On 9 February 2026 the Met Office announced a major scientific upgrade to its forecasting system that will provide more accurate local weather information for residents of Norwich and Norfolk. The announcement is the first major science upgrade to operational weather modelling on the Met Office’s new supercomputing platform since the service transitioned its core processing to a Microsoft Azure–based system in mid‑2025.
The upgraded modelling, now running on the Azure-integrated supercomputing capability used by the Met Office, can take advantage of substantially greater computational power to assimilate roughly 50 billion observations a day. According to the Met Office, this allows a much more detailed view of local weather patterns and improves representation of rainfall, cloud, fog and short-term temperature changes — all of which benefit local nowcasting and short‑range forecasts.
The Met Office says the improvements will be particularly valuable for aviation: clearer guidance on low cloud, cloud base and fog will help airlines and airports such as Norwich International Airport manage flight schedules and reduce the risk of weather‑related delays. Emergency services, local authorities and other partners should also be better able to plan for disruptive weather, because the upgrade supports earlier and clearer warnings for impactful events, including heavy rain, strong winds and storms.
Residents can use the improved forecasts to plan travel and protect property, and can check local flood risk through the government’s Check for Flooding service for Norwich, Norfolk.
