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2020-12-31-accounts

The 170[th] Annual Report of the Royal Meteorological Society for the period 1[st] January – 31[st] December 2020

CONTENTS

CONTENTS
Page
The Society’s Mission 2
Public Benefit 2
President’s Foreword 5
The year January to December 2020: A brief review of the highlights 6
Finance 7
Annexes in separate document: 8-42
Annex A - The UK Weather of 2020
Annex B - Membership and Accreditation
Annex C - Awards and Prizes
Annex D - Scientific Publishing
Annex E - Societal Benefits
Annex F - Underpinning Activities
Annex G - Reports from Other Representative Bodies

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Annual Report 2020

THE SOCIETY’S MISSION

The Royal Meteorological Society is the UK’s Professional and Learned Society for weather and climate and its mission is to advance the understanding of weather and climate and its application for the benefit of all. At the heart of this is the responsibility for the stewardship of both the profession and science of meteorology. The Society has an important role to play internationally as one of the world’s largest meteorological societies. The Society is owned by its membership but exists for the benefit of all.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Royal Meteorological Society is dedicated to providing benefit to the wider public, or sections of it, in achieving its aims. The Charity Act 2011 lists 13 main charitable purposes that would be regarded as ‘for public benefit’. In the Society’s case, the public benefit of our activities falls into four of these categories.

The advancement of health or the saving of lives

Through partnerships with the General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo), the UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC), and the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN), the Society provides support and advice for weather-related safety-critical issues. The Society holds weather education seminars and events for private pilots and sailors, with the specific purpose of improving safety and reducing the number of accidents relating to flying and sailing in deteriorating weather conditions, which can sometimes be fatal. In 2020, the Society attended a series of Aviation Safety Information Exchange meetings and GASCo meetings. In November 2020, the Society hosted a virtual meeting on forecasting for dinghy regattas to assist sailors make better decisions while out on the water – the event was recorded and is freely available to access online www.rmets.org/event/virtual-meeting-forecasting-dinghy-regattas.

The Society is the academic partner with EUROCONTROL to support the SKYbrary website (www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Main_Page) to oversee weather content in order to encourage meteorological exchange of information with the aim of enhancing flight safety.

While responsibility for implementing and maintaining the Aeronautical Meteorological Personnel (AMP) standards rests with the weather service providers in the aviation sector, the Society continues to provide support and impartial advice where required to enable them to comply with the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) criteria for competence and qualifications.

The advancement of education

The Society’s mission has a wide remit that looks to support people’s understanding, interest and enthusiasm in meteorology, whether they are research scientists, amateur meteorologists, practitioners or members of the general public. It goes further, supporting the development of high-quality science, the next generation of scientists, the professional development of individuals, accrediting further and higher education courses, informing policy and supporting learning in weather and climate through education and outreach activities.

The Society works with teachers and students at primary, secondary and higher education levels to promote understanding of weather and climate, and runs interactive projects to both stimulate the interest of students in meteorology and to improve the quality of teaching materials and resources in schools. The Society’s aim is to reach every student in the UK, so that they leave school with the basic weather and climate literacy to understand the impact of weather on their personal life, leisure activities and employment, and to engage with the climate conversation and make informed decisions about their own opportunities and responsibilities. The Society’s education website, MetLink (www.metlink.org), provides free resources for teachers on weather and climate that are curriculum focused, and are accompanied by lesson plans and some short videos or animations that can set the scene in the classroom or when home schooling.

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Annual Report 2020

The resources provided by the Society, including the loan of instruments to schools, are made freely available to all schools. In addition, the Society is also freely providing an increasing number of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for teachers who have come to teaching meteorology from a non-meteorological background. The educational focus during 2020 was in support of teachers and those home-schooling during lockdowns. Our online weather and climate course, Come Rain or Shine , was made permanently available from the end of March 2020. It remains one of the toprated ‘nature and environment’ courses on the FutureLearn platform.

In 2020, the Society has been developing a weather and climate textbook to be used in geography teaching for 11- to 14-year-olds, called “Weather and Climate: A Teachers’ Handbook”. This resource consists of a printed teachers’ guide and an online collection of teaching resources and background information for teachers and will be distributed to schools early in 2021. We were able to fund this project because of a generous legacy from Colin McKerrow, a member of the Royal Meteorological Society until 2019.

