Met Office embarks on new Southeast Asia partnership

The UK’s Met Office is working with organizations in Malaysia and the Philippines to develop advice related to high-impact weather events. As a delivery partner for the Newton Fund, the Met Office will develop a science-based weather and climate partnership. It aims to better understand the region’s severe weather and to protect lives and livelihoods in a part of the world regularly affected by floods, major cyclones and other instances of extreme weather. The Southeast Asia partnership is led in the Philippines by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), and in Malaysia by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA). The program was launched in the Philippines on July 21 and in Malaysia on July 25. Simon Vosper, Met Office director of meteorological science, said, “Southeast Asia is regularly rocked by high-impact weather events. Our partnership program will build further understanding of the development of severe weather in the region, improving the accuracy and detail of forecasts through more refined models. The end result is improved forecasts saving lives and protecting livelihoods.” The Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership (WCSSP) program aims to develop partnerships harnessing UK scientific expertise to help strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities to weather and climate variability. It is supported by the UK government’s Newton Fund, which was set up to boost relationships between the UK and emerging knowledge economies. WCSSP Southeast Asia builds on other projects around the world, including those in Brazil, China and South Africa.