“We’re running an on-line survey over the next two weeks to better understand how the weather affects your sport and how we can improve our forecasts to better meet your needs and improve your safety.

We particularly want members of the public who undertake the following activities: angling (from a boat), kite surfing, water-skiing, surfing, power boating, scuba-diving, sailing, kayaking or rowing.

Working with partners such as the RNLI, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Plymouth University we will use this information to develop new content that improves safety, for example forecasting whether there is an increased risk of a rip current at a site under particular weather conditions.

Take part in the survey now.

This survey also being promoted by the RNLI, Maritime and coastguard agency and  ROSPA (Royal Society for the Protection of Accidents).

The Met Office currently provides forecasts for around 450 beaches around the UK, updated every hour and underpinned by world leading science and technology.”

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Rob and Mart from Rapanui

The Met Office has teamed up with Rapanui, an eco-fashion company, to create a range of weather related T-shirts just in time for summer. The Met Office eco clothing collection is made from organic cotton in an ethical, wind powered factory and features a range of weather related designs inspired by the imagery, science and history of the Met Office.

Mart Drake-Knight co-founder of Rapanui said: “The Met Office is the international authority on climate change research, as well as being our national weather service that provides weather forecasts that we can trust and rely on.”

“At Rapanui we think that it’s not that people don’t care about climate and the environment, it’s just that they don’t know where to start when it comes to organic, ethical or low carbon alternatives. Our brand is about making eco fashion cool and accessible. We were delighted when we were invited to design these Met Office t-shirts.  I think as well as being a nod to the Met Office’s heritage and expertise, we managed to add a bit of ‘Britishness’ and humour to capture the spirit of ‘the weather’ as a subject.”

The collaboration was designed to bring new audiences to the Met Office. Luke Green from the Met Office said: ”Weather fascinates everybody and these t-shirts provide a fun way of reaching new audiences about the work the Met Office does. The collaboration with Rapanui to design and produce these t-shirts is hopefully the first step in developing new partnerships to promote our brand.”

T-shirts are available online via the Rapanui website www.rapanuiclothing.com/metoffice