Gigabit January 2019

MET OFFICE
190
One example of this lies at the Met Offices
fingertips – its supercomputer. As Moore’s
Law dictates, computer processing power
will only continue to expand over the coming
years and the Met Office needs to be ready
to tap into the potential of future supercomputers.
“Because the of scale our operations
are so large, it can be difficult to predict what
the technology environment will look like in
the future. Take supercomputers, for example,
we’re always looking five to ten years in the
future. It’s important to realise what you need
to change now, to be lucid and clear about
what the target destination looks like.”
By all accounts, cutting-edge science and
technology are the bread and butter of the
weather forecasting. Whether it's going to
be blustery or raining, the blend of the two
means that we can predict the weather more
accurately than ever. “Every ten years, the
weather forecast has improved with the
same accuracy being available a day earlier,”
concludes Ewen. “In other words, a four-day
weather forecast is as accurate as a threeday
forecast was ten years ago. That shows
the rate of progress and technology undoubtedly
plays an important part of that.”
JANUARY 2019