Carlisle WMO 03220 & 03222 – A case of Met Office irony or proof of their ineptitude?

54.93433 -2.96364 Met Office CIMO Assessed Class 4 Installed 1/1/1961.

Carlisle weather station shows a continuous record from 1961 and appears as a “Climate Averages” station on their Location Specific Long Term averages site covering the period 1961 to 2020. This “Specific” location is, however, somewhat unspecific as this site was significantly relocated in 1994 (hence two different WMO site numbers) rendering the site temperature record not continuous from one location. This is, however, only one of the more ironic facts about Carlisle weather station.

Carlisle is by no means a frequent inclusion in the Met office “extremes” listings for high temperature readings but did recently make an appearance.

It does, however, more often feature as a high rainfall site typical of the area and this indication of regular westerly airstreams certainly moderates the climate from colder extremes.

As weather station sites go, Carlisle is a classic example of urban encroachment on its environs. A note buried deep in the archives indicates –

1999-10-12

Current

SITE INFORMATION

OLD STATION WAS AT GRID REF 3384E 5603N WITH ELEVATION OF 26M UNTIL 1994

The 1984 wide angle image indicates a former more rural site distant from the Carlisle Urban area.

The site change enforced this World Meteorological Organisation reporting station to be renumbered due to significant climatological difference but seemingly did not stop a continuous temperature record being retained by the Met Office throughout the period. I find this a bit like a Le Mans 24 hour racing driver changing cars half way through the race and still being allowed to win.

This Class 4 current local site is unusual in having a very good close up Google street view from two separate roads as it sits on a grass “island” surrounded on all sides by road. The view from the south looking north. Note the single green cabinet which is an online measure of 7.4 metres to the north of the screen. {n.b. there is a second grey cabinet}

Now compare this to the view from a different date and the opposite direction (north looking south) and note the two green cabinets with the grey one now behind.

I personally do not have a fetish for green cabinets but it seems the Met Office does and considers them a dire problem for weather recording. Despite Carlisle weather station being a poor Class 4 (with an additional 2 degree error margin due to siting) and with roads and buildings to every side, the Met Office still felt it imperative to remove one of those green cabinets and note the removal for posterity. Why?

2025-05-07

Current

SITE INFORMATION

ONE GREEN CABINET REMOVED TO REDUCE HEAT SOURCES.

Let that sink in……removing a green cabinet 7.4 metres distant from the screen is classed as such a major heat source (and presumably likely to distort temperature readings) that it must be removed. Now reconsider this.

Or maybe consider this;

This ranks as crass stupidity by the Met Office – a distant “green cabinet” is a major concern warranting removal to improve readings accuracy but an electricity sub-station or aero gas turbine engine (amongst literally hundreds of significant compromising factors elsewhere) are classed as irrelevant.

What exactly are the Met Office owning up to with this example? Similarly other such cases as Winterbourne where a tiny transformer was removed to improve readings or Milford Haven where a single paving slab was removed – what are they claiming?…….Massive detrimental factors can be ignored but they must fiddle about with tiny, almost irrelevant, minutiae that will almost certainly make no difference at all.

Again if any meteorologist wants to justify this I would be willing to listen but I genuinely feel the Met Office is proving itself unfit to regulate its own sites and fiascos like this prove the point.

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2025/07/22/carlisle-wmo-03220-03222-a-case-of-met-office-irony-or-proof-of-their-ineptitude/