October Update and reminder to collect your monthly data

 October has been wetter, warmer and sunnier than average across the UK, with two named storms contributing to the notably wet end to the month, according to Met Office provisional statistics. 

Testing progress continues apace – there’s some complex technical detail, but our teams are making great headway.  
  
If you’ve signed up to use WOW, you’ll also have received an email from us with some tokens of our appreciation. We wanted to make it clear how much your involvement means to us, and the extent of our appreciation, so we went right to the top for this one with a video message from our Chief Executive. There’s also a certificate that you can download to keep.   

In the meantime, please be assured that your contributions will continue to benefit the Met Office right up until the site is decommissioned. In the month ahead we’re going to be focussing on plans for the end of WOW – the nitty gritty, technical details.

As this month ends, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you to download any monthly data you may wish to retain. You can export up to 31 days of data via the website by following these instructions:   

• Choose your site   

• Select ‘View Full Observation’ at the bottom of the right hand panel   

• Select table and enter the dates   

• Press ‘Export’   

Thank you for being part of the WOW community and for your ongoing support.

September Update and reminder to collect your monthly data

 

For those of us in the UK, and Europe more generally, temperatures have remained unseasonably warm this month. We’re making excellent progress on testing the new data that will replace WOW. Although the process has not been easy, the integration of thousands of new observation sites will see an improvement to our short-range forecasting capabilities in the new year.  
  
October is looking to be a month of real change, so keep your eyes peeled for more updates from us throughout the month.  
  
In the meantime, please be assured that your contributions will continue to benefit the Met Office right up until the site is decommissioned. In the month ahead we’re going to be focussing on plans for the end of WOW – the nitty gritty, technical details.  

As this month ends, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you to download any monthly data you may wish to retain. You can export up to 31 days of data via the website by following these instructions:   

• Choose your site   

• Select ‘View Full Observation’ at the bottom of the right hand panel   

• Select table and enter the dates   

• Press ‘Export’   

Thank you for being part of the WOW community and for your ongoing support   

August update and reminder to collect your monthly data

As we've just moved into meteorological Autumn, we are starting to see some more unsettled weather with bands of rain, heavy showers and thunderstorms, bringing some welcome rainfall for areas that have seen very little over the last few months.  

And as we move towards the decommissioning of WOW later this year, we are approaching another milestone in the transition to our new data supply. Please be assured that your contributions will continue to benefit the Met Office until the site is decommissioned. In the month ahead we will be focussing on sharing information with the broader academic community and running internal testing of the new data supply system. 

As always, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you to download any monthly data you may wish to retain. You can export up to 31 days of data via the website by following these instructions:  

• Choose your site  

• Select ‘View Full Observation’ at the bottom of the right hand panel  

• Select table and enter the dates  

• Press ‘Export’  

Thank you for being part of the WOW community and for your ongoing support  

July update and reminder to collect your monthly data

 

After seeing record temperatures for June, for some parts of the UK, we saw a return to the heat for July with two additional heatwaves. We’d like to thank everybody who has contributed to WOW during this time.

Over the past month we’ve continued to make progress towards a new data supply and can now share that we have signed contracts with our new data suppliers - Netatmo and Synoptic Data. This means we are now receiving valuable data from Davis Automated Weather Stations, in parallel to those you provide, ready for ingestion and testing by our internal teams.  

Please be assured that your contributions will continue to benefit the Met Office right up until the site is decommissioned. In the month ahead we’re going to be focussing on sharing historic data with our international partners who have helped to make WOW possible or who have made use of your observations over the years.  

As this month ends, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you to download any monthly data you may wish to retain. You can export up to 31 days of data via the website by following these instructions:   

• Choose your site   

• Select ‘View Full Observation’ at the bottom of the right-hand panel   

• Select table and enter the dates   

• Press ‘Export’   

Thank you for being part of the WOW community and for your ongoing support   

June update and a reminder to collect your monthly data.

 Following a week of record June temperatures for some, the temperatures for the coming week have returned to average, before a return of the heat as we move into July. 

In unprecedented times like these, observations from citizen scientists are more valuable than ever and we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to WOW not just over the last week but over the years.  

We are continuing to make progress towards a new data supply and hope to be able to share more news with you very soon. In the meantime, please be assured that your contributions through WOW will continue to benefit the Met Office right up until the site is decommissioned. In the upcoming month we are focusing our efforts on improving the security of the platform and investigating additional ways to share and communicate our plans with you. 

As this month ends, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you to download any monthly data you may wish to retain. You can export up to 31 days of data via the website by following these instructions:   

• Choose your site   

• Select ‘View Full Observation’ at the bottom of the right-hand panel   

• Select table and enter the dates   

• Press ‘Export’   

Thank you for being part of the WOW community and for your ongoing support   

 

Website update and reminder to collect your monthly data.

As we mentioned in our December update, the Met Office will be retiring the Weather Observations Website (WOW) later this year. As we move towards this retirement, please be assured that your contributions will continue to benefit the Met Office right up until the site is decommissioned. In the meantime, we are focusing our efforts on maintaining the security and stability of the platform, ensuring it remains a safe and reliable resource for all users during this transition period.  

As this month ends, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you to download any monthly data you may wish to retain. You can export up to 31 days of data via the website by following these instructions: 

• Choose your site 

• Select ‘View Full Observation’ at the bottom of the right hand panel 

• Select table and enter the dates 

• Press ‘Export’ 

Next month, as part of our normal tender and renewal process, we will be updating the mapping provider that underpins some of the maps on the WOW website. While we expect this transition to be largely seamless, you may notice some small visual or functional changes. If you do encounter any technical issues, please provide us with any feedback so we can investigate these promptly. 

Thank you for being part of the WOW community and for your ongoing support 

Important Update: Retirement of the Weather Observations Website (WOW)

After more than a decade of supporting crowd-sourced weather observations and citizen science, the Met Office will begin retiring the Weather Observations Website (WOW) from January, with full decommissioning planned for late 2026.

WOW has played a vital role in enabling the public, voluntary climate observers, and international partners to contribute weather data across the UK and the world. WOW data contributes to the Met Office’s operational, research, and public engagement activities. It helps improve forecast accuracy, supports aspects of climate science, provides additional observations, and encourages collaboration between professionals and the public. Your contributions through WOW have made a real difference across these areas and we are incredibly grateful for the invaluable data and support you have provided over the years. 

As we move towards the retirement of WOW, please be assured that your contributions will continue to benefit the Met Office right up until the site is decommissioned. In the meantime, we are focusing our efforts on maintaining the security and stability of the platform, ensuring it remains a safe and reliable resource for all users during this transition period. 

While there will be no direct replacement for WOW in the UK, we plan on working directly with AWS (Automatic Weather Station) providers. While this means we will no longer have a direct connection with some of our citizen observers, we remain committed to receiving valuable data and as motivated as ever to collect your observations. 

Thank you for being part of the WOW community and for your ongoing support.