News

The year 2024 was the warmest on record globally and the first calendar year that was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by ECMWF.

We are taking part in the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting from 12 to 16 January 2025 with presentations about ECMWF developments and plans and an exhibition booth.

ECMWF news highlights in 2024 include a major upgrade of the forecasting system; initiatives to drive forward weather science, including machine learning; and news from the EU-funded services implemented by ECMWF.

Representatives from three European meteorological institutions – Météo-France, the German National Meteorological Service (DWD), and ECMWF – discuss how artificial intelligence is impacting services and activities, highlighting the crucial role of collaboration.

At the Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU24), we present progress towards a global km-scale flood forecasting system, and we look at the mechanisms through which mesoscale convective systems can affect the large-scale circulation.

From 19 to 22 November 2024, ECMWF hosted the NWP SAF Workshop on Satellite Observations of the Earth System Interfaces. The workshop continued the successful series of meetings organised at ECMWF on behalf of EUMETSAT’s Numerical Weather Prediction Satellite Applications Facility.

Three ECMWF Directors participated in person and remotely in the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, 11–22 November: Director-General Florence Rabier; the Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, Laurence Rouil; and the Director for Destination Earth at ECMWF, Irina Sandu.

Robin Hogan is responsible for the representation of solar and infrared radiation in the model used for ECMWF’s weather forecasts. He also co-chairs the mission advisory group for the EarthCARE satellite, which was launched in May this year.

An upgrade of ECMWF’s Integrated Forecasting System to Cycle 49r1 implemented on 12 November has substantially improved near-surface wind and temperature predictions, particularly for the winter months in the northern hemisphere.

ECMWF will mark its 50th anniversary next year with three weeks of events taking place in our three duty stations in Bonn, Germany, 7–11 April; Bologna, Italy, 15–19 September; and Reading, UK, 1–5 December.