Earlier this month, the Met Office claimed that climate change was causing a “dramatic increase in the frequency of temperature extremes and number of temperature records in the U.K.”. Given what we now know from recent freedom of information (FOI) revelations about the state of its ‘junk’ nationwide temperature measuring network, it is difficult to see how the Met Office can publish such a statement and keep a straight face.
The claims were the headline findings in the operation’s latest state of the U.K. climate report and are said to be based on “observations from the U.K.’s network of weather stations, using data extending back to the 19th Century to provide long term context”. That would be the network where nearly eight out of 10 stations are deemed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to have ‘uncertainties’ – i.e., potential errors – between 2-5°C. The same junk stations that provide ‘record’ daily temperatures often in the same places, such as the urban heat furnace that is Heathrow airport. The same junk measurements that the Met Office uses to claim collated measurements down to one hundredth of a degree centigrade.
The WMO rates weather stations by the degree of nearby unnatural or natural temperature corruption. Classes 4 and 5 have possible corruptions of 2°C and 5°C respectively and these account for the vast majority of the Met Office sites. The WMO suggests that Class 5 should not be used to provide an accurate measurement of nearby air temperatures, yet nearly a third of the Met Office sites are classified in this super-junk category. Only classes 1 and 2 have no uncertainties attached and only these should be used for serious scientific observational work. But, inexplicably, the Met Office has very few such uncorrupted sites. Even more worryingly, it seems to show no sign of significantly increasing the paltry number of pristine sites.
Human-caused and urban heat encroachment are the problems, with extreme cases found at airports, which can add many degrees of warming to the overall record. But this has been known for some time, and it is a mystery why the Met Office has not done anything about it. Recent FOI disclosures reveal that over eight in 10 of the 113 stations opened in the last 30 years are in junk classes 4 and 5. Worse, 81% of stations started in the last 10 years are junk, as are eight of the 13 new sites in the last five years.
It’s almost as if the Met Office is actively seeking higher readings to feed into its constant catastrophisation of weather in the interests of Net Zero promotion. Whatever the reason – incompetence or political messaging – serious science would appear to be the loser. As currently set up, the Met Office network is incapable of providing a realistic guide to natural air temperatures across the U.K. Using the data to help calculate global temperatures is equally problematic.
Of course, the Met Office can rely on its helpful messengers in the mainstream media not to breath a word about this growing scientific scandal. The central plank of Net Zero fear-mongering is rising temperatures and claims that ‘extreme’ weather is increasing as a result. Temperatures have risen a bit over the last 200 years since the lifting of the mini ice age, the clue to the pleasant bounce being obvious to all. But this is not enough to force the insanity of Net Zero on humanity, so fanciful climate models and bloated temperature databases are also required. The compliant media are uninterested, but the cynicism and outright derision over the Met Office’s temperature antics are growing. The Met Office regularly posts on X and it cannot be unaware that a growing number of replies are less than complimentary. Last week, it announced the “warmest day of the year” based on measurements taken at Heathrow. The following are a few of the more polite comments it received:
What is it about LHR that could make it hotter than surrounding areas? I will give you a clue – concrete and hot jet exhausts maybe?
Real temperatures should be taken out in the open away from London.
…manipulating temperatures to fit the climate agenda.
Might as well measure inside an oven.
It’s all made up to fit your agenda.
I have a brighter red highlight in my fonts that I can lend you if you think the one you choose does not does not push the propaganda enough!
Remind us where you were taking temperature recordings in the last century, because it wasn’t on the roasting tarmac of airports.
Urban heat islands should not count and you know it but the grift continues.
In its recent annual report, the Met Office claimed that “our new analysis of these observations really shines a light on the fastest changing aspects of our weather as a consequence of climate change”. It is not just temperature data that is brought to the Net Zero table, but rainfall as well. The indefatigable investigative journalist Paul Homewood took a look at how the Met Office spun precipitation in a recent article in the Daily Sceptic. He agreed with the Met Office’s claim that rainfall has risen since 1961, but asked why that year was chosen to start the timeline. The graph below shows why.
England and Wales are rainy countries, but their island position in the North Atlantic leads to regular seasonal, yearly and longer-term decadal variations. The year 1961 fell within a drier interlude, and current totals are similar to those around the 1930s, 1880s and 1780s.
Helped by the widespread availability of satellite images and measurements, the Met Office does an excellent job in forecasting short-term weather and is of great benefit to shipping, the military, agriculture and the general population. But the state body funded by over £100 million a year is clearly riddled with green activists who, on the evidence that a number of sceptical journalists have presented, are using unreliable figures, carefully-curated statistics and inaccurate measurements to promote their own attachment to the insanity of hydrocarbon elimination.
Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor
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Chris fighting the good fight. Well done. Keep it up.
CORRECTION:
INCORRECT.
CORRECT.
Words are important and should be used wisely.
I wonder what it would cost to privately fund a fleet of class one or two sites and start record keeping now.
The repeated adjustment of historic data is also worrying. It appears to be trying to match the recorded data to the hockey stick.
The NOAA in Amerca are doing something similar but it goes unreported. https://wattsupwiththat.com/u-s-surface-temperature/
Tony Heller is the master of identifying and calling out junk (adjusted) data, and the organisations doing it.