Also in 2020, the Society:

The Society has an Education Committee with representatives from organisations including the Institute of Physics, the Royal Geographical Society, the Met Office, the World Energy and Meteorology Council and the Geographical Association to ensure partnership and collaboration.

At higher-education levels, the Society awards financial support to enable students to broaden their studies of meteorological sciences. It also provides careers information and helps with the development of careers in meteorology through its work on National Occupational Standards in meteorology as part of the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF), which provides the structure for creating and accrediting qualifications. The Society is recognised in European and UK law as both the Competent Authority and the Regulatory Body for Meteorology in the UK, and offers independent recognition and regulation around training and professional development for meteorology and meteorologists. The Society’s accreditation framework offers individuals a range of recognised vocational qualifications, professional registration and chartered status as well as related CPD opportunities.

The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science

One of the Society’s charitable objectives is to promote the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and education in science for public benefit. The Society aims to advance professionalism in meteorology through the Chartered Meteorologist and Registered Meteorologist accreditation schemes which recognise high professional standards and competences, and follow an established code of conduct. The Society sets standards for CPD, and professional conduct and performance, so that meteorologists are empowered to conduct high-quality, ethical work consistently throughout their careers. The Society works with professional bodies, government, employers and national academies, and aims to ensure the workforce across the meteorological community reflects the diversity of society.

The Society publishes eight world-leading scientific journals, launching a new journal called Climate Resilience and Sustainability in 2020. These are made available free to developing countries through publishing aid programmes and to the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) Regional Training Centres.

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Annual Report 2020

The Society has a curation programme for a historical and culturally valuable archive of documentation on behalf of the UK. Most of our important artefacts are held at the National Meteorological Library and Archive in Exeter, with many articles being digitised to make them accessible to all. The Society also owns a set of cloud study drawings (c1803-1811) produced by Luke Howard, famous for naming the clouds, which are held in the archives at the Science Museum and are regularly exhibited.

The Society runs a comprehensive events programme, which is open to all with an interest in weather and climate. This includes free public national and local meetings to encourage a focus on global, national and local issues, and also conferences to bring about the advancement in the understanding of meteorology as a science, through its applications and as an interest to all. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Society was live streaming some of its face-to-face events, but now all our events are virtual until it is safe to host public events again in the future. There are benefits to live streaming events or hosting them virtually as it makes them more accessible to wider audiences.

The Society hosts an annual Student and Early Career Scientists’ Conference that brings together those involved in graduate and post-graduate studies, as well as early career scientists from the UK and internationally, to create a community of young scientists and to give them experience in active participation in scientific conferences. In 2020 the conference was a virtual 2-day event attracting students and young scientists from the UK and from around the world, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Ghana, Germany and India.

The Society offers grants and bursaries to encourage interaction between scientific groups both in the UK and internationally, to allow attendance at meetings and conferences, and more recently, due to the travel restrictions relating to the pandemic, to fund small research projects.

The Society’s Special Interest Groups deliver events and other activities to facilitate the exchange of information and views within specific areas of meteorology. The groups are primarily a way of communicating at a specialist level and include areas such as the History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Atmospheric Electricity, Climate Science, Weather, Art and Music (WAM) and Meteorological Observing Systems.

The advancement of environmental protection or improvement

The Society is at the heart of the debate on climate change. It plays a particularly important role in communicating some of the more complicated scientific and technical issues to the public at large, enabling them to understand and engage with what is one of the most important global issues that we face today. This role is overseen by the Society's Science Engagement Committee and the Climate Science Special Interest Group; the latter aims to sustain, encourage and progress activity in climate science and its relevance to society.

In 2020, the Society published four climate science briefing papers in Weather entitled ‘ Global Carbon Budgets: Determining limits on fossil fuel emissions ’, ‘ Climate Modelling ’, ‘ Solar Variability: Does variation in the Sun’s output affect climate? ’ and ‘ How climate change is affecting sea levels ’. In November 2020, the Society hosted a virtual event on ‘ Science Behind the Greenhouse Effect’ .

In 2020 the Society delivered several outreach and engagement activities that promote a public interest in the environment:

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Annual Report 2020

The Society’s website www.rmets.org has a wide range of information and content that is freely available to all with an interest in the Society and in meteorology. The Society continues to invest significantly in making its website more accessible and informative, providing a wide range of freely available educational, scientific and professional material.

