The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and

climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes various journals, including the ''

Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society The ''Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of meteorology published eight times per year. It was established in 1871 as ''Bibliography of Meteorological Literature'', obtaining its current na ...

''. The

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Liz Bentley.

Constitution

The Royal Meteorological Society traces its origins back to 3 April 1850 when the British Meteorological Society was formed as "a society the objects of which should be the advancement and extension of meteorological science by determining the laws of climate and of meteorological phenomena in general". Along with nine others, including

James Glaisher James Glaisher Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (7 April 1809 – 7 February 1903) was an English meteorologist, aeronaut and astronomer. Biography Born in Rotherhithe, the son of a London watchmaker, Glaisher was a junior assistant at the C ...

, John Drew,

Edward Joseph Lowe Edward Joseph Lowe FRS FGS FRAS FLS (11 November 1825 – 10 March 1900) was a British botanist, meteorologist and astronomer, who published papers on a wide variety of subjects, including luminous meteors, sunspots, the zodiacal light, mete ...

, The Revd Joseph Bancroft Reade, and

Samuel Charles Whitbread Samuel Charles Whitbread (16 February 1796 – 27 May 1879) was a British Member of Parliament, member of the Whitbread brewing family and founding president of the Royal Meteorological Society. Early life and education Whitbread was the ...

, Dr John Lee, an astronomer, of Hartwell House, near

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

, Buckinghamshire founded in the library of his house the British Meteorological Society, which became the Royal Meteorological Society. It became The Meteorological Society in 1866, when it was incorporated by

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

, and the Royal Meteorological Society in 1883, when Her Majesty

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

granted the privilege of adding 'Royal' to the title. Along with 74 others, the famous meteorologist

Luke Howard Luke Howard (28 November 1772 – 21 March 1864) was a British manufacturing chemist and an amateur meteorologist with broad interests in science. His lasting contribution to science is a nomenclature system for clouds, which he proposed in ...

joined the original 15 members of the Society at its first ordinary meeting on 7 May 1850. As of 2008 it has more than 3,000 members worldwide. The chief executive of the Society is Professor Liz Bentley. Paul Hardaker previously served as chief executive from 2006 to 2012.

Membership

There are four membership categories: * Honorary Fellow * Fellow (FRMetS) * Member * Corporate member

Awards

The society regularly awards a number of medal and prizes, of which the

Symons Gold Medal The Symons Gold Medal is awarded biennially by the Royal Meteorological Society for distinguished work in the field of meteorological science. It was established in 1901 in memory of George James Symons, a notable British meteorologist. Recipient ...

(established in 1901) and the Mason Gold Medal (established in 2006) are pre-eminent. The two medals are awarded alternately. Other awards include the Buchan Prize, the Hugh Robert Mill Award, the L F Richardson Prize, the Michael Hunt Award, the Fitzroy Prize, the Gordon Manley Weather Prize, the International Journal of Climatology Prize, the Society Outstanding Service Award and the Vaisala Award.

Journals

The society has a number of regular publications: * '' Atmospheric Science Letters'': a monthly journal that provides a peer-reviewed publication route for new shorter contributions in the field of atmospheric and closely related sciences. * ''

Weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

'': a monthly journal with many full colour illustrations and photos for specialists and general readers with an interest in meteorology. It uses a minimum of mathematics and technical language. * ''

'': one of the world's leading journals for meteorology, publishing original research in the atmospheric sciences. There are eight issues per year. * ''

Meteorological Applications ''Meteorological Applications'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of meteorology published four times per year since 1994. It is published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Royal Meteorological Society. Abstracting and indexing The journ ...

'': this is a journal for applied meteorologists, forecasters and users of meteorological services and has been published since 1994. It is aimed at a general readership and authors are asked to take this into account when preparing papers. * '' International Journal of Climatology'': has 15 issues a year and covers a broad spectrum of research in climatology. * '' WIREs Climate Change'': a journal about climate change * '' Geoscience Data Journal'': an online, open-access journal. * '' Climate Resilience and Sustainability'': an interdisciplinary, open-access journal. All publications are available online but a subscription is required for some. However certain "classic" papers are freely available on the Society's website.

Local centres and special interest groups

The society has several local centres across the UK. There are also a number of special interest groups which organise meetings and other activities to facilitate exchange of information and views within specific areas of meteorology. These are informal groups of professionals interested in specific technical areas of the profession of meteorology. The groups are primarily a way of communicating at a specialist level.

Presidents

Source: * 1850–1853:

, first time * 1853–1855: George Leach * 1855–1857: John Lee * 1857–1858:

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

* 1859–1860:

Thomas Sopwith Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Hon FRAeS (18 January 1888 – 27 January 1989) was a British aviation pioneer, businessman and yachtsman. Early life Sopwith was born in Kensington, London, on 18 ...

