This agreement highlights how public-private partnerships strengthen data access, consistency, and accuracy in weather forecasting and modeling.
Synoptic announced today that the company has been awarded a contract by the UK Met Office to provide weather and environmental observation data services. This partnership builds on a shared commitment to strengthening forecasting capabilities and delivering greater value to forecasters, researchers, and the public.
An independent economic evaluation assessment undertaken in 2024 by London Economics estimated that the Met Office would deliver £56bn of benefit to the UK economy over the subsequent decade. This benefit would be achieved through further development of its world-leading weather and climate capabilities. The partnership with Synoptic will help contribute to this aim and support its vision of ‘Delivering the most trusted weather and climate intelligence in a rapidly changing world’. One planned development to help achieve this is to increase access to third-party real-time weather and environmental observations, to strengthen situational awareness, forecasting, and prediction, particularly during times of severe weather.
Through this partnership, Synoptic will deliver streamlined access to thousands of third-party surface observations from diverse networks across Europe, including the UK and Ireland, supplementing those generated by the Met Office and other national Met Services. Synoptic’s platform will provide data aggregation, quality control, and secure dissemination to support operational forecasting and research teams. In addition, Synoptic will manage coordination with multiple network operators, helping simplify access to critical observational data.
“Individuals providing regular automated observations from their own equipment and other third-party data sources are very important to the Met Office. These observations supplement our own networks and are making an increasingly significant contribution to our forecasting services. Our new partnership with Synoptic will play a key role in our strategic aim to grow and secure access to greater volumes of these data, supporting our purpose of ‘helping you make better decisions to stay safe and thrive’, said Bruce Truscott, Associate Director of Observations at the Met Office.
The contract between the Met Office and Synoptic for weather data services is initially for 2 years, with an optional two-year extension, and another optional one-year extension, which, if fully executed, would provide five years of consistent services.
This collaboration advances both organizations’ missions and highlights the importance of public–private collaboration. The Met Office is looking for scalable data provision services to help improve its observations intake and further develop its forecasting and climate capabilities. Synoptic’s role is to ensure that environmental data are consistent, trustworthy, and available in real time to support decision-making.
“This partnership reflects a shared commitment to strengthening National Meteorological and Hydrological Services through public-private partnerships and collaboration,” said Ashish Raval, President and CEO of Synoptic. “By improving access to high-quality environmental observations, we are helping the Met Office enhance forecasting, support forecasting model research and development, and continue delivering economic value to communities and industries across the United Kingdom.”