PRESIDENT’S FOREWORD

The production of the Society’s Annual report gives us an opportunity to look back on the year that has just passed, and I think we can all agree that has been a particularly challenging year. When I agreed to become President of the Society, I could not have imagined that I would take over in the middle of a global pandemic. I was looking forward to attending conferences and meetings, travelling round the country to local centres, getting to know the staff and volunteers and generally meeting people with a passion for the weather. Instead, it has been emails, online meetings and Zoom conferences.

Despite the extraordinary circumstances, the work of the Society has continued unabated. Working almost exclusively from home, the Society’s staff have performed heroically delivering a full, high quality program of events and activities, albeit virtually. This is an extraordinary achievement and, if you will forgive me a few statistics, I think the numbers more than bear that out.

Over 6,000 people participated in Come Rain or Shine, our free online weather course. We delivered climate change communication training to 39 broadcast meteorologists and journalists, helping support more accurate reporting on climate science. We supported 150 media interviews and achieved over 1,650 pieces of media coverage, with over 4,600 new followers on social media. Over 1,200 people took part in our citizen science project, run jointly with the Open University and BBC, on heatwaves. We received over 7,600 photographs in our Weather Photographer of the Year competition. We had 542 attendees for our new Meteorological Masterclass Series in partnership with the University of Reading, 104 delegates from several countries attended our first virtual Student and Early Career Scientist Conference and 112 people attended our virtual WeatherLive event. We hosted over 20 virtual events, discussing some of the biggest issues in weather and climate. We launched a new journal Climate Resilience and Sustainability , a subject that I am particularly passionate about. We even had over 100 people attend our virtual AGM, which must be a record.

We understand that 2020 has also been a difficult year for our members and volunteers. Despite this we welcomed 19 new Fellows, 175 accredited Meteorologists and 15 new Student Ambassadors. We have greatly appreciated the loyalty and support of all our members this year, without you there is no Royal Meteorological Society. In 2021, we will launch our new three-year strategy with a mission to advance the understanding of weather and climate and its application for the benefit of all . The Society is owned by its membership but exists for the benefit of all, so we hope you will join us in supporting our work over the next 3 years. In return we promise to support you, whether that be in your career, advancement of the science and profession or in developing your passion for weather and climate.

I thoroughly commend to you our Annual Report for 2020.

Prof Dave Griggs FRMetS 7 May 2021

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Annual Report 2020

THE YEAR JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2020

A brief review of the highlights

There were some notable weather events during 2020 in the UK. It was the sixth wettest year since 1862. Three named storms contributed to the wettest February since 1862 and 3[rd] October was the wettest individual day on record since 1891. 2020 had both the sunniest April on record and the sunniest spring across all UK countries, with sunshine hours exceeding those of most summers. England had its driest May on record, and Wales its second driest. 2020 was the UK’s third warmest year since 1884 and it was Europe’s warmest on record. Globally speaking, 2020 was one of the top three warmest years on record with the average global temperature across the year around 14.9°C which is around 1.2°C warmer than pre-industrial times, and the 10 years from 2011-2020 were the warmest decade on record.

It was a challenging year for the Society, as it has been for us all, due to the impact of COVID-19. The main impacts for the Society were on our events programme and moving to homeworking. We would typically host 60 face-to-face meetings / events each year but from mid-March onwards we moved our events to online platforms. The Society was celebrating its 170[th] anniversary in 2020 and had plans to return to Hartwell House, where the inaugural meeting took place on 3[rd] April 1850, for two events in 2020 but that has not been possible. Instead we found other ways to celebrate, such as publishing a - virtual special issue of important papers from our scientific journals https://www.rmets.org/news/170th anniversary-virtual-special-issue; an article written by our President on the history of the Society published in Weather https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wea.3701?af=R and we developed a special logo for the year.

In 2020 membership totals saw a slight drop compared to 2019, with a 2% fall in membership (3,162 members). Membership development remains one of the strategic aims of the Society overseen by the Membership Development Board. A detailed membership survey, completed every three years, was circulated with the 2020 renewals and the results fed into the Society’s strategic plan which was then developed during the year and approved by Council in November.

The Society is extremely grateful for the continued support from an active and engaged community of volunteers, with approx. 300 involved on the Society’s committees or contributing in other ways. This important contribution from volunteers allows the Society to successfully achieve many of the activities highlighted in this annual report.

