The Met Office has one of the world's most comprehensive collections of meteorological literature and data and as the library is public it is open to anybody with an interest in weather and climate.

It includes over 250,000 items covering meteorology and climatology, with limited collections on subjects like fluid dynamics, physical oceanography and hydrometeorology.

The collection of historical meteorological literature is maintained in co-operation with the Royal Meteorological Society.

There are over 30,000 slides and photographs held in the visual aids section.

• Opening hours: Monday-Thursday 0830-1630 (Archive closed 1300-1400). The National Meteorological Library will close from 5 November 2003, re-opening in Exeter on 24 November 2003.

• The National Meteorological Library, London Road, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 2SZ

• The National Meteorological Archive, Scott Building, Sterling Centre, Eastern Road, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 2PW

For directions to the Met Office

The Monthly Accessions List (MAL) gives details of books, papers and journal articles taken by the National Meteorological Library, in both paper and electronic form.

Loans can be arranged in the UK either in person, through the interlibrary loan system, or by post, fax or (exceptionally) by telephone. A search and handling fee may be charged.

The library can also undertake research at commercial rates by arrangement, staff permitting.

The Met Office stores meteorological records under the terms of the Public Records Act; material cannot be removed from the archive.

The Technical Archive holds meteorological data and charts from England, Wales and British overseas bases including ships' logs.

Records from Scotland are held in Edinburgh, and for Northern Ireland in Belfast.

Holdings include:

• Registers of meteorological observations - daily records of the weather for many locations, including Kew from 1842 to 1980

• Charts - working charts from the National Meteorological Centre

• Marine weather logbooks - worldwide records from merchant and some Royal Navy ships

• Climatological returns - dating back to about 1855, these cover temperature, wind, rainfall, solar radiation, snow and sunshine for each site

• Autographic records - continuous records of temperature, wind, rainfall and more are held for varying periods for some stations

• Upper-air data - some data are kept from radiosonde and pilot balloon ascents.

Over the past 150 years, the collection has also accumulated various non-technical documents, diaries, papers, pictures and so on relating to meteorology and the Met Office.