The Met Office

NOTE: This programme is no longer available following the outcome of a finding by the BBC Trust. Follow the link at the bottom of this page to read the full report.

PROGRAMME SYNOPSIS:
Quentin Letts begins a new series casting a critical but amicable eye across institutions at the heart of British life, asking the question 'What's the Point Of...?

From its origins after a sea disaster 150 years ago, its importance during World War II, to its daily weather predictions, the Met Office has been part British life for a long time but, as Quentin finds out, its future is part of a complex debate involving a £97 million super-computer, the accuracy of long term weather predictions and the science of climate change.

Is the Met Office a valuable national asset providing essential and possibly life-saving information about severe weather or an expensive liability, dropping forecasting clangers like the barbecue summer and missing the Great Storm of 1987?

With help from Met Office veterans, independent weather forecasters and a word or two or advice from those trusty weather folklore experts - the farmers, Quentin asks "What's the point of the Met Office. 1/4

Producer: Vince Hunt
Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.