European climate data and forecasting

Development of the European weather risk market has lagged that of the US. One important reason has been the difficulty in getting good historical meteorological measurements at reasonable prices – this is changing. Another reason is the complication that both European weather and European weather risk easily cross frontiers, creating a demand for multi-national data availability.

Additionally, the factors influencing long range forecasting in Europe may be different than those for the US, causing concern about the ability to obtain seasonal forecasts for Europe with any reliability. Some of the climate trends in Europe are also reviewed.