The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthusiasts. Its Quarterly Journal is one of the world's leading sources of original research in the atmospheric sciences. The

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

is Liz Bentley.

Constitution

The Royal Meteorological Society traces its origins back to 3 April 1850 when the British Meteorological Society was formed as "a society the objects of which should be the advancement and extension of meteorological science by determining the laws of climate and of meteorological phenomena in general". Along with nine others, including James Glaisher, John Drew,

Edward Joseph Lowe Edward Joseph Lowe FRS FGS FRAS FLS (11 November 1825 – 10 March 1900) was a renowned English botanist, meteorologist and astronomer, who published papers on a wide variety of subjects, including luminous meteors, sunspots, the zodiacal ...

, The Revd Joseph Bancroft Reade, and

Samuel Charles Whitbread Samuel Charles Whitbread (16 February 1796 – 27 May 1879) was a British Member of Parliament, member of the Whitbread brewing family and founding president of the Royal Meteorological Society. Early life and education Whitbread was the ...

, Dr John Lee, an astronomer, of Hartwell House, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire founded in the library of his house the British Meteorological Society, which became the Royal Meteorological Society. It became The Meteorological Society in 1866, when it was incorporated by

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

, and the Royal Meteorological Society in 1883, when Her Majesty

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

granted the privilege of adding 'Royal' to the title. Along with 74 others, the famous meteorologist Luke Howard joined the original 15 members of the Society at its first ordinary meeting on 7 May 1850. As of 2008 it has more than 3,000 members worldwide. The chief executive of the Society is Professor Liz Bentley. Paul Hardaker previously served as chief executive from 2006 to 2012.

Membership

There are four membership categories: * Honorary Fellow * Fellow (FRMetS) * Associate Fellow * Corporate member

Awards

The society regularly awards a number of medal and prizes, of which the Symons Gold Medal (established in 1901) and the Mason Gold Medal (established in 2006) are pre-eminent. The two medals are awarded alternately. Other awards include the Buchan Prize, the Hugh Robert Mill Award, the L F Richardson Prize, the Michael Hunt Award, the Fitzroy Prize, the Gordon Manley Weather Prize, the International Journal of Climatology Prize, the Society Outstanding Service Award and the Vaisala Award.

Journals

The society has a number of regular publications: * ''

Atmospheric Science Letters ''Atmospheric Science Letters'' is a monthly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering the atmospheric sciences. It was established in 2000 and is published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Royal Meteorological Society, of which it ...

'': a monthly magazine that provides a peer reviewed publication route for new shorter contributions in the field of atmospheric and closely related sciences. * ''

Weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

'': a monthly magazine with many full colour illustrations and photos for specialists and general readers with an interest in meteorology. It uses a minimum of mathematics and technical language. * '' Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society'': as one of the world's leading journals for meteorology publishes original research in the atmospheric sciences. There are eight issues per year. * '' Meteorological Applications'': this is a journal for applied meteorologists, forecasters and users of meteorological services and has been published since 1994. It is aimed at a general readership and authors are asked to take this into account when preparing papers. * '' International Journal of Climatology'': has 15 issues a year and covers a broad spectrum of research in climatology. * ''

WIREs Climate Change ''Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews'' (abbreviated ''WIREs'') is a set of peer-reviewed scientific journals that each publish interdisciplinary review articles on high-profile topics. The series was established in 2009 and is published by Wiley-Black ...

'': a journal about climate change * '' Geoscience Data Journal'': an online, open-access journal. All publications are available online but a subscription is required for some. However certain "classic" papers are freely available on the Society's website.

Local centres and special interest groups

The society has several local centres across the UK. There are also a number of special interest groups which organise meetings and other activities to facilitate exchange of information and views within specific areas of meteorology. These are informal groups of professionals interested in specific technical areas of the profession of meteorology. The groups are primarily a way of communicating at a specialist level.

