally, offer initial support and signpost colleagues to professional help where appropriate.
Supporting our people, supporting our clients
At WeatherQuest, we know that good mental health is essential to doing our best work – especially in a field where clear thinking, judgement and collaboration are vital for delivering high-quality weather and climate services.
By investing in Mental Health First Aid training, we are:
Strengthening our internal support network so colleagues have someone trained to talk to if they’re struggling.
Improving how we assess and manage psychosocial risks in the workplace, alongside our existing health and safety commitments.
Exploring tools such as Wellness Action Plans, so that team members can proactively identify what helps them stay well at work and what early warning signs to look out for.
This work draws on best-practice guidance from recognised mental health charities and is part of our broader commitment to creating an inclusive, supportive and sustainable working environment.
A long-term commitment
Mental health problems are common and treatable, and we want everyone at WeatherQuest to feel able to speak up early and seek support. By building awareness and putting practical measures in place, we aim to:
Reduce stigma around mental health
Encourage open, respectful conversations
Help our team stay healthy, resilient and focused – for the benefit of our colleagues, partners and clients
“Our people are at the heart of everything we do,” says Ian. “Investing in mental health training is one way we can look after each other, so we’re at our best when we’re looking after our clients.”
Two WeatherQuest Interns are part of the UEA’s Class of 2025!
As the graduation week here on the UEA campus comes to an end, two of our interns at WeatherQuest are part of the class of 2025!
Anna, who has been supporting the IT team across a range of areas, graduated on Tuesday the 15th of July from her MSc Data Science degree. Although the day started out nice and bright, rain came through after midday, leading to a very wet afternoon and early evening. Luckily, she didn’t get too wet as we managed to snap a picture before all the rain kicked off!
Ollie, who has been spearheading our work with machine learning and AI graduated from his MSci Natural Sciences course on Thursday the 17th of July. The weather seemed to be much kinder to Ollie, as Thursday was a lot less unsettled and had no rain. Again, Ollie had enough time during the hustle and bustle for a photo!
Having been integral to our team over the last year, congratulations to both for graduating, and we hope they are very proud of their achievement!
To find out more about our Research and Development service
On Friday the 13th of June 2025, the low pressure system located to the West of Ireland set up strong southerly flow of warm and humid air which destabilised over Northwest Europe, releasing substantial amounts of Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE). The resulting convective system produced frequent lightning and travelled over Nantes and into Normandie, before following the coastline of Northern France. It then travelled north over the Channel, hitting areas of Kent and East Anglia.
The Met Office surface pressure chart for 13/06/2025 at 18:00 UTC.
Using lightning data from METEORAGE, in the 24-hour period of 06:00 13/06/2025 to 06:00 14/06/2025, there were 358,362 strikes recorded in WeatherQuest’s custom domain, which covers areas of Northern France and the British Isles. This was the most amount of recorded lightning in the domain since our records began, over 63,000 more than the second most active 24-hours.
The number of lightning strikes in WeatherQuest’s custom domain each day (06:00 – 06:00 24-hour period) from 01/01/2017 to 13/06/2025.A heat map showing where lightning strikes were concentrated on the night of 13/06/2025 – 14/06/2025.
There are two different types of lightning, Intra-Cloud (IC) and Cloud-to-Ground (CG). Intra-cloud means that the lightning did not reach earth but instead struck through the cloud itself. Determining the type of lightning strike is achieved by analysing its electromagnetic signal discharge, with IC and CG both having different signals. The lightning during this 24-hour period was mainly IC (93% of total), but despite this, 25,621 strikes were CG, a quarter of which happened over the French city of Rouen, and its surrounding area (see the heat map above)!
The dispersion of lightning strike type over East Anglia and the Southeast.
