Photos: Met Office powers ahead

Another view of the control centre shows there are many desks serving different needs. The centre is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and produces a plethora of special reports. For example, since 1990, the Met Office has worked on the Hadley Centre for Climate Change and, because of the extensive information it has gathered, it has been able to prove the reality of climate change, even to George Bush.

In 2004, the weather centre moved into its new offices from Bracknell, where it had outgrown the facilities. It is now moving from strength to strength with a buoyant customer base. Booming air travel, widespread concerns over climate change, increasing requirements for storm watches around the world and so on promise to keep it ever busier.