Shocking evidence has emerged that points to the U.K. Met Office inventing temperature data from over 100 non-existent weather stations. The explosive allegations have been made by citizen journalist Ray Sanders and sent to the new Labour Science Minister Peter Kyle MP. Following a number of Freedom of Information requests to the Met Office and diligent field work visiting individuals stations, Sanders has discovered that 103 stations out of 302 sites supplying temperature averages do not exist. “How would any reasonable observer know that the data was not real and simply ‘made up’ by a Government agency,” asks Sanders. He calls for an “open declaration” of likely inaccuracy of existing published data, “to avoid other institutions and researchers using unreliable data and reaching erroneous conclusions”.
In his home county of Kent, Sanders charges that four of the eight sites identified by the Met Office, namely Dungeness, Folkestone, Dover and Gillingham – which all produce rolling temperature averages to the second decimal place of a degree – are “fiction”. Sanders notes that there has been no weather station at Dungeness since 1986. The Daily Sceptic is able to confirm that none of the four stations appear in the list of Met sites with a classification from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The Met Office directs online inquiries about Dover to the ”nearest climate station” at Dover Harbour (Beach) and provides a full set of rolling 30-year averages. According to Met Office co-ordinates, the site is on Dover beach as the Google Earth photo below shows. It seems unlikely that any scientific organisation would site a temperature monitoring station that is likely to be submerged on a regular basis. Who is running this station on the beach, have accurate records been kept for 30 years and why is it not listed under the 380 sites that are given a WMO rating?
Of the 302 sites quoted, Sanders notes that the Met Office “declined to advise me” exactly how or where the alleged ‘data’ were derived for these 103 non-existent sites.
The practice of ‘inventing’ temperature data from non-existent stations is a controversial issue in the United States where the local weather service NOAA has been charged with fabricating data for more than 30% of its reporting sites. Data are retrieved from surrounding stations and the resulting averages are given an ‘E’ for estimate. “The addition of the ghost station data means NOAA’s monthly and yearly reports are not representative of reality,” says meteorologist Anthony Watts. “If this kind of process were used in a court of law, then the evidence would be thrown out as being polluted,” he added.
In its historical data section, the Met Office lists a number of sites with long records of temperature data. Lowestoft provides records going back to 1914 but it closed in 2010. Since that date the figures have been complied on an estimated basis. The stations at Nairn Druim, Paisley and Newton Rigg are similarly closed but still reporting estimated monthly data. “Why would any scientific organisation feel the need to publish what can only be described as fiction?” asks Sanders. “No scientific purpose can possibly be served by fabrication,” he suggests.
It is possible that the Met Office has a reasonable scientific explanations for the way it collects temperature data. Temperature calculation is an imprecise science but concerns have mounted because the data are being used for overtly political purposes to promote the Net Zero fantasy. Alarmists claim that very small temperature rises can make a large climatic difference. To whip up global fear, temperature figures supposedly compiled with an accuracy to one hundredth of a degree centigrade are quoted from sources such as the Met Office and NOAA. To date, the Met Office has been silent over the gathering storm surrounding its figures and the organisation refuses to return the calls of the Daily Sceptic.
Sanders refers to another large temperature measurement problem at the Met Office surrounding the WMO classification of its sites. Almost eight in 10 sites are rated in junk classes 4 and 5 with possible “uncertainties” of 2°C and 5°C respectively. This means, notes Sanders, that they are not suitable for climate data reporting purposes according to international standards which the Met Office was party to establishing. Only 52 Met Office stations, or a paltry 13.7%, are in Class 1 and 2 with no suggested margin of error. Actually, mark that down by at least one. In his travels, Sanders pointed out the possible heat corruptions at Class 1 Hastings and this site has now been dropped to Class 4. The Met Office is said to have confirmed that the default classification for stations is set at Class 1, “unless manually adjusted”.
