Monks Wood DCNN3357 – A very confusing site, what actually goes on here?

52.40154 -0.23698 Met Office CIMO Assessed Class 3 Installed 1/1/1963

Tim Channon reviewed this site outside his original WMO reporting sites remit largely, I believe, due to the somewhat odd nature of the site (in a woodland clearing) and quite what the neighbouring large but rural buildings were all about. https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/surfacestation-monks-wood/. My subsequent review similarly asks more questions regarding exactly what goes on here.

As I reported in my Hadlow report, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) runs its own modern network of 51 of weather stations. A number of other organisations also run independent networks for specific purposes which will be the subject of a future report. In the case of Monks Wood (and Wallingford) the site appears to be run by UKCEH on behalf of the Met Office but they do not record Monks Wood as one of their own sites. This is very peculiar as the UKCEH has quite a number of other weather station locations running independently, but parallel to, the Met Office. Rothamsted, Writtle, Morpeth, Cardington, Alice Holt Lodge, Hillsborough, Dumfries Crichton and North Wyke are all Met office locations where the UKCEH has its own separate facilities running almost in competition to them and nearly always in far superior locations.

The Monks Wood site appears to be run by the UKCEH though reports online suggest various site ownership “potential” changes over time but nothing permanent. It appears that UKCEH are still responsible for some of this site but it is rather surprising how they could justify using all the site with so many staff and facilities here given their head office is at Wallingford. Any local knowledge of what actually is the function of these somewhat isolated extensive buildings would be most welcome.

The site itself probably does just make Class 3 but the motivation behind placing a fully operational site (complete with windmast) in a clearing seems rather unusual. The trees below are not insignificant and likely problematic.

The above image is from 2011 and, as rather typical of recent times, roadside vegetation has since grown up significantly obscuring the roadside view. How well the hedges to both the east and west are being maintained is debatable as aerial imagery suggests a substantial thickening over the years. The height of these hedges (and trees to the north) is likely to influence readings with increased periods of calm low wind speeds. Ironically it is likely difficult to judge such calmer periods given the likely compromised nature of the windmast. Although outside the normal investigation parameters I use, I did opt to look at the wind speed records of this site which confirmed this is a very sheltered site indeed. The possibility of over-recording (particularly minima) from Aitken Effect seems very likely here.

The wider angle view does call into question how representative this site can be of the wider region of Cambridgeshire/(former) Huntingdonshire area.

To add a further element of mystery to the overall nature of this site are the two separate entries on the Met Office Weather Observations Website. Are there really two locations and does the UKCEH have its own site after all?

Whilst one site to the south records itself as an official site like this below, it also claims it is not currently reporting observations:-

Conversely the more northerly site does not carry the Met Office logo but appears to be more of an appropriate location with imagery that appears to be the same as from the street view depiction above. Even stranger this site also states it is not reporting data. The lengthy site “purpose” description reads more like an activist organisation’s pledge than a meteorological reporting site.

Both the above are apparently unwilling to report any numbers from what is an official site that has been automatic reporting for the last 25 years, whilst Weatherobs.com do not feel so constrained.

Overall I find the class 3 rating suspect and reading such motivational site descriptions gives me cause to question the likely impartiality of the observers. Monks Wood is not a suitable candidate for inclusion in the national historic temperature record.

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2025/08/25/monks-wood-dcnn3357-a-very-confusing-site-what-actually-goes-on-here/