Donna Nook WMO03883 – An important addendum to demonstrate just how incredibly bad Met Office Stations can be.

Images above and in text very kindly supplied by Talkshop reader and close associate Dave Ward.

I reviewed Donna Nook in December 2024 and, at the time, was unable to get detailed imagery of any sort as it appeared the screen was too near buildings to resolve from google aerial and streetview. This site is Met Office CIMO rated Class 5 as the worst it can possibly get – “Class 5 (additional estimated uncertainty added by siting up to 5 °C)” and meeting no regulatory conditions whatsoever simply stating “Site not meeting the requirements of class 4“. Literally anywhere can meet Class 5, but it gets even worse with this site being rated Class 5S. The “S” openly indicates readings should be treated as potentially suspect!

Dave Ward (who supplied terrific detailed aviation expertise with Weybourne) has helped on many occasions with on-site imagery and offered his help with this site. I really did not expect him to be able to get anywhere near this secure range site but he rarely disappoints. These images are from 7th April 2026 and show just how atrocious this site actually is. Bear in mind that if a “record” is registered here it will definitely be authorised by the Met Office – this is, after all, unbelievably a World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) standard reporting site – WMO 03385.

The headline image is not foreshortening the separation between the screen and site Control Tower – it really is that ridiculous. for those possibly not familiar, that small white box to the right ground floor of the building to the lower right of the rear window is a conventional Stevenson Screen. I estimate well under 3 metres/10 feet from the northwest facing wall. How much natural daylight this screen encounters is likely to be very little – the wind shadow from north east round to southwest is 100% total. The buildings will also be an overnight source of radiated warmth artificially elevating nighttime minimums and thus raising daily means especially in winter.

Quite how Dave got away with this image looking around the corner of the control tower to the screen is beyond me as I certainly would not have risked it in the current climate of global conflict. It vividly displays how even the “open” angle still has seriously compromising structures immediately in front of the screen, Pulling back from the close up brings even better perspective of all the multiple compromising elements of this site.

To put the area into context Dave compiled a “panorama” view of the surrounding area to help in the location process and aid assessment of how representative this site simply cannot be of the surrounding area. There are not a lot of buildings in this vista but still, somehow, the Met Office manged to park their sensors alongside the only one available.

Set against this flat and open backdrop where almost everywhere is visible and subject to the natural environment and climate, the screen is behind this sort of inappropriate barrier.

And as Dave highlights from his panorama viewpoint, the Stevenson screen is shown in all its appallingly bad siting with the small matter of Helicopter take offs and landings directly overhead…..”H” marks the spot.

My sincere thanks again to Dave for his efforts. This is the evidence of real people in the real world and makes a mockery of the computer modelled unreliable land of make believe and inaccurate data that the Met Office wants us all to fall for. Perhaps their “experts” should emulate Dave and “get out more”!

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2026/04/08/donna-nook-wmo03883-an-important-addendum-to-demonstrate-just-how-incredibly-bad-met-office-stations-can-be/