The Daily Sceptic has investigated the poor siting of many Met Office stations with obvious heat corruptions making a mockery of attempts to measure the naturally occurring air temperature. Sanders lists the problems of many of these unsuitable sites including those placed in walled kitchen gardens and botanical gardens specifically designed to produce artificially increased temperatures and microclimates. Other unsuitable sites include in or near car parks, airports, domestic gardens, sewage and water treatment plants, electricity sub-stations and solar farms.
Sanders has an interesting take on the recent closure of many rural temperature measuring sites. In 1974 there were 32 operational sites in Kent, but this has now fallen to seven. The switch to new electrically-operated platinum resistance thermometers required a reliable electricity supply and data communication. Many rural sites were closed down because such facilities were not available in the early days of automation. But by eliminating cooler recording sites from the overall data record, this left predominantly urbanised sites to cause an unrepresentative temperature uplift from the slewed averages. “Statistical sleight of hand (however inadvertent it may have been) produced inaccurate historic misrepresentation,” observes Sanders.
In his open letter to Peter Kyle MP, Sanders states that he has demonstrated with hard evidence that the Met Office is “clearly fabricating” data. In addition, it is failing to meet high standards of scientific integrity and is not producing reliable or accurate data for climate reporting purposes from a network of poorly sited and inadequately maintained locations. Peter Kyle is the Minister responsible for the Met Office and has yet to respond to Sanders’s allegations. Ray Sanders has done an excellent research job in providing new and highly relevant details in what is becoming a significant scientific scandal. To date, despite repeated requests, the Met Office has refused to make any comment and defend its own temperature measurements and calculations. While the silence in Government, Parliament and the Met Office, aided by a total lack of interest in the mainstream media, is maintained, it can only be assumed that the interests of the Net Zero promotion override any concerns about the underlying scientific data.
Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor.
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“The sun has got his hat on
Hip, hip, hip hooray
The sun has got his hat on
And he’s coming out today!”
Blimey, even the sun is “woke” now, along with Father Christmas and the rest…
There is no doubt in my view that proper studies of insect populations need to be undertaken. I too remember the days gone by when any journey outside the town would result in a windscreen and front bonnet covered in splattered insects, but no more. The question is why?
Unfortunately, if this subject can be tacked on to another “crisis” some dishonest member(s) of ‘The Science’ will surely do so.
The subject is however more than worthy of in-depth study.
Have you ever considered that the angle of a car windscreen has changed and is now far more streamlined and thus insects are likely to pass over rather than splatter
The number plate’s not, and indeed there are several insects splatted on mine, I just checked.
Yes I have. Bird populations do seem to fluctuate wildly though. Done properly a study in to insect populations would be of far more value to humanity than the millions currently wasted on nonsensical and pointless climate change studies.
Found it remarkable yesterday how many insects invaded our house – never seen so many varied types; our little garden was thick with them and I was chasing butterflies around the house to try to remove them! This doesn’t tell us anything about wider patterns of course but the way the heat had seemingly brought millions of extra critters to life was quite something!
‘… proper studies of insect populations need to be undertaken.’
Why?
Bee populations are under pressure. So, possibly insect populations are too. What are the causes? What would be wrong with on-going studies into insect populations? As somebody has rightly pointed out insects form the basis of the food chain.
Until Billy starts screwing around of course.
I think swallows are low in number this year but around me loads of swifts, probably more than I ever remember. Martins probably a little lower on house martins but loads of sand martins around on the local river.
I cannot be convinced that the numbers of these birds have any relationship to insect armageddon – more likely varying environmental factors in their massive migrations.
There was a story a few years back about cuckoo numbers being down in England, but less so in Wales for some reason. I seem to remember a link with Malta was suggested and what they do to birds there.
(Speaking of Malta, I also seem to remember a story about Malta having “only” two different rubbish bins, and daily bin collections. Why are we so bad on this in the UK?).
Here in Thailand we have nightly rubbish collections. I have a recycler who comes and picks up all bottles(plastic and glass) cardboard paper and cans. These are provided by the local council and i do NOT pay for these services.
