The history of UK weather forecasting: the changing role of the central guidance forecaster. Part 2: the birth of operational numerical weather prediction.

Gl By the late 1960s, automated computer forecast charts were routinely used by forecasters at Heathrow, which had become an Area Forecasting Office on 1 October 1967 (Freeman, [6]) with responsibility for providing forecasts for any aircraft leaving Europe westbound across the Atlantic. This was a very successful forecast in a complex summertime situation, indicating that fine anticyclonic weather would be replaced by thundery rain from the southwest. The resulting operational system subsequently provided guidance for Met Office forecasts for 7 years, during which the products came to be recognised as increasingly important for forecasting the weather 24-36h ahead over the British Isles (Gilchrist and White, [7]). 10 Flash weather messages were introduced by the Met Office in 1965 to warn the public of an impending severe weather event, one of which was very heavy rain ( I Weather i , November 1965, p. 362). [Extracted from the article]