01 December 2016

Come rain or shine, the brand new S4C weather service will be launched on 1 December that see’s the start of an exciting partnership between the Met Office and S4C.

The Met Office is the UK's National Weather Service and the institution is renowned for its excellence in predicting the weather. According to standards set by the World Meteorological Organization, the Met Office’s weather prediction model is the most accurate on the planet.

And with the Welsh weather so volatile at times, accuracy is key, so it’s good to know that the system used by S4C is also being used by the Ministry of Defence, local authorities, the Coastguard and mountain rescue teams.

"The Met Office has credibility when it comes to predicting the weather. They collaborate with virtually every sector and industry. Broadcast is just a small part of their work,” explains Steffan Griffiths, one of the presenters of S4C’s weather service along with Chris Jones and Yvonne Evans.

The new look weather service will also benefit from the Visual Cortex graphics system, which has been developed by Met Office partner Presentation Cartography. The system integrates a wide range of data about the weather as well as traffic and environmental information.

Steffan, who’s from Peniel in Carmarthenshire, is looking forward to using the new system.

He said: "Chris, Yvonne and I are very excited about the graphics as we move from static symbols to graphics that move across the screen. And with access to the wealth of information that’s collected by the Met Office, the potential to do different things is huge. After all, the Met Office is the best weather company and our partnership with them means that the viewer will benefit from weather forecasts of the highest quality."

A brand new app and website and will also be launched to coincide with the new service which means that the public at home can access the latest Met Office forecast from their computer or device. And with a dramatic increase in the number of adventure visitors to Wales, there's no doubt that the new S4C Tywydd app will be essential when wandering the mountains of Snowdonia or the coastal path in Pembrokeshire.

Tom Shapland, Head of Media and Content Partnerships at the Met Office said: “We are really proud and excited to be partnering with S4C for their new look weather broadcast service. Welsh audiences will see a real difference to the weather they receive as the new graphics system will bring to life the Welsh landscape and will deliver more engaging forecasts. In addition, S4C Tywydd website and app users will also benefit from our world leading forecasts and National Severe Weather Warnings so that everyone can prepare and stay safe, whatever the weather may bring.”

S4C Factual Content Commissioner Llion Iwan said: “We can experience very different weather on the same day in Wales. So we need a weather service that can consistently provide the latest information that’s correct to specific areas. It's a great example of how S4C provides a contemporary service to the whole of Wales.”

Ends