Presidents

Source: * 1850–1853:

, first time * 1853–1855: George Leach * 1855–1857: John Lee * 1857–1858: Robert Stephenson * 1859–1860: Thomas Sopwith * 1861–1862: Nathaniel Beardmore * 1863–1864: Robert Dundas Thomson , died in office * 1864:

, second time * 1865–1866: Charles Brooke * 1867–1868: James Glaisher * 1869–1870: Charles Vincent Walker * 1871–1872: John William Tripe * 1873–1875: Robert James Mann * 1876–1877: Henry Storks Eaton * 1878–1879: Charles Greaves * 1880–1881: George James Symons , first time * 1882–1883: Sir John Knox Laughton * 1884–1885: Robert Henry Scott * 1886–1887: William Ellis * 1888–1889:

William Marcet William Marcet FRS FRCP (13 May 1828 – 4 March 1900) was President of the Royal Meteorological Society He was born the son of Francis Marcet, FRS and the grandson of Alexander Marcet, FRS in Geneva, Switzerland. He graduated M.D. as a physici ...

* 1890–1891: Baldwin Latham * 1892–1893:

Charles Theodore Williams Charles Theodore Williams FRCP, MVO (29 August 1838 – 15 December 1912) was an English physician, known as a leading authority on pulmonary tuberculosis.

, first time * 1894–1895:

Richard Inwards Richard Inwards (22 April 1840, Houghton Regis – 30 September 1937, London) was a mining engineer, astronomer and meteorologist. Inwards managed the San Baldomero mine in Bolivia for Evans and Askin and then a mine in Spain for the Manganese ...

* 1896–1897:

Edward Mawley Edward Mawley (14 May 1842 – 15 September 1916) was an English meteorologist and horticulturalist. Educated at the South Kensington School of Art, Mawley practised architecture for several years. In 1874–1875, he and a friend went on a round-t ...

* 1898–1899: Francis Campbell Bayard * 1900: George James Symons , second time; died in office * 1900:

Charles Theodore Williams Charles Theodore Williams FRCP, MVO (29 August 1838 – 15 December 1912) was an English physician, known as a leading authority on pulmonary tuberculosis.

, second time * 1901–1902: William Henry Dines * 1903–1904: Captain

David W. Barker David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

* 1905–1906:

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Helle ...

* 1907–1908: Hugh Robert Mill * 1910–1911: Henry Mellish * 1911–1912:

Henry Newton Dickson Prof Henry Newton Dickson (24 June 1866 – 2 April 1922) was a Scottish geographer, meteorologist and oceanographer from Edinburgh. He was strongly involved in the later phases of the deciphering of the masses of data from the Challenger ex ...

* 1913–1914:

Charles John Philip Cave Captain Charles John Philip Cave FRAS, FSA (born Ditcham Park Hampshire, 1 May 1871 – died near Petersfield, Hampshire, 8 December 1950) was an English meteorologist, a church architectural historian and photographer, and a captain in the Royal ...

, first time * 1915–1917: Sir Henry George Lyons * 1918–1919: Sir Napier Shaw * 1920–1921:

Reginald Hawthorn Hooker Reginald Hawthorn Hooker (12 January 1867 – 2 June 1944) English civil servant, statistician and meteorologist. Hooker was a pioneer in the application of correlation analysis to economics and agricultural meteorology. Biography Reginald ...

* 1922–1923:

Charles Chree 200px, Charles Chree (circa 1900) Charles Chree, FRS (5 May 1860 – 12 August 1928) was a British physicist, an authority on terrestrial magnetism and atmospheric electricity, and for 32 years Superintendent of Kew Observatory. Chree was born ...

* 1924–1925:

, second time * 1926–1927: Sir Gilbert Walker * 1928–1929: Richard Gregory * 1930–1931: Rudolf Gustav Karl Lempfert * 1932–1933:

Sydney Chapman Sydney Chapman may refer to: *Sir Sydney Chapman (economist) (1871–1951), British economist and civil servant * Sydney Chapman (mathematician) (1888–1970), FRS, British mathematician *Sir Sydney Chapman (politician) Sir Sydney Brookes Chapma ...

* 1934–1935: Ernest Gold * 1936–1937: Francis John Welsh Whipple * 1938–1939: Sir

Bernard A. Keen Sir Bernard Augustus Keen FRS (5 September 1890 – 5 August 1981) was a British soil scientist and Fellow of University College London. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonF ...

* 1940–1941: Sir George Clarke Simpson * 1942–1944: David Brunt * 1945–1946: Gordon Manley * 1947–1949:

G. M. B. Dobson Gordon Miller Bourne Dobson (25 February 1889 – 10 March 1976) was a British physicist and meteorologist who did important work on ozone. Education He was educated at Sedbergh School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating with ...