WQ Senior Meteorologist Ruby Warner took part in the PPL/IR Europe Spring Conference
Over the bank holiday weekend of the 23rd – 25th of May, Ruby, one of our Senior forecasters, took a trip to the Private Pilot Instrument (PPL/IR Europe) flying community Spring conference on the Isle of Guernsey. PPL/IR Europe is a non-profit organisation that assists with achieving and maintaining instrument qualifications on aeroplanes under EASA and UK-CAA certification [1]. Ruby flew out to Guernsey on a small aircraft, with conditions being bright and sunny. Once landed, Ruby underwent a tour of the Guernsey and Herm islands, before reaching St Pierre Park Hotel where the conference was being held.
The following day, Ruby delivered three two-hour long breakout sessions covering several meteorological topics relevant to aviation, including mid-latitude cyclone development and understanding tephigrams. The sessions focused on aviation hazards such as convection and how lightning and hail is formed, as well as cloud structure and icing. Ruby also highlighted some useful opensource resources which can be used to help identify potential meteorological hazards and gain confidence in the forecast.
Ruby had a fantastic time overall and found it incredibly rewarding sharing knowledge on understanding the weather pilots may be flying in, making aviation safer for all! Thank you PPL/IR Europe for hosting and allowing Ruby to take part!
Although wine has been drunk in the UK since the Iron Age, it was the Romans that first introduced winemaking to the UK, with some evidence suggesting vineyards were planted in the UK during their time here. Viticulture saw an upturn in popularity during the Norman conquest, partly due to the Medieval Warm Period, but also due to nobles and prominent landowners wanting their own wine [1].
A few hundred years later however, as the climate began to worsen (towards the Little Ice Age) and the monarchy (Henry II) gained Aquitaine through marriage, better wine was found elsewhere and vineyards dwindled. By the 18th Century, only a few estates across southern England had vineyards, albeit very small and experimental in scale [1].
This all changed during the 1900s due to climate change and globalisation. As global temperatures rose and warmth spread into higher latitudes, more of the UK became suitable for different grape varieties. Compounding this with the increased ease of importing and exporting goods, viticulture in the UK became more economically viable than ever. Both of these drivers still continue to push vineyard growth throughout the UK. In fact, hectarage has doubled since 2016, showing the fast rate at which the UK viticulture sector is growing, and as of 2024, there are now 1,097 vineyards, totalling 4,491 hectares. To help show this rapid growth, the video below shows how many new commercial vineyards were planted from 1955 onwards in the UK and Ireland (226 vineyards do not have a date of first planted, and so these were left off to avoid cluttering the map) [2].
The two main varieties grown in the UK are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but other less known varieties are also very common, including Pinot Gris, Meunier and Bacchus. While the main production of wines from the UK are of the sparkling variety, still wines comprise around a third of the total. Both types of wine have been gathering recognition and acclaim on the global stage, to the point that high profile Champagne producers (e.g. Taittinger) have been buying real estate in southern England [3], thus proving the UK’s position in the world of viticulture and the exciting prospects it holds for the future!
This growth of UK vineyards is not without risk however. During the bud burst season of March – May, vineyards (and specifically the buds on the vine that have burst) are at risk of the effects from frost, despite our changing and warming climate. These frosts can severely damage the crop and cripple yields, and for this year’s vintage, the clear and settled weather we have been experiencing has been producing frosts across the country. To help vineyards mitigate this frost risk, WeatherQuest are leading on a project which has secured over £300,000 in funding from both Innovate UK and the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Working alongside, UK Agri-Tech Centre, Plumpton College, Vinescapes, Vinewatch and WineGB, the project is called ‘Smarter Forecasting, Communication and Management of Frost Risk in Vineyards’. By creating accurate, real-time, hyper-localised, site-specific, and variety-specific frost risk forecasts, it will enable vineyards managers to make more confident, informed and targeted decisions when it comes to frost mitigation, with the added benefit of sustainability in mind. The project will therefore aid the rapidly growing sector of domestic viticulture in the UK and their resistance to frosts.
