Originally Posted by
beerdrinker
At least LHR has an AUTO system.
I find it incredible that places like Biggin and Farnborough have to rely on Manual observations so there are no observations when the airfield is closed with the result one can't watch the trend before they open.
There's a Semi Automatic Weather Station (SAWS) at Farnborough which is 'owned' by the Met Office however they allow the Farnborough Met Observers to use it for METARs in return for the observers keeping it serviced. Other NATS airfields have a Part or Fully Automatic Met Observation System (PAMOS or FAMOS) for which a full Met Observer Certificate is not required.
Outside hours the Farnborough data is still available; how you access it from the air I don't know but I've been told there is a way as people coming across from the USA early morning need to make an early decision whether to divert before the first ob which is taken at 0650 local time weekdays(0750 local weekends and PH).
One problem however is that some automated systems cannot give you details of precipitation; at the moment the Farnborough ob for 0200 UTC is:-
SW/10kts, cloudy, visibility good, +13, humidity 92%, Q1008 and rising. BUT no mention of the steady rainfall in the area.
I accessed this from
www.bbc.co.uk/weather inputting my position as Woking and it comes up with the nearest current ob. if you scroll down the page.