* 1949–1951: Sir

Robert Alexander Watson-Watt Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology. Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...

* 1951–1953: Sir

Charles Normand Sir Charles William Blyth Normand CIE (10 September 1889 – 25 October 1982) was a Scottish meteorologist. Career Born in Edinburgh, Normand was educated at the Royal High School and studied mathematics, physics and chemistry at Edinburgh ...

* 1953–1955: Sir Graham Sutton * 1955–1957:

Reginald Sutcliffe Reginald Cockcroft Sutcliffe FRS (16 November 1904 – 28 May 1991) was a British meteorologist. Born in Wrexham but raised in Yorkshire, where his father was a shop manager, he won a scholarship to the University of Leeds, where he gained ...

* 1957–1959: Percival Albert Sheppard * 1959–1961:

James Martin Stagg Group Captain James Martin Stagg, (30 June 1900 – 23 June 1975) was a Met Office meteorologist attached to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War who notably persuaded General Dwight D. Eisenhower to change the date of the Allied in ...

* 1961–1963:

Howard Latimer Penman Howard Latimer Penman (1909 – 1984) was a British meteorologist. He formulated Penman’s Formula, which is used worldwide by meteorologists and agricultural scientists to assess evaporation rates in different setups (lakes and ponds, lawns, cro ...

* 1963–1965:

John Stanley Sawyer John Stanley Sawyer FRS (19 June 1916 – 19 September 2000) was a British meteorologist, and Fellow of the Royal Society. Life He was born in Wembley, Middlesex and educated at the Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith and Jesus College, Cambrid ...

* 1965–1967: G. D. Robinson * 1967–1968: F. Kenneth Hare * 1968–1970: John Mason * 1970–1972: Frank Pasquill * 1972–1974:

Robert B. Pearce The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

* 1974–1976: Raymond Hide * 1976–1978: John T. Houghton * 1978–1980: John Monteith * 1980–1982:

Philip Goldsmith Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who populariz ...

* 1982–1984:

Henry Charnock Henry Charnock (25 December 1920 – 28 November 1997) was a British meteorologist. He is well known for his work on surface roughness and wind stress over water surfaces. The now named "Charnock's relationship" describes the aerodynamic roughn ...

* 1984–1986: Andrew Gilchrist * 1986–1988: Richard S. Scorer * 1988–1990: Keith Anthony Browning * 1990–1992:

Stephen Austen Thorpe Stephen Austen Thorpe FRS is a British oceanographer, Professor of Oceanography, University of Southampton, 1986–2003, now emeritus. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991 and was President of the Royal Meteorological Society ...

* 1992–1994: Paul James Mason * 1994–1996: John E. Harries * 1996–1998: David J. Carson * 1998–2000: Sir Brian Hoskins * 2000–2002:

David Burridge David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

* 2002–2004: Howard Cattle * 2004–2006: Chris Collier * 2006–2008:

Geraint Vaughan Geraint () is a character from Welsh mythology, Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint of Dumnonia, Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century ...

* 2008–2010: Julia Slingo * 2010–2012: Tim Palmer * 2012–2014: Joanna Haigh * 2014–2016:

Jennie Campbell Jennie may refer to: * Jennie (singer), South Korean singer of girl group Blackpink * Jennie, a female given name, variant spelling of Jenny * ''Jennie'' (musical), 1963 Broadway production * ''Jennie'' (novel), 1994 science fiction thriller b ...

* 2016–2018:

Ellie Highwood Ellie Highwood is a diversity and inclusion consultant and coach to academics, researchers and scientists. She was formerly Professor of Climate Physics at the University of Reading and was head of that department from 2012 until 2015. She wa ...

* 2018–2020: David Warrilow * 2020–2022: David Griggs

Notable fellows

* John Farrah (1849–1907).

References

External links

The RMetS website

UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee (ADMLC) web site
{{authority control Meteorological societies

Meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom Atmospheric dispersion modeling Climatological research organizations Climate of the United Kingdom Geographic societies Learned societies of the United Kingdom Scientific organizations established in 1850 1850 establishments in the United Kingdom