The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Met Office are collaborating to deploy artificial intelligence-enabled weather forecasting in countries most vulnerable to climate shocks, starting with the Philippines and expanding across Africa, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific region. The partnership, announced during London Climate Action Week on June 22, aims to help meteorological services predict, withstand, and recover from extreme weather events more quickly and affordably than traditional forecasting methods.

Why Is AI Weather Forecasting Critical for Climate-Vulnerable Nations?

Countries in the global south face disproportionate risks from extreme weather, yet often lack the resources and technical infrastructure to forecast and prepare for climate shocks. The new partnership addresses this gap by leveraging machine learning to deliver forecasting significantly faster, with greater accuracy, and at much lower cost than existing models. This matters because extreme weather disrupts global supply chains, food security, and energy markets, creating ripple effects that affect economies worldwide.

The timing is particularly urgent. An El Niño of potentially record-breaking strength is predicted to bring extreme weather to regions across Southeast Asia and Africa in the coming months. El Niño, a natural warming of Pacific sea surface temperatures that occurs every few years, disrupts global weather patterns and causes floods, droughts, and temperature anomalies worldwide.

What Does the UK-Met Office Partnership Actually Include?

Under the strategic partnership, UK experts will share data and models, strengthen meteorological capacity in partner countries, and provide technical training to local teams. The FCDO will leverage its diplomatic network to provide in-country support through UK embassies, such as the one in Manila, connecting British technology and expertise with partner nations.

The partnership's goals extend beyond weather prediction alone:

• Economic Resilience: Help meteorological services better predict and recover from extreme weather events, reducing damage and protecting livelihoods.
• Food and Energy Security: Improve forecasting accuracy to support global food and energy security by reducing supply chain disruptions.
• Community Recovery: Enable communities to rebuild more quickly after climate disasters by providing earlier and more reliable warnings.

The Philippines has been selected as the initial focus country because of its particular vulnerability to weather events. Its densely populated coastline and location at the heart of the western Pacific typhoon belt make it one of the world's most typhoon-prone regions.

"Climate security is affecting all our lives. When countries are devastated by extreme weather, the effects can be felt all over the world, whether it is through the impact on global trade, the disruption of supply chains, or the increase in food and energy prices," said Yvette Cooper, the UK's foreign secretary.

Yvette Cooper, Foreign Secretary, UK Government

How Will This Partnership Strengthen Global Climate Resilience?

Beyond the AI weather forecasting initiative, the UK government announced complementary investments to build broader climate resilience. These include:

• Clean Energy Access: An £88 million extension to the Transforming Energy Access platform, which enables countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Indo-Pacific to access clean energy technologies like pay-as-you-go solar battery systems and mini-grids.
• Climate Adaptation Research: A new £39 million climate adaptation and resilience research programme called SCALE, designed to strengthen scientific capacity in vulnerable regions.
• Disaster Finance: A £3 million investment in the UK's natural disaster fund, the Technical Assistance Facility, which helps vulnerable countries access disaster insurance and finance faster.

These investments reflect a broader recognition that climate security is intertwined with economic security. Extreme weather events disrupt markets and supply chains globally, making climate adaptation a shared priority rather than a purely humanitarian concern.

The Met Office, the UK's national weather and climate service, is already recognized as one of the organizations at the forefront of public sector AI deployment in the UK and plays a significant role in driving AI forecasting innovation around the world. The FCDO and Met Office have previously collaborated through the Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) programme, launched in 2015, which focuses on boosting the quality, accessibility, and use of weather and climate information services to support sustainable development.

This new partnership represents a shift in how wealthy nations can support climate adaptation in the global south, using advanced technology and expertise to address one of the most pressing challenges of the climate crisis. By making AI-powered forecasting accessible to countries that need it most, the UK and Met Office are attempting to level the playing field in climate preparedness and resilience.