This is another interesting subject. Welsh and Scottish cuckoos are thought to take a different migratory path in the autumn compared with the English cuckoos. The English travel more SW through Spain and the Welsh and Scottish travel more SE through Italy. Feeding conditions here are much better as 95% of the tracked cuckoos safely reach their winter quarters. This is reflected in the better fate of their breeding populations; Welsh cuckoos have declined much less than in England and Scottish populations have remained stable.
The life cycle of the cuckoo is amazing!
Or events along their migration routes.
Insect Armageddon may have many causes, but discount Climate Change. Almost continuous geoengineering and its close relation the ever increasing level of radio frequency pollution should be near the top of any list.
radio frequency pollution
Can you elaborate?
If we’re facing insect Armageddon, it’s going to bugger-up their plan to make us all give up meat and instead eat insects.
I wonder what they’ll come up with next? Eat dirt?
Worms.
Cue singing…
‘Nobody likes me,
Everybody hates me.
I think I’ll eat some worms.
long thin slimy ones,
Short fat hairy ones.
See how they wiggle & squirm.
Bite their heads off,
Slurp the juice out, throw the skins away.
I don’t know how I could live without my worms three times a day!’
LOL! My first laugh of the day thank you!
My pleasure! Don’t think they teach it in the Brownies any more!!!
It might be on the verge of a comeback though if Billy hears about it.
There has definitely been a huge drop in the number of birds and insects in our garden here in Suffolk. The bee population has dropped dramatically as has the number of butterflies and so has the small birds – it has been quite a dramatic change. However the number of wood pigeons seem to have increased unfortunately.
Since a pair of peregrines took residence of the church spire, our pigeon population has been a tad smaller.
We have a few beekeepers in the village so we don’t want for honeybees but I’ve noticed fewer moths this year & reduced bat activity of an evening.
Lose the food at the bottom of the pyramid & the predator species suffer. Not until the predator species or the prey with PR are affected that we stupidly take note.
I bought a bug home, a luxury pad for insects which is on the house wall facing south, but as yet no one has taken up tenancy!
One of the many terrible harms of climate fraud is that genuine environmental and conservation causes have been sidelined or rubbished by association, as this article correctly highlights. I spent my childhood and younger years as an ardent conservationist, now I look at organisations like WWF and Greenpeace as the enemy. Even recycling, something I once felt quite strongly about, is tainted by association.
Insects undoubtedly need our concern and protection given their sensitivity to the toxins we routinely pump into the ecosystem. How ironic then that we take environmental lessons from one Bill Gates with his links to Monsanto. We’re living in a ghoulish inversion of reality.
No surprise but this matches my position in its entirety.
WRT recycling, from being very keen my position now is anything in any bin. I can of course kid myself that if I deliberately mix my rubbish I am virtuously providing somebody with work in a sorting plant.
Naiively I fantasise that our rubbish is sorted and recycled.
I don’t really believe any of it gets recycled, that if it is, it’s probably more energy intensive and that really, it’s all just an exercise in promoting communitarianism to break pleb individualism!
Yep.
I really liked this article – very well thought out and balanced. I think one thing to bear in mind is that bird populations vary as some are displaced by others. My personal impression was that Magpies were a rarity when I was a child in the 60s and (having just checked) this is confirmed by the RSPB. Starling populations, on the other hand, have declined significantly. I do think it is important to understand the reasons for these changes, but they may not, per se, be a sign of ecological catastrophe.
Tens – or is it hundreds – of thousands of wind turbines and acres of solar panels, both renowned for daily mass slaughter of avians and insects – could that have anything to do with it – particularly since climate change lunacy and these blots on the landscape are a pandemic of the Northern Hemisphere?
Plus: large areas of land now used for growing crops for biofuels, and large areas no longer farmed. Birds and insects adapted to previous conditions may have been affected.
And where is it writ except among creationalists, that all species must remain the same exactly as their creator intended?
So natural variability and evolution? Too difficult for biologists, naturalists? And of course anathema to ‘conservationists’ for whom NOTHING can be allowed to change.
“proper studies of insect populations need to be undertaken.’
Why?”
Have you not answered your own question?
Very odd.