New roles were introduced to the Society’s team in 2020 with marketing and communications posts, a new professional accreditation resource combined with additional support for membership development and additional administration and events support. The benefits from these new roles are already evident with over 1,650 pieces of media coverage, an increase of more than 4,600 new followers on social media, new online content, videos and podcast, increased engagement in our public engagement activities, wide reaching audiences attending our events and 175 accredited meteorologists.

The Society continues to strengthen its relationship with strategic partners from a range of organisations including academic institutions, business and industry, NGOs and government to support the delivery of its charitable objectives.

Scientific publishing is one of the Society’s strengths and aims to deliver a high-quality portfolio of journals and book programme to support scientific knowledge management and promotion of the science. Income from scientific publishing makes up a significant portion of the Society’s total income and allows the Society to deliver several other important programmes of work and charitable activities. In 2020, the Society worked with Wiley to deliver its open access strategy through converting Meteorological Applications to fully open access and launching a new open access journal Climate Resilience and Sustainability .

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Annual Report 2020

We have introduced new sections to our membership journal Weather , namely “Spotlight” bringing timely high-level summaries of important recent weather events and ‘Insights’ that are short, explainer articles. The Society started a new academic book series Developments in Weather and Climate Science with Elsevier in 2020

The year was dominated by the impacts of COVID-19; despite these challenges and because of the determination and flexibility of the staff and volunteers, the Society has managed to deliver the vast majority of activities we planned to do in 2020. The Society continues to be in a strong financial position. However, the next few years remain challenging from the long-term impacts of COVID-19, with pressures on income across the meteorological community and from scientific publishing due to the move to an Open Access model; the Society will enter this period on a firm financial footing. The new Strategic Plan 2021-23 recognises the difficulties we may face in the coming years, prioritising activities where the Society can have the biggest impact to advance the understanding of weather and climate and its application for the benefit of all.

FINANCE

The Annual Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2020 are published separately from this Annual Report in line with the requirements of the Charity Commission. The Auditors’ report is on page 1-2 of the Accounts and certifies that in their opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view of the Society’s affairs and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended.

The Society continues to be in a good financial position and total reserves at 31 December 2020 stand at £2,515,308 (2019: £2,438,772).

The operating surplus of the Society in 2020 was £85,747 (2019: £412,169) which exceeded our budget for the year. We have been fortunate that historical income streams have not been substantially affected by the pandemic although there has been a consequential delay in our progress towards income diversification. Investment losses of £9,211 (2019: gain £84,242) were recognised, this decrease in the value of investments reflects the turbulence in the investment market over the year and the substantial recovery in the FTSE All Share Index at 31 December 2020.

The Society’s scientific publications continue to make up over 75% of our income, providing £842,850 (2019: £903,925). Non-subscription publishing income from institutions has again made an important contribution and Open Access income is slowly increasing reflecting the gradual move away from traditional subscription journals. Other publishing activities such as the calendar and books contributed £7,862 (2019: £6,024). The associated expenditure on publications was £161,972 (2019: £147,725).

The total Membership Subscription income including Gift Aid and Accreditation Fees increased from £194,670 in 2019 to £204,604 in 2020, with small increases in both individual and corporate membership income. During 2020 staff have continued to develop the strategy and direction for the future, additional resource has been put in place to address the anticipated trend of falling individual membership numbers and re-invigorate sustainable partnerships with corporate members. The pandemic in 2020 has meant that the opportunities to maximise the financial impact of this investment in resource have been more limited, but there is clear evidence that the public and professional profile of the Society continues to be raised by increased digital and media communication. Conferences and meetings have successfully been run on virtual platforms which has resulted in reduced income but a corresponding reduction in costs associated with venues, speakers and travel.

Staff costs were £698,345 (2019: £573,168), an increase of £125,177 over the previous year which reflects staff increases to develop membership, accreditation and digital communications as well as additional support for administration and events coordination. This support has been invaluable in implementing the move to online platform events which present the opportunity to widen the geographical spread of delegates as well as offering flexibility regarding timing to catch up on missed events. It is envisaged that post pandemic events will be structured to offer a blend of virtual and face to face event opportunities.

The notes in the separate Annual Accounts provide more insight into the detailed figures and the way these have been compiled.

