Becoming a Voluntary Climate Network Observer

What is a Voluntary Climate Network (VCN) observer?

The Met Office operates a network of Voluntary Observers, who contribute daily climatological readings. For them to do this, the Met Office provides VCN observers with:

• Met Office instrumentation, which is regularly calibrated to national standards.
• Training and Support
• A Regional Network Manager visit every three years to provide additional support and training, while at the same time updating important information about their site.

Using this equipment, VCN observers can set up a weather station at their property and gather meteorological data throughout the month including maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall amounts. Some sites will also record daily sunshine amounts or other parameters. This data is then fed back to the Met Office on a daily or monthly basis, and after undergoing quality control, is entered into the climate data record for the UK. Currently, we have around 150 climate observers around the UK.

How to become a VCN observer?

To become a VCN observer, the best way is to contact Met Office enquiries (enquiries@metoffice.gov.uk), who will send the enquiry through to our Observations Network team. Your Regional Met Office representative will then contact you to discuss your site. They’ll asses your site for suitable exposure to the elements and once confirmed the site does meet the required standards, you will be provided with the necessary training to become a VCN observer.

Please note, there are no costs associated with becoming a VCN observer, but volunteers need to be able to commit to a minimum of five to ten years, as length of record is vital to providing a good UK climate data set.

What is it like being a VCN observer?

Read this blog written by one of our VCN observers, John Adams, who details his site based at St Harmon.