Britain to fund AI weather forecasting for nations facing record El Niño
Key Points
- Foreign Office and Met Office launch AI weather forecasting partnership at London Climate Action Week
- Initial focus on the Philippines ahead of a potentially record El Niño
- £88m extension to the Transforming Energy Access clean energy platform
- £39m SCALE climate adaptation research programme and £3m disaster insurance investment
- £130m total in new climate and energy commitments
Britain will fund AI-powered weather forecasting for countries most exposed to extreme weather, under a new Foreign Office and Met Office partnership announced at London Climate Action Week.
The strategic partnership will help meteorological services in partner countries better predict, withstand and recover from extreme weather events, with the stated aim of reducing damage, protecting livelihoods and enabling communities to rebuild more quickly.
The collaboration will support the use of AI forecasting in regions including parts of Africa, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific, with UK experts sharing data and models, strengthening capacity and providing technical training.
The work comes as an El Niño of potentially record-breaking strength is predicted to bring extreme weather to regions across South-East Asia and Africa in the coming months.
Initial work will focus on improving forecasting in the Philippines, which sits at the heart of the Western Pacific typhoon belt and faces particular risk due to its densely populated coast.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is supporting the partnership through its diplomatic network, including in-country support from UK embassies such as Manila, as part of wider efforts to connect British technology and expertise with partner countries.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said climate security was affecting all lives, and that the effects of countries being devastated by extreme weather could be felt worldwide through the impact on global trade, the disruption of supply chains, and increases in food and energy prices.
Cooper said the partnership would help countries across the Global South protect against extreme weather events and manage the effects of climate change, using British expertise and technology.
Met Office Acting Chief Executive Simon Brown said the partnership would amplify the organisation’s existing impact by combining priorities, values and strengths, positioning the UK as a global leader in the space.
Brown said powerful machine learning meant forecasting could be delivered significantly faster, with more accuracy and at lower cost than existing models.
