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Frequently asked questions
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1.1 |
Are there commentaries on the satellite pictures?
Yes, they can be found on the Education
pages satellite images. Click on visible or infrared, then on
'Met Office View'. |
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1.2 |
The weather forecast pictures don't
match the text.
Firstly, ensure you are looking at the latest picture by pressing
Ctrl and Reload/refresh. The graphic and text are updated three
times a day at 0600, 1200 and 1800. The weather symbols are valid
for the time shown under the map. The associated text should always
be read as this will expand and amplify the graphic. |
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1.3 |
The weather forecast pictures don't
match what's going on outside my window.
Note the answer to Q1.2. Again, read the text which is updated at
0600, 1200 and 1800. |
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1.4 |
Where is weather radar on your site?
Animated British Isles weather
radar for the last six hours is now available. As well as radar
you can also get a detailed text
weather forecast, including rainfall, for your location or postcode
on your mobile phone. No need to register or subscribe. |
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1.5 |
Where can I find wind information on the forecasts?
Wind forecast information can be found on the home
page and regional pages by clicking the wind button. Wind information
is also available on the five-day location forecasts as well as
on our Time and Place
service, on MetWEB and on the three-day
city forecasts. |
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1.6 |
What are hurricanes and how are they
named?
Many questions about hurricanes are answered on our Tropical
Cyclones page. |
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1.7 |
How do I get a setting for my barometer?
Atmospheric pressure varies over time and space and also varies
with height. Since the altitude of the barometer normally stays
constant (the station height) a correction is made to the reading
to make it equivalent to the mean sea-level reading. This is done
so that readings from different locations can be compared, with
differences due to height being removed. Aneroid barometers are
normally adjusted to mean sea-level values - read the barometer's
instructions to see how to adjust the instrument (normally by a
screw on the back). Mercury barometers cannot be adjusted (don't
tamper with them because a mercury spillage is a health hazard).
To get the value for your barometer, choose a high-pressure day,
pressure values are not changing very much - you can watch the
TV forecasts for such a day. Go to the Met
Office's observation page and choose the station nearest to
your location - on a quiet weather day the distance away from
you will not be significant. Adjust the barometer to the station's
pressure value. You can check your barometer on other days but
will have to compensate for fast-changing pressures or distance
if the pressure is low or changing fast. The observation includes
information about how the pressure is changing. There is a page
on the University
of Reading web site which gives more information about barometers.
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1.8 |
What is the weather like at .....?
Get the latest forecast from the Met
Office. You can also get a detailed
text weather forecast, including rainfall, for your location
or postcode on your mobile phone. The past
weather pages also give a brief overview of the climate of various
regions round the world.
However, if you want detailed climate values for a specific place
try World Climate. You
can enter a location when prompted and this then provides long-term
average values for daily maximum and overnight minimum temperatures,
also rainfall, on a monthly basis. Remember that these are averages
and that there can be significant variations from these figures.
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1.9 |
Is there a decode for the weather
symbols?
You can see the decode by clicking on the 'Key' link on the
pages with the weather symbols. |
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1.10 |
What areas do each region cover?
There is a page which shows
all the regions. It can be found by clicking on the 'Guide'
link on the weather pages or by
going to the guide page. |
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1.11 |
What is the difference between regional severe weather warnings
and advanced warnings?
The regional warnings are issued when severe weather is expected
to cause disruption to traffic etc. over the next few hours. The
advanced warnings are issued when severe weather is expected to
cause widespread disruption to traffic etc. over the next 12 to
48 hours.
Current
warnings and more information about them
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1.12 |
How can I see all forecasts for my
region and also print them out?
On each regional page, click on the link called 'See
all maps on one page'. |
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| 2. Questions about
the site |
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2.1 |
I cannot get the European satellite
chart to animate.
You need to ensure that JavaScript is switched on.
How to do this in Netscape:
1) Select Preferences from the Edit menu.
2) Click on Advanced, and in the check boxes that appear
make sure that Enable JavaScript is checked.
How to do this in Internet Explorer:
1) Select Internet Options from the View menu (in
IEEE) or the Tools menu (in IE5).
2) Click on the Security tab and set the security level
to Medium. JavaScript will automatically be enabled.
3) If you wish more control over your security settings, select
the Custom security level and click on Settings.
Scroll down to the bottom of the settings window and ensure that
Active scripting is enabled.
You will need to look at your browser's help to see how to do
this on other browsers.
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2.2 |
I keep getting Javascript error messages.
You need to ensure that JavaScript is switched on. See the answer
to Q2.1 for how to do this. |
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2.3 |
The font is too small to read.
You need to ensure that JavaScript and Style Sheets are switched
on. See the answer to Q2.1 for how to enable JavaScript.
To enable style sheets in Netscape:
1) Select Preferences from the Edit menu.
2) Click on Advanced, and in the check boxes that appear
make sure that Enable style sheets is checked.
To enable style sheets in Internet Explorer:
1) Select Internet Options from the View menu (in
IEEE) or the Tools menu (in IE5).
2) Click on the Accessibility at the bottom of the options
window. Ensure that none of the check boxes in the Accessibility
window are checked.
You will need to look at your browser's help to see how to do
this on other browsers
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2.4 |
Why do you only have one or two city forecasts
in some countries and none from others?
The list of locations was chosen some time ago and had to be restricted
in numbers. A choice was made to limit these to popular holiday
locations. However, there are plans to increase the number of locations
available. There are more UK locations available on our detailed
text weather forecast service. |
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2.5 |
The data is out of date.
