News

The UN’s Climate Change Conference began on Monday in Madrid, Spain, under the Presidency of the Government of Chile. It will include the 25th Conference of Parties (COP25), the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and the 2nd session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement. The aim of the meetings is to ensure that the various conventions and agreements are being implemented.

There are several online courses which you can take to learn more about weather and climate: on the FutureLearn platform, there is the RMetS/ University of Reading Come Rain or Shine introduction to weather, as well as the University of Exeter’s Climate Change: the Science course, both of which are running at the moment.

The Open University runs a couple of courses Watching the Weather (free) and Science: the Weather which has an associated fee. The COMET/ MetEd programme in the USA runs many online courses, some general, some very specific.

The clear up operation is continuing after Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan on 12th October with wind speeds up to 225 km/ hr and torrential rain, leaving at least 74 dead and tens of thousands of people displaced. In the town of Hakone, 939.5 mm of rain fell in just 24 hours.

The debate is planned to be held on Friday, 29th November. However, there is a risk that the event might be postponed to January/February, if the parliament requires access to the chamber.

The Society is delighted to be working together with the University of Reading on a Thames Water sponsored FutureLearn course, called “Come Rain or Shine”.  Recently the course was awarded the EMS Outreach and Communication Award 2018.

Although there are natural causes of wildfires, such as lightning strikes, most of them are started by people. Because of high temperatures and dry conditions, they rapidly grow out of control. So far, this year has been exceptional in a number of locations across the world.

The Royal Meteorological Society is hosting an event that will celebrate clouds. We will explore their beauty and importance to us, look at the history behind the naming of the clouds, how artists grapple with capturing their grandeur and what clouds can tell us about future weather conditions. We will also be announcing the winner of the 2019 Weather Photographer of the Year competition, with clouds being the focal point of many of the images shortlisted. So join us for a day with our head in the clouds!

The Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS), in association with WeatherPro, have selected 24 finalists for this year’s Weather Photographer of the Year competition. To view of the short-listed images and cast your vote visit www.photocrowd.com/wpoty-2019-voting/ and follow the instructions.

Data from the World Meteorological Organization and the Copernicus Climate Change Programme indicates that the global mean temperature for July this year matched and possibly slightly exceeded the record for the hottest month on record. 2016 held the previous record for July, but was impacted by a strong occurrence of the El Niño phenomenon, which contributed to the exceptionally high temperatures.