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Annual Report 2020

Royal Meteorological Society Audited Accounts For the year ended 31 December 2020 INDEX Page Auditor5, Report Statement of Financial Activities Balance Sheet Cashflow Statement Notes to the Accounts 6-17

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees of The Royal Meteorological Society

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Royal Meteorological Society for the year ended 31 December 2020 which comprise Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, Cashflow Statements and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 38 of the trustees report, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with regulations made under section 155 of that Act.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK), we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.][4]

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Porter Garland Limited (Ms A E Williams) Communication House
Victoria Avenue
Ms Amanda E Williams Camberley
7 May 2021 Surrey
GU15 3HX
Porter Garland Limited is eligible to act as an auditor in
terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

Royal Meteorological Society Statement of Financial Activities for the Year ended 31 December 2020 Deslgnated Legacies Fund Total Fund5 2020 Total FL¢nds 2019 General Income and Èxpendlwre Fund In¢omin8 Resources Donatlons, Legacies and Gifts Membership Charitsble Activitvés - PLtblicutions - Meetings ondEverJt5 Investment Income other Income- miscellaneous 16 18 li 204.604 li 204,604 140,230 194,670 850.712 5.695 17.324 19.850 850,712 5,695 2S,225 19.850 909,949 62,820 27,574 26,991 9,10 17 16 7,901 T￿al Intoming Ae5011rces 1.098.196 £ 7.901 £ 1,106.097 1.362.234 Resour￿$ Expended Fundraising Charitable Attivities PublicotitsFJ - Meetittgs ond Event5 -schools Acttklifies - GrontsAwttrded - Supported Orgorttstsritsns - Locol Centres - Awtsrds Llnd Prizes - Centro15upport Other c05t5- miscellaneous 22 42,511 42,511 41.421 li 12 161,972 78.593 63,730 161.972 78,593 128.476 190 29,751 18,431 20,752 529,477 10,577 147,725 151,97S 59,782 10,529 33,354 22,860 18,327 450,404 13,688 64,746 11901 14 15 19 20 21 29,751 18,431 11,162 529.477 10,577 9,59) Total Resources Expended 946,Z04 £ 74.146 £ 1,020.350 950,065 Net Intoming Resources for ihe Year 151.992 £ 166,2451 £ 85.747 412.169 Other Reco8nised Gzins and Losses Gain5 1 IL05sesl on Revaluation of Investments Gains I ILosse51 on Investment Sales 637 16,7781 319 13.3891 956 110.1671 82,548 1.694 Net M¢)vements in Funds 145,851 £ 169,3151 £ 76,536 496.411 Total Funds brought forward 2.079,D98 359,674 2.438,772 1,942,361 Total Funds ¢arrled foNard 2.224.949 £ 290.359 £ 2.515,308 2,438,772 The note5 on pages 6 to 17 form an integral part cf these accounts. Page 3

Royal Meteorological Society

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2020

Note
Fixed Assets
Tangible Assets
2
Quoted Investments
3
Current Assets
Debtors and Stock
4
Cash at Bank and in Hand
5
Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within
One Year
6
Net Assets
Financed by:
General Fund
Legacies Fund
Capital Reserves		 550,465
1,118,703
1,669,168
34,321
1,071,788
1,106,109
259,969
846,140
2,515,308
£
2,224,949
290,359
2,515,308
£
2020		 2019 2019
34,321
1,071,788		 51,294
1,004,397		 559,234
1,035,952
1,595,186
843,586
1,106,109
259,969		 1,055,691
212,105
2,438,772
£
2,079,098
359,674
2,438,772
£

The notes on pages 6 to 17 form an integral part of these accounts.

Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf on 7 May 2021 by:

David Griggs President

Jennifer Campbell Treasurer

Page 4

Royal Meteorological Society Cashflow Statement for the Year ended 31 December 2020 Deslgnated Total Legacies Fund5 Fund 2020 General Fund Total 2019 Note N¢t cash provlded by operating artlvities.. Net movement in fund5 145.851 169,3151 76.536 496,411 Depreciation of tanEible fixed assets Investment income (Gains) 1105ses on revaluation of investtnents (Gainsl I losses on disposal of investfflents Decrease / Ilncrea5el in debtors IrKrease I Idecrea5el in creditlX5 8,769 117,3241 16371 6,778 16,973 47,864 8,769 125,2251 19561 10,167 16,973 47.864 17.808 127,5741 182,5481 11,6941 42,701 23,760 17 17.9011 13191 3.389 62,423 14,8311 57,592 127,5471 Netcash from operatin8 activities 208,274 174,1461 134,128 468,864 Cashflows from rnvestin8 artivitl¢$'. Dividends received Interest received Purchase of investments Proceeds ol disp0531 of Investments Purchase of tèngible fixed a55et5 15.801 1.523 1113,1931 51.885 7,901 23.702 1,523 156,5971 1169.7901 25,943 77,828 23.710 3.864 1319,9841 76,758 19,0061 Total cashflow from inve5tinE acti¥ities 143,984 122,7531 166.737 1224,6581 lth¢rease I (Decrease) In cash £ 164.290 £ 196.8991 £ 67.391 £ 244,206 Recon¢illation ol net tashflow Cash held at 310ecember Cash held at l January 1,071,788 1,004,397 1,004,397 760.191 Change In cash and cash equfvalents durlngthe year 67.191 £ 244.206 Page 5