You need to refresh your page. We have extensive checks to ensure
that data is updated on time. You might find the problem is at your
ISP, contact them to ask for their pages to be updated. |
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2.6 |
Are you going to have web cams outside Scotland?
There are plans to extend the coverage of web cams to outside Scotland,
but this will be dependent on getting suitable funding. Contact
the Customer Centre
if you are interested in funding a web cam. |
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2.7 |
Can we have a link on your links
page?
If you receive a datafeed from the Met Office, we will place a link
to you on our links page (http://www.metoffice.com/corporate/links/modata.html).
For information on how to receive a datafeed, please e-mail the
Customer Centre.
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2.8 |
The European surface pressure chart isn't animating.
Animation of GIFs may have been switched off in your browser.
If you are running a firewall then animation of GIFs may be switched
off in its configuration file. |
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2.9 |
How can I stop animated weather charts?
Press the stop button when the required chart is on the screen.
Reload/refresh will restart the animation. |
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2.10 |
How can I print the animated charts?
You can only print the first page of an animated chart. You can
stop the animation (see Q2.9) and screen dump the chart or you can
use MetWEB to print the charts.
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2.11 |
I keep returning to the login page when trying to launch a
registered service.
You need to enable cookies to use the registered services. Our
policy about cookies can be found on our privacy
page.
To enable cookies in Internet Explorer 5
1) Go to Tools/internet options
2) Click on the Security tab.
3) Select Internet zone.
4) Click on Custom level button.
5) Page down to cookies.
6) Enable cookies (either 'enable' or 'prompt'). This only needs
doing in 'Allow per session' section.
To enable cookies in Internet Explorer 6
1) Go to Tools/internet options
2) Click on the Privacy tab.
3) Move the slider to a suitable setting
In Netscape
1) Go to Edit/preferences
2) Click on Advanced (not on + sign)
3) Select 'Accept all cookies'
4) Select 'Warn me' box if required
You will need to look at your browser's help to see how to do
this on other browsers.
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2.12 |
I keep returning to the login page
when trying to register for a service.
You need to enable cookies to use the registered services. Our policy
about cookies can be found on our privacy
page. See the answer to question 2.13 for instructions about
enabling cookies. |
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| Return to section 2. Questions
about the site |
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| 3. Questions about
products and services |
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3.1 |
Where has the Monthly Prospect gone?
This product is now called the Monthly
Outlook. |
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3.2 |
Is there a list of products?
This is called the Product Catalogue.
It lists old products with their replacements as well as current
products. |
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3.3 |
Is there a list of services?
This is called the Services for business
page. |
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3.4 |
When will it be possible to receive
TAFs and METARs on a mobile, by both WAP and SMS?
As a result of aviation customer feedback we don't intend to provide
TAFs and METARs on WAP at this time, but will keep this under review.
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| Return to section
3. Questions about products and services |
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4.1 |
Why do we use Celsius rather than
Fahrenheit?
The Celsius scale is the World Meteorological Organization standard
for temperature measurement and is used throughout the world by
the meteorological community for global exchange of information.
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4.2 |
How do you convert Celsius to Fahrenheit?
From Celsius to Fahrenheit - F=9/5*C+32
From Fahrenheit to Celsius - C=5/9*(F-32)
where C is the value in Celsius and F is the value in Fahrenheit.
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4.3 |
How do you convert from millibars
to inches?
Multiply the millibar value by 0.02953 to get the value in inches.
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4.4 |
What are hectopascals?
The SI unit for pressure is a pascal. The worldwide meteorological
community uses the hectopascal, i.e. a hundred pascals, which is
the metric equivalent of a millibar. However, millibars (and inches)
are still used in some public forecasts in the UK and USA. |
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| Return to section
4. Units of measurement |
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| 5. Miscellaneous
questions |
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5.1 |
Why do we have to change the clocks?
The UK responsibility for 'clock changes' lies with the Home Office,
and the contact details for them are as follows:
The Home Office Constitution and Community Relations Desk
Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AT
Telephone 020 7273 4640 |
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5.2 |
Can you tell me the sunrise and sunset
times for....?
For information about sunset and sunrise times, and moon phases
and times you should e-mail the
Royal Observatory in Edinburgh who will be happy to answer your
enquiry. Alternatively, visit the Royal
Observatory's web site. They can also be contacted on 0131 668
8100, preferably between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.
If you know your co-ordinates on the globe, then you can get
an individual print out from the US
Navy web site which provides sun and moon times anywhere on
the globe. However you should note that the times given are all
in GMT (otherwise known as UTC). Your latitude and longitude in
the UK can be found by entering your postcode on the Streetmap
web site.
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5.3 |
When will high tide be at....?
There are two organisations which can provide tide information,
and both are happy to deal with public enquiries. They are:
Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory
Bidston Observatory
Birkenhead
Merseyside CH43 7RA
Tel: 0151 653 8633 , then ask for extension 219
E-mail: either ktf@pol.ac.uk
or hmst@pol.ac.uk
UK Hydrographic Office
Admiralty Way
Taunton
Somerset TA1 2DN
Tel: 01823 337900, then ask for extension 3533 or 3530
Fax: 01823 284077
Tidal enquiries e-mail: tides@ukho.gov.uk
UKHO on-line
free worldwide tidal prediction service
Alternatively, the Yachting and
Boating World magazine web site does have some pages with
tide times. You may also find relevant general information on
the SailSail site.
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| Return to section
5. Miscellaneous questions |
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