Met Office
The UK's national meteorological service since 1854, providing weather forecasting, severe weather warnings, climate monitoring, and space weather services to government, transport, energy, defence, media, and the public via digital channels and B2B contracts.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1854
- HeadquartersExeter, United Kingdom
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Met Office does
The Met Office is the United Kingdom's national meteorological service, established in 1854 and operating as an executive agency under the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, headquartered in Exeter with a Space Weather Operations Centre near London. It provides public weather forecasting, severe weather warnings, climate monitoring and projection, space weather forecasting, and specialist marine and mountain forecasts, serving the UK general public alongside central and devolved government departments, emergency services, defence, aviation, rail, road, marine transport, energy, media, water, and international development clients.
The organisation operates a hybrid forecasting technology stack combining physics-based numerical weather prediction on supercomputing infrastructure with emerging AI and machine learning capabilities developed in collaboration with ECMWF. Its product surface spans a public-facing responsive website and native iOS/Android applications, an RSS and DataPoint API distribution layer for programmatic access, embeddable weather widgets, the UK Climate Projections (UKCP) research product, and sector-specific enterprise services for aviation, energy, defence, media, water and event management. Research capabilities span ensemble forecasting, nowcasting, ocean forecasting, satellite and surface data assimilation, and atmospheric dispersion and air quality modelling.
Met Office revenue is generated through a hybrid public-commercial model: a core Public Weather Service contract from the UK government funds statutory forecasting and warning obligations, while commercial B2B revenue comes from government departments (defence, devolved administrations, environmental hazard, international development), transport sectors (aviation commercial and regulated, marine, rail, road, connected autonomous vehicles), business and industry (energy, media, water, event management), and usage-based weather data products via APIs and licensed feeds. Public consumer services are provided free of charge, supporting brand reach and trust rather than direct revenue.
Met Office firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Met Office
- Legal name
- Met Office (for and on behalf of the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
- Website
- https://metoffice.gov.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1854
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- The UK's national meteorological service since 1854, providing weather forecasting, severe weather warnings, climate monitoring, and space weather services to government, transport, energy, defence, media, and the public via digital channels and B2B contracts.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Met Office industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Meteorological & Climate Services
- NAICS
- Environmental Consulting Services (54162)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Environmental Monitoring, Data & Reporting (Air/Water/Soil) (BPAIAMAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support (BPADALAA), Climate & Emissions Data Management (Data Lake, Integration, APIs) (EUABAEAC)
Keywords
Where Met Office is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Exeter
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Met Office business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Public Weather Service Contract: Core government funding for essential public weather services, including severe weather warnings, daily forecasts for the UK population, and support for emergency services and public health agencies during extreme weather events.
- Commercial Government Services: Specialized weather and climate services for government departments including defence, devolved administrations, environmental hazard resilience, and international development programs.
- Transport Sector Services: Weather forecasting and decision support for aviation (commercial and regulated), marine, rail, road, and connected autonomous vehicles sectors.
- Business & Industry Services: Commercial weather and climate services for energy, event management, media, and water sectors, including data products and consultancy services.
- Weather Data Products: Sale of weather and climate data through various channels including APIs, DataPoint services, and licensed data feeds for third-party integration.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free public weather services |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels4 records
Met Office product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Met Office provides weather forecasting, severe weather warnings, climate monitoring, and space weather services to the UK public, UK government, and commercial clients across aviation, energy, transport, defence, media, and water sectors. It operates the UK's official meteorological authority functions alongside paid B2B services, data products via DataPoint and RSS APIs, and international AI forecasting deployments for climate-vulnerable regions. Revenue is generated through government Public Weather Service contracts, commercial sector subscriptions, and licensed data products.
Product overview
The Met Office is the UK's national weather service offering a comprehensive suite of forecasting products and climate services. The core offering includes public-facing weather forecasting through the website and mobile apps (iOS and Android), providing current conditions, 5-day forecasts, and long-range predictions. The organization operates specialized forecast divisions covering space weather, marine/coastal, mountain, and transport sectors (aviation, rail, road, marine). For government and enterprise clients, services extend to defence, energy, media, water, and event management sectors. Climate services include UK Climate Projections (UKCP), monthly to decadal prediction, and climate monitoring. The data distribution infrastructure includes RSS feeds, DataPoint API, and embeddable weather widgets for third-party integration. Research capabilities span ensemble forecasting, nowcasting, ocean forecasting, satellite assimilation, and atmospheric dispersion/air quality modeling.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- UK Weather Forecast Core public weather forecasting service providing current conditions, 5-day forecasts, and long-range predictions for UK locations including temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, UV, and visibility. Used by the general public and organisations for daily planning and operational decisions.
- UK Weather Warnings Severe weather warning system covering UK regions with amber, yellow, and red extreme heat warnings, storm centre, and seasonal advice to protect life and property.
- UK Storm Centre Centralised hub for tracking and monitoring named storms affecting the UK, providing detailed regional warnings and safety guidance for the public and emergency responders.