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year ended 31 December 2020 Gèneral informatlon The Charity is a registered charity in England and Wales and 15 unincorporated. The add￿$$ of the principal office is 104 Oxford Road, Readin8, RGI 7LL. These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland,. the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021 (Charities SORP IFRS 10211 and the Charities Act 2011. l. Accounting Policies Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, as modifiEd by the revaluarion of certain financial assets and liabilitie5 and investment properties measured at fair value through income or expenditure. The financial statements are prepared In stedin8. which is the functional currency of the entity. Going Concern There are no material uncertaSnties about the charity's ability to continue. Fund accounting Unrestritted funds are available for use atthe discretion of the Trustees to further any ol the Charity's purposes. Designated funds are unrestricted fund5 earmarked by the trustees for a particular future project or commitment. Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure declared by the donor or through the terms of an appeal, and fall into one of two sub-classes.. restTlCted income funds or endowment funds. Incomlng resources All incoming resources a￿ Included in the statement of financial artivities when entitlement has passed to the charity,. it 15 probable that the economie benefits assoclated with the transaction will flow to the charity and the amount can be reliably measured. The fc>llowing specific policies are applied to particular categories of income.. income from donations or grant5 is recognised when there is evidence of entltlement to the gift. receipt 15 probable and its amount can be rneasured reliablv. legacy income Ss recognised when receipt is probable and entitlement is established. income from donated goods is measured at the fair value of the goods unless this is imprartical to measure reliably. in which case the value is derived from the cost to the donor or the estimated resale value. Donated facilities and Services are recognised in the accounts when received if the value can be reliably measured. No amounts are included for the contribution of general volunteers. income from contracts for the supply of services is recognised with the delivery of the contracted service. This is classifled as unrestricted funds unless there is a contractual requirement for it to be Page 6

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year ended 31 December 2020 Spent on a particular purpose and returned if unspeni, in which case it may be regarded as restricted. Resources expended Expenditure is recognised on an accruals bèsi5 as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VATwhich cannot be fully recovered, and is classified under headings of the statement of financial 3Ctivities to which it relates.. expenditure on raising funds includes the costs of all fundraising attivities, events. non-tharitable trading activities, and the sale of donated goods. empenditure on charitable activities includes all costs incurred by a charity in Undertaking activities that further its charitable alms for the benefit of its beneficiaries, includin8 those support costs and costs relatlng to the governance of the charity apportioned to Charitable activities. other expenditure includes all expenditure that is neither related to [3￿Ing fund5 for the charity nor part of its expenditure on chariiable activities. All costs are allocated to expenditure cate8oriE5 reffectingthe use of the resource. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs are apportioned between the activities they contribute to on a reasonable, justifiable and conslstent basis. Tangible assets All fixed assèts are initially recorded at cost. Depreclation Depreciation is calculated 50 as to write off the cost or valuation of an asset, less its residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset as follows.. Furniture. fixtures and Fittings Office Equiprnent IO% on cost 20- 33% on cost Investments Unllsted equity investments a￿ Initially recorded at Cost, and subsequently measured at fair value. If fair value cannot be reliably measured. assets are measured at cost less impairment. Listed investments are measured at fair value with change5 in fair value being recognised in income or expenditure. Financial in5trurnents A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the charSty becomes a party to the eontractual provisions of the instrument. Basic financial instruments a￿ initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transactlon costs. Current assets and current liabilities are subsequenily rneasured at the cash or other consideratlon expected to Page 7

