On 9 February 2026 the Met Office launched its most significant scientific upgrade in more than three years, a change expected to deliver more accurate local weather forecasts for areas including Kirkby in Merseyside. The update is designed to give residents clearer information on rainfall, cloud/fog and temperature and to help with daily travel and safety planning.
Residents can now expect clearer warnings and more reliable estimates for rainfall, local temperatures and localized wind effects (including coastal-to-inland gusts). The new system aims to address long-standing short-term ‘blind spots’ in guidance, for example how wind and precipitation move from the Irish Sea onto inland areas.
The scientific overhaul runs on an Azure-based supercomputing infrastructure provided in partnership with Microsoft, allowing the Met Office to process observations and model data more quickly and at higher resolution. By using higher-resolution modelling (with targeted downscaling in specific zones), the service can better represent small-scale features such as fog and sudden showers.
Locally, the upgrade is expected to improve lead times for flood checks in catchments such as the River Alt at Kirkby and to make forecasts more useful and more reflective of the real-world weather people experience in their streets, the Met Office said.
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