- Maps & Charts Interactive weather mapping service including UK forecast maps, weather maps, cloud cover, precipitation, lightning, rainfall radar, temperature, wind, wind gust, and surface pressure charts for public and professional users.
- Climate Services Climate research and monitoring including UKCP webinars, climate data, climate-explained content, climate change information, and monthly to decadal prediction capabilities used by government, researchers, and adaptation planners.
- Space Weather Forecasting Specialised forecasting for space weather events including solar storm predictions, with data from NOAA's Solar-1 satellite informing UK Space Weather Operations Centre alerts to infrastructure managers.
- Coast and Sea Forecasting Marine weather services providing coastal and sea conditions forecasts for maritime operations and coastal communities.
- Mountain Weather Forecasting Specialised weather forecasts for mountain environments supporting outdoor recreation, mountaineering safety, and rescue operations.
- Met Office Mobile App Native mobile applications on iOS App Store and Google Play Store providing weather forecasts and severe weather warnings to consumers on-the-go.
- RSS Feeds XML-formatted RSS feeds for severe weather warnings by UK region, UK-wide warnings, news releases, and DataPoint notifications for third-party integration and professional monitoring systems.
- Met Office DataPoint Weather and climate data service allowing programmatic access to Met Office data for third-party applications, websites, and services.
- UK Climate Projections (UKCP) Climate projection data and tools providing climate change scenarios and projections for UK regions, used for climate adaptation planning by government, infrastructure operators, and researchers.
- Weather Widgets Embeddable weather display widgets for websites allowing organisations to show Met Office weather content with customisation options for content and layouts.
- Government Weather and Climate Services Government-specific weather and climate services including defence and security, devolved administrations, environmental hazard and resilience, and international development applications.
- Transport Weather Services Sector-specific forecasting for aviation (commercial and regulated), marine, rail, road, and connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) transport industries.
- Business & Industry Weather Services Commercial weather services for energy, event management, media, and water sectors providing sector-specific forecasting and insights.
Quantifiable outcome
- First organization to issue a red extreme heat warning for three consecutive days in June 2026, demonstrating forecast lead time and accuracy capabilities
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Met Office
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
Met Office technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature4 records
Met Office partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- UK FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)coreStrategic partnership announced at London Climate Action Week to deploy AI weather forecasting technology for climate security purposes, with initial focus on the Philippines. The programme shares forecasting models, climate data, and technical expertise with local weather services to improve predictions of severe weather events.
- CUSAT Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar ResearchminorResearch collaboration studying tropical atmospheric waves (Kelvin, Rossby, and Mixed Rossby-Gravity waves) to improve extreme rainfall prediction along India's west coast. Published findings in Scientific Reports demonstrate wave signals can enhance early warning systems for catastrophic flood events.
- Royal Meteorological SocietyminorJoint hosting of Energy Insight events bringing together academics and energy sector professionals to discuss climate-related risks to electricity networks and grid resilience strategies using UK Climate Projections.
- ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts)coreOngoing collaboration on AI-enhanced weather forecasting combining physics-based and machine learning approaches. Joint development of trustworthy operational AI forecasting frameworks, sharing of modeling systems and best practices for improved accuracy across the global forecasting community.
- NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)coreData sharing arrangement where NOAA's Solar-1 satellite provides 24/7 near real-time space weather data to the UK Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre. The satellite observes the Sun and its outer atmosphere, with solar wind data available every five minutes and coronagraph imagery every 30 minutes.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Met Office competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses3 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Met Office social profiles
Digital presenceMet Office financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Met Office leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Met Office funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Met Office M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Met Office
What does Met Office do?
The Met Office provides weather forecasting, severe weather warnings, climate monitoring, and space weather services to the UK public, UK government, and commercial clients across aviation, energy, transport, defence, media, and water sectors. It operates the UK's official meteorological authority functions alongside paid B2B services, data products via DataPoint and RSS APIs, and international AI forecasting deployments for climate-vulnerable regions. Revenue is generated through government Public Weather Service contracts, commercial sector subscriptions, and licensed data products.
Is Met Office a public or private company?
Met Office is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Met Office founded?
Met Office was founded in 1854. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Met Office based?
Met Office is headquartered in Exeter, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Met Office make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Public Weather Service Contract is the primary driver. The others are commercial Government Services, transport Sector Services, business & Industry Services and weather Data Products.
Does Met Office have an API?
Yes. The Met Office provides RSS feeds for weather data distribution including severe weather warnings for UK regions, UK-wide warnings, and news releases. Feeds are available in XML format for RSS-enabled browsers or news readers. Additionally, DataPoint notifications RSS is offered for data updates.
What industry is Met Office in?
Met Office's product category is Meteorological & Climate Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIAMAC, Environmental Monitoring, Data & Reporting (Air/Water/Soil), with a secondary code of BPADALAA, Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support. Its NAICS code is 54162.