Météo-France is the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
national
meteorological
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...
service.
Organisation
The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
but many domestic operations have been decentralised to
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...
. Its budget of around €300 million is funded by state grants, aeronautic royalties and sale of commercial services.
Météo-France has a particularly strong international presence, and is the French representative at the
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.
The WMO originated from the Inter ...
. The organisation is a leading member of
EUMETSAT, responsible for the procurement of
Meteosat
The Meteosat series of satellites are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by EUMETSAT under the Meteosat Transition Programme (MTP) and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) program.
The MTP program was established to ensure the ope ...
weather satellites. It is also member of the
. It also a critical national weather service member of the
ECMWF
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by most of the nations of Europe. It is based at three sites: Shinfield Park, Reading, United Kingdom; Bologna, Italy; an ...
and hosts one of two major centres of the
IFS numerical weather prediction model widely used worldwide.
Worldwide
In addition to its operations in metropolitan France, the agency provides forecasts and warnings for the French overseas ''départements'' and ''collectivités''. It has four sub-divisions based in
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
(with further divisions serving
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...
and
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas ...
),
New Caledonia,
French Polynesia and
Réunion. Some of these sub-divisions have particularly important international responsibilities:
* For example, the
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas ...
office based at
Cayenne-Rochambeau airport maintains facilities at the
ESA/
CNES Centre Spatial Guyanais
The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximat ...
spaceport in
Kourou which assists with launch campaigns of the
Ariane rocket.
* The
Réunion sub-division is the official
World Meteorological Organisation designated
Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for the provision of forecasts and warnings of
tropical cyclones in the south-west
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
.
* The
French Polynesia sub-division, whilst not the official RSMC for
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dep ...
s in the South Pacific, has been mandated by the
WMO
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.
The WMO originated from the Internatio ...
to issue forecasts and warnings of tropical cyclones for the neighbouring British
Pitcairn Islands.
Naming
Although the original name of the organisation was "Météo-France", with acute accents and normal French capitalisation, all the publications made by Météo-France are now using the name written with capitals only, without any accents, everywhere the name is used as a trademark for the products and services delivered by the national organisation.
This trademark decision reflects the need to have its name not altered in electronic documents due to transcoding errors, and to allow easier international references in many languages, including when referencing the organisation itself (in copyright notices for example, or when citing sources).
The name in capitals or with normal capitalisation with accents is protected internationally under trademark law, and as an organisation name. Some non-binding information documents sometimes forget the hyphen in the name (but the hyphen is normally required).
See also
*
EUMETSAT (international European organisation)
*
Météo-France heat alert
References
External links
Météo-France(In French)
Météo-France Antille-GuyaneMétéo-France La RéunionMétéo-France Nouvelle-CalédonieMétéo-France Polynésie FrançaiseMétéo-France on Top 500Meteo France InternationalMETNEXTMétéo-France RégieMeteoragePREDICT Services
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meteo-France
Governmental meteorological agencies in Europe
Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres
Météo-France