State of the UK Weather and Climate Sector
Countries / Regions
United Kingdom
Partners
Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS), Met Office, The Pearl
Funders
Royal Meteorological Society
Timescale
Project Team
Dr Celia Petty (PI), Prof. Rosalind Cornforth (Co-PI) Lynn De Miranda
Background
The UK weather and climate sector employs thousands of people across public, private, and academic settings, generates substantial economic value, and sits at the centre of the UK’s net zero and climate adaptation agendas. Yet until now it has never been studied as a workforce. No peer-reviewed literature exists on its career pathways, workforce composition, diversity, retention, or professional development. This study addresses that gap for the first time.
Commissioned by the Royal Meteorological Society in partnership with the Met Office, the State of the UK Weather and Climate Sector study is a mixed-methods research programme designed to provide an authoritative, evidence-based account of who works in the sector, how they entered it, what challenges and opportunities they face, and what the sector’s future looks like.
Its findings will be launched at the RMetS Annual General Meeting, Shaping the Future of Meteorology: Education, Skills and the Workforce Pipeline, at Kew Gardens on 3 June 2026. https://www.rmets.org/event/shaping-future
Our Research
The Pearl is leading the research component of the study, which comprises five elements. The evidence synthesis, conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 systematic review guidelines, draws on 62 sources spanning peer-reviewed academic literature and grey literature from government, professional bodies, and sector organisations. A significant finding of this synthesis is the near-complete absence of sector-specific academic literature, confirming that this study is making an original contribution to knowledge.
The stakeholder mapping exercise, completed in January 2026, provides a structured assessment of the organisations, institutions, and communities across the sector and informed the purposive sampling design for the primary research.
The sector-wide survey (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/met-office_state-of-the-uk-weather-and-climate-sector-activity-7407729162687389697-6YQ3/ ) distributed through RMetS and Met Office networks, reached a broad cross-section of the weather and climate community and generated quantitative and qualitative data on entry routes, career progression, challenges, retention, skills, and future outlook.
Seven focus group discussions (https://www.rmets.org/state-sector-focus-group) were conducted across sub-sectors and career stages, from Met Office operational professionals to climate services companies and academic early career researchers.
Finally, ten interviews with senior leaders across the public sector, academia, and the private sector examined sector-level challenges and opportunities from a leadership perspective.
Together these five components constitute the first systematic empirical evidence base for the UK weather and climate workforce.
Our Research
The Pearl is leading the research component of the study, which comprises five elements. The evidence synthesis, conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 systematic review guidelines, draws on 62 sources spanning peer-reviewed academic literature and grey literature from government, professional bodies, and sector organisations. A significant finding of this synthesis is the near-complete absence of sector-specific academic literature, confirming that this study is making an original contribution to knowledge.
The stakeholder mapping exercise, completed in January 2026, provides a structured assessment of the organisations, institutions, and communities across the sector and informed the purposive sampling design for the primary research.
The sector-wide survey (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/met-office_state-of-the-uk-weather-and-climate-sector-activity-7407729162687389697-6YQ3/ ) distributed through RMetS and Met Office networks, reached a broad cross-section of the weather and climate community and generated quantitative and qualitative data on entry routes, career progression, challenges, retention, skills, and future outlook.
Seven focus group discussions (https://www.rmets.org/state-sector-focus-group) were conducted across sub-sectors and career stages, from Met Office operational professionals to climate services companies and academic early career researchers.
Finally, ten interviews with senior leaders across the public sector, academia, and the private sector examined sector-level challenges and opportunities from a leadership perspective.
Together these five components constitute the first systematic empirical evidence base for the UK weather and climate workforce.
Our Impact
The research will directly inform the final public report to be launched at the RMetS AGM in June 2026 (https://www.rmets.org/event/shaping-future), providing the evidence base for its findings and recommendations. The full research component report, The UK Weather and Climate Workforce: Evidence Synthesis and Primary Research Findings, will be deposited on Zenodo with a permanent DOI, ensuring it is citable as an independent research output in its own right.
The study’s findings are already informing conversations about sector workforce planning, skills development, diversity and inclusion, and the growing interface between weather and climate science and adjacent sectors including insurance, finance, and clean energy. The Pearl is also developing a journal article from the research, for Weather (https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14778696) which will bring the near-absence finding and the primary research evidence to the academic community for the first time.
