Photos: Met Office powers ahead

As rain pours down over Britain, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Met Office has no idea what is going to fall on us next. But from its new offices in Exeter, the Met Office confidently predicts that it is ready for most things, including predicting the odd bout of stormy weather.

It is a busy time for more than 1,000 staff at the centre (and the many more who feed in data from around the world). A typical day's work could include predicting whether play is possible on a given day at Wimbledon or keeping the world's airliners flying with essential weather information.