* 1861–1862:

Nathaniel Beardmore Nathaniel Beardmore (19 March 1816 – 24 August 1872) was a British civil engineer known for his textbook on hydraulic engineering, and his work on water projects associated with the River Lea. Life and career Beardmore was born on 19 March ...

* 1863–1864:

Robert Dundas Thomson Dr Robert Dundas Thomson FRSE FRS FRCP FCS (21 September 1810 – 17 August 1864) was a British physician and chemist and a pioneer of public sanitation. He worked as an academic, medical officer of health and author. Life He was the son ...

, died in office * 1864:

, second time * 1865–1866: Charles Brooke * 1867–1868:

* 1869–1870:

Charles Vincent Walker Charles Vincent Walker FRS (20 March 1812 – 24 December 1882) was an English electrical engineer and publisher, a major influence on the development of railway telecommunications, he was also the first person to send a submarine telegraph sign ...

* 1871–1872: John William Tripe * 1873–1875: Robert James Mann * 1876–1877: Henry Storks Eaton * 1878–1879:

Charles Greaves Charles Greaves M Inst CE Fellow of the Geological Society, FGS FRSA (1816–1883), eldest son of Charles Greaves (d. 1829), was born in Great Amwell, Hertfordshire on 19 October 1816. He was articled to J. M. Rendel, a civil engineer in Plymou ...

* 1880–1881:

George James Symons George James Symons FRS (6 August 1838 – 10 March 1900) was a British meteorologist who founded and managed the ''British Rainfall Organisation'', an unusually dense and widely distributed network of rainfall data collection sites throughout ...

, first time * 1882–1883: Sir

John Knox Laughton Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British naval historian and arguably the first to delineate the importance of the subject of Naval history as an independent field of study. Beginning his working life as a math ...

* 1884–1885: Robert Henry Scott * 1886–1887: William Ellis * 1888–1889:

William Marcet William Marcet FRS FRCP (13 May 1828 – 4 March 1900) was President of the Royal Meteorological Society He was born the son of Francis Marcet, FRS and the grandson of Alexander Marcet, FRS in Geneva, Switzerland. He graduated M.D. as a physic ...

* 1890–1891: Baldwin Latham * 1892–1893: Charles Theodore Williams, first time * 1894–1895: Richard Inwards * 1896–1897:

Edward Mawley Edward Mawley (14 May 1842 – 15 September 1916) was an English meteorologist and horticulturalist. Educated at the South Kensington School of Art, Mawley practised architecture for several years. In 1874–1875, he and a friend went on a round-t ...

* 1898–1899: Francis Campbell Bayard * 1900:

, second time; died in office * 1900: Charles Theodore Williams, second time * 1901–1902:

William Henry Dines William Henry Dines BA FRS (5 August 1855 – 24 December 1927) was an English meteorologist. Dines was born in London, the son of George Dines, also a meteorologist. He was educated at Woodcote House School, Windlesham, and afterwards enter ...

* 1903–1904: Captain Sir David W. Barker * 1905–1906:

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

* 1907–1908: Hugh Robert Mill * 1910–1911: Henry Mellish * 1911–1912: Henry Newton Dickson * 1913–1914: Charles John Philip Cave, first time * 1915–1917: Sir

Henry George Lyons Colonel Sir Henry George Lyons FRS (11 October 1864 – 10 August 1944) was a British geologist and director of the Science Museum in London. Henry Lyons was born in London, the son of General Thomas Lyons. Lyons was educated at Welling ...

* 1918–1919: Sir

Napier Shaw Sir William Napier Shaw (4 March 1854 – 23 March 1945) was a British meteorologist. He introduced the tephigram, a diagram for evaluating convective instability in the atmosphere. He also served as president of the International Meteorologic ...

* 1920–1921:

Reginald Hawthorn Hooker Reginald Hawthorn Hooker (12 January 1867 – 2 June 1944) English civil servant, statistician, and meteorologist. Hooker was a pioneer in the application of Canonical correlation, correlation analysis to economics and agricultural meteorology. ...

* 1922–1923:

Charles Chree 200px, Charles Chree (circa 1900) Charles Chree, FRS (5 May 1860 – 12 August 1928) was a British physicist, an authority on terrestrial magnetism and atmospheric electricity, and for 32 years Superintendent of Kew Observatory. Chree was born ...

* 1924–1925: Charles John Philip Cave, second time * 1926–1927: Sir Gilbert Walker * 1928–1929:

Richard Gregory Richard Langton Gregory, (24 July 1923 – 17 May 2010) was a British psychologist and Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol. Life and career Richard Gregory was born in London. He was the son of Christopher Clive Lan ...

