Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre – the UK approach to space weather preparedness (Invited Presentation)

The presentation will discuss how the risk presented by severe space weather was first recognised in the UK and how it fits with the UK's overall approach to risk assessment. This will focus on how the UK's existing risk identification system, the National Risk Assessment, has been used to assess the UK's vulnerability and instigate the necessary preparedness planning and how preparation for a severe space weather incident is consistent with the way in which we prepare for other high impact natural hazards. The presentation will also set out how the UK's work has been discussed and compared with that of other countries' and how we are seeking to design an international approach to planning for this risk.

Next, it will describe how the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre (MOSWOC), a manned 24x7x365 dedicated capability has been implemented within the Met Office's existing operational forecast centre, how warnings of severe space weather have been integrated within Government's existing warning systems, outlining the underpinning space weather capabilities implemented. Work with international partners (especially the US) in understanding likely impacts and preparedness will also be described.

The global nature of space weather events creates a number of unique challenges for international coordination and consistency of forecasts. Parallels with other major natural hazards will be discussed along with how these can be addressed through exercising with key international partners.

Finally, this talk will highlight the gaps in our current emergency planning knowledge and the ways in which the scientific and industrial communities are working together to help us to fill these gaps.