The Met Office has rolled out a major scientific upgrade to its forecasting system that will deliver higher-resolution, more locally focused forecasts for communities including Kingswinford in the West Midlands. The upgrade was operationalized on 8 February 2026, announced by the Met Office on 9 February, and full local features began appearing on forecast pages by 10 February 2026.
The new system is powered by the Met Office’s Azure-based supercomputer and, according to Met Office and Microsoft briefing materials, can process about 50 billion weather observations each day. The upgrade is designed to give forecasters the ability to resolve weather at much finer scales so they can better distinguish between local areas such as Kingswinford and neighbouring towns across the Black Country.
Forecasters and local partners say the improvements should help commuters on local routes — including the A491 and A449 — by providing clearer information about heavy rain, surface-water flooding and icy conditions. The upgraded modelling also provides better guidance on cloud cover and fog, which is important for travel planning and transport operations.
The Met Office and Microsoft say the cloud-based supercomputer delivers roughly 60 quadrillion calculations per second (about 60 petaflops), giving the service far greater computational capacity than its predecessor. That extra capacity underpins higher-resolution precipitation, cloud and fog forecasts that partners such as Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and the Environment Agency can use to refine local warnings and alerts for watercourses including the Smestow Brook and the River Stour.
The upgrade comes after a winter of volatile conditions, including the impact of Storm Goretti in January 2026. Met Office statements and briefing material say the new capability is intended to improve the timeliness and local precision of warnings so communities and emergency responders can take action earlier.
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