* 1930–1931: Rudolf Gustav Karl Lempfert * 1932–1933: Sydney Chapman * 1934–1935:

Ernest Gold Ernst Sigmund Goldner (July 13, 1921 – March 17, 1999), known professionally as Ernest Gold, was an Austrian-born American composer. He is most noted for his work on the film ''Exodus'' produced in 1960. Early life Gold was born in 1921 in Vie ...

* 1936–1937:

Francis John Welsh Whipple Francis John Welsh Whipple ScD FInstP (17 March 1876 – 25 September 1943) was an English mathematician, meteorologist and seismologist. From 1925 to 1939, he was superintendent of the Kew Observatory. Biography Whipple was the son of Kew Obse ...

* 1938–1939: Sir Bernard A. Keen * 1940–1941: Sir George Clarke Simpson * 1942–1944:

David Brunt Sir David Brunt, KBE, FRS (17 June 1886 – 5 February 1965) was a Welsh meteorologist. He was Professor of Meteorology at Imperial College, London from 1934 to 1952. He was vice-president of the Royal Society from 1949 to 1957. The Brunt Ice ...

* 1945–1946:

Gordon Manley Gordon Valentine Manley, FRGS (3 January 1902 – 29 January 1980) was a British climatologist who has been described as "probably the best known, most prolific and most expert on the climate of Britain of his generation". He assembled the Centr ...

* 1947–1949:

G. M. B. Dobson Gordon Miller Bourne Dobson (25 February 1889 – 10 March 1976) was a UK, British physicist and meteorologist who did important work on ozone. Education He was educated at Sedbergh School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating ...

* 1949–1951: Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt * 1951–1953: Sir

Charles Normand Sir Charles William Blyth Normand CIE (10 September 1889 – 25 October 1982) was a Scottish meteorologist. Career Born in Edinburgh, Normand was educated at the Royal High School and studied mathematics, physics and chemistry at Edinburgh Un ...

* 1953–1955: Sir Graham Sutton * 1955–1957: Reginald Sutcliffe * 1957–1959: Percival Albert Sheppard * 1959–1961: James Martin Stagg * 1961–1963: Howard Latimer Penman * 1963–1965: John Stanley Sawyer * 1965–1967: G. D. Robinson * 1967–1968: F.

Kenneth Hare Fredrick Kenneth Hare, (February 5, 1919 – September 3, 2002) was a Canadian climatologist and academic, who researched atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate change, drought, and arid zone climates and was a strong advocate for preserving the nat ...

* 1968–1970: John Mason * 1970–1972: Frank Pasquill * 1972–1974: Robert B. Pearce * 1974–1976:

Raymond Hide Raymond Hide (17 May 1929 – 6 September 2016) was a British physicist, who was a professor of physics at the University of Oxford and, since 2000, senior research investigator at Imperial College, London. Education Hide was educated at Perc ...

* 1976–1978: John T. Houghton * 1978–1980: John Monteith * 1980–1982: Philip Goldsmith * 1982–1984: Henry Charnock * 1984–1986: Andrew Gilchrist * 1986–1988: Richard S. Scorer * 1988–1990: Keith Anthony Browning * 1990–1992: Stephen Austen Thorpe * 1992–1994: Paul James Mason * 1994–1996: John E. Harries * 1996–1998: David J. Carson * 1998–2000: Sir

Brian Hoskins Professor Sir Brian John Hoskins (born 17 May 1945) is a British dynamical meteorologist and climatologist based at the Imperial College London and the University of Reading. He is a recipient of the 2024 Japan Prize along with Professor John M ...

* 2000–2002: David Burridge * 2002–2004: Howard Cattle * 2004–2006: Chris Collier * 2006–2008: Geraint Vaughan * 2008–2010: Julia Slingo * 2010–2012:

Tim Palmer Tim Palmer may refer to: * Tim Palmer (film historian) (born 1975), English film historian * Tim Palmer (journalist), Australian journalist * Tim Palmer (1943-1997), British technology journalist * Tim Palmer (physicist) (born 1952), English physic ...

* 2012–2014: Joanna Haigh * 2014–2016: Jennie Campbell * 2016–2018: Ellie Highwood * 2018–2020: David Warrilow * 2020–2022: David Griggs

Notable fellows

* John Farrah (1849–1907).

References

External links

The RMetS website

UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee (ADMLC) web site
{{authority control Meteorological societies

Meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom Atmospheric dispersion modeling Climatological research organizations Climate of the United Kingdom Geographic societies Learned societies of the United Kingdom Scientific organizations established in 1850 1850 establishments in the United Kingdom