Ask any friend or family member, “Is it getting warmer”? I am pretty sure they will all say YES. Then ask them “Have you looked at any data? They will likely say “NO”. So how do they think they know it is getting warmer? The answer is that they don’t know at all. —Officialdom state that the global average temperature (whatever that is supposed to mean) has gone up by one degree centigrade since about 1860. No one can detect that in their lifetime. A 40-year-old person cannot detect a fraction of a degree rise in temperature over their life.
—–So no one knows it is getting warmer, they only think they do. There is only one reason they think it is warmer and that is because they are told that on their TV news nearly everyday. But even if it is slightly warmer over a period of time, that does not mean that humans caused that warming. They certainly could not have caused the similar warming that occurred in the 1920’s and 30’s as we were not emitting much in the way of CO2 from Industry, cars and aeroplanes back then.
—–So the global warming narrative goes something like this. From a dogs breakfast of a global temperature record that has been fiddled about with more than a prostitute’s knickers, government funded data adjusters have concluded that the temperature of the planet is warming and despite no human signal in the data they are determined that this alleged warming is all caused by humans. Then our governments have no choice but to “act now”.—–But bear in mind that the same solutions to the global warming scare are the very same solutions to the cooling scare back in the seventies. —-More government control over every aspect of our lives. ——This is all politics masquerading as science.
I am old enough to remember the Summer of 1959, now that was a Summer and a half, we have rarely had a summer that good, Global Warming?????????? bah humbug.
CO2 is not to blame in any way (now or in the 20/30’s), the whole “Carbon” theory is just meaningless drivel.
They can’t prove the link in a small rise of temperature over decades to increases in CO2 because the link does not exist, except in the opposite direction.
Increases in temperature over decades, slightly warm the worlds oceans which as they warm release increasing amounts of CO2 in solution. Cold water can hold more CO2 in solution than warmer water.
If the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere were 4% (as some uninformed zealots believe) and not the actual 0.042% things might be very different.
The IPCC itself have recently said that they see no human signal in the data. We can all argue about the “science” all day long but as you and I know this has nothing to do with science and never did.
The reason the Met Office won’t do anything about this issue, is if they do their whole support for dangerous heating will collapse. They need highly erroneous readings to maintain the narrative.
Yesterday (Monday 12th August) was apparently the warmest day of the year (yes it was warm, no doubting that), and the high was apparently measured somewhere in Cambridge, no idea where, or what the class of the device was, or the veracity of the actual siting!
Take away the context and the detail and that claim will be simply accepted by almost everyone, and their narrative survives intact, because only a Conspiracy theorist would challenge the MET right?
The MET spends increasing amounts on ever more powerful supercomputers so they can report how wrong they are to increasing numbers of decimal points.
Botanic gardens where the Met Orifice rushed to check the equipment – while totally ignoring the environment – a few years back to claim a new UK record which was then surpassed by 3 Typhoon fighters on the runway at RAF Coningsby. Most likely a 4 or 5 site with varying surroundings and noticeably warmer than another site nearby.
Thanks for the update, call me cynical (because I am), but I don’t expect this site to be a pristine Class 1 (or 2) site.
In fact I seem to recall in a previous Chris Morrison article the Botanical Gardens in Cambridge were mentioned!
Could be in a glasshouse!!
I read somewhere that the Botanical gardens station is read in the *morning*, so how they could quote “hottest” later on the same day is a mystery. Would need to check that ‘observation time’ though.
Warmest day of the year. In mid august? How unusual!
Well quite.
But it was probably the hottest August 12th at 16:24 since records began.
Actually it isn’t that unusual. The UK climate is extremely variable so you can tell the public anything you want and they are likely to believe it, which they mostly do. In 1995 we had blue skies here in Central Scotland all the way from April to September with not a cloud in sight. (This is easily checked). If that was to have happened this year the government, the Just Stop Oil imbeciles, the BBC and all the other climate activists would have a field day. The lunatics would be blocking us getting on planes and blocking every major City and Town by laying down in the street and gluing themselves to banks and businesses. Climate Change has become a pseudo scientific cult all because of the propaganda being spread by government and its bought and paid for media.
I was in central london yesterday – it was a bit warm at 32ish, but as you say – it’s august and summer – it’s supposed to be warm…
When will they be put in gaol for “misinformation”?
I wish I had the link to hand but at some point in the last few months someone posted a link to an essay on weather measuring which made the point that if the set of measuring stations has evolved over time so you are using MORE of them, comparisons with the past are not overly valid as you are not comparing like with like. All you can say is that we now MAY have a more accurate picture of the weather (or not as the case may be…). I think it might have been Marcus Aurelius Knew but I am not certain.
“I wish I had the link to hand”
I know DS has limited funds etc but it would be invaluable to me and I suspect other readers, to have some sort of searchable database of articles and comments.
Nothing fancy but better than the basic search function we have at the moment. So many gems get buried within a week or two and become impossible to find again.
There is a search function but no way I could see to filter it.
Mabel Cow late of these parts and now on Lockdown Sceptics subreddit was mirroring the site for a while and archiving it, but that’s long gone.
“The compliant media are uninterested” until they are implicated as the prime culprits of peddling mis/disinformation. Perhaps mass complaints to the police should be raised?