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year ended 31 December 2020 be paid or received and not discounted. Where investments in sha￿$ are publicly traded or their fair value can otherwise be measured reliably, the investment 15 subsequently measured at fair value with changes in fair value reeogni5ed in income and expenditure. All other such investments are subsequently measured at cost less impaiment. Debtor5 and trade creditors that are measured at cost oramortised cost are reviewed for objective evidence of impairment at the end of each reporting date. If there is objective evidence of impairrnent, all impairment Ios5 is recogni5ed under the appropriate heading in the statement of linancial activities in which the initial gain was Tetognised. For all equity instruments regardless of si8nificance, and other financial assets that are indivldually significant, these are assessed individually for impairrnenl. Otherfinancial assets are either assessed individually or grouped on the basis of similar credit risk characteristics. Any reversals of impairment are recognised immediately, to the extent that the reversal does not result in a carrying amount of the financial asset that exceeds what the carrylng amount would have been had the impairment not previously been recogni5ed. Penslon The Society's contributions in respect of the staff pension arrangements a￿ Charged to the Income and Expenditure Account for the year in which they are payable to the pension provider5. From l June 2016 the Society h35 operated a group personal pension. Page 8

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Not• Tanglble Asseis Freehold Furnlture & Property Equipment Total Af i january 2020 544.590 188,E09 733,399 Oisposals At 31 December20Z $44,590 £ 188.809 £ 733.39Y D¢pTerilL¥t At ljanuary 2020 Charge foryear On Disposats 174,165 8,769 174,165 8,769 At811)e￿Mtse￿2o10 I8L934 £ 181934 Net Bo0 Valu At31 QecemberZ020 S44,59) £ 5,875 £ 550,465 At31 DÈcèmber2019 544,590 £ 14,644 £ 559.234 Quoted Inwstthnts 2020 2019 Market Value at ljanuary AdditlQll5 1,035,952 169,789 187,9941 708.484 319.984 175.0641 DISP¢￿1$ At 31 December 1.117.747 9S3A04 Revaluation to MarketValuE 956 81548 M•Fk*Valueat31 December I,1￿703 £ 1.035,952 955.613 É 859.386 The Soclety's inve5tThent5 are mana¥ed by Rathbone Invettmènt IAaniBernEnt Urnited. Thevalu4 of the portfolio. ana￿Sed by the Invèsiment holdln8S, 15 35 fdlows.. 2OZO 2019 Governmont5tod( and Corporate eond5 316.742 367.%1 434.(AO 265,700 373,768 396,484 Overseas Equitie51 Other Investments 1,118.703 £ 1.035,952 Page 9

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note 2020 2019 Dobtors and Stock Debtors 1,564 5,980 26,777 13,304 Payments in Advan Gift Ald Recoverable 7,065 30,925 Total Debtors 34,321 £ 51.294 balances at Bank ond Cash In H4nd Lloyds Bank PIC- Current Account Lloyd5 Bank PIC- Dep051t Account Investrnent Managers Cash Accotsnt Cash 65,426 980.998 2S,044 320 19.333 883,475 101,269 320 1,071,788 £ 1,004,397 Credltors= Amount Falling Due Withln One Year C￿dItorS and Accrued Charges Amounts Re￿1Ve& in Advance.. 165.85S L49,416 Membership Subscriptions Value Added Tax Payable PAYE and National Insurance 70,426 9,206 14,481 47.044 5.900 9.745 259,969 £ 212.105 Analysi5 of Net Assets betsyeen Funds Designated Unrestritted Designated Unrestrlcted General General 2020 2020 2019 2019 Fund Balance5 are represented bv.. Quoted Investments Other Net Assets 372,901 -82,542 290,359 £ 745,802 1,479,147 2,224,949 £ 345,317 690,635 14,357 1.388,463 359,674 £ 2.079,098 Page10

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note 2020 2019 l￿blICatIonS etc- Income (General Fund) Net receipts from scientific publications Calendar Other Publications 842.850 4,648 3,214 903.925 4,086 1,938 Publications Income Total 850,712 £ 909.949 Designated LeEacles Fund General 2020 2019 Fund Total Total Meetings and Events Income National Meetin8s SIG meeting5 250 250 299 250 £ 250 £ 299 10. Conference Income Delegate Receipts and sponsorship 5.445 5,445 62.521 S,445 £ S,445 £ 62,521 Total Meetings Income (Notes 9 & 101 5,695 £ 5.695 £ 62,820 Page 11

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note 11. Publirotions Expenditure (General Fund) 2020 2019 Quarterly Journal Subscrlptlon5 3nd Other Costs Staff Costs 1,848 19,737 3,146 2,652 25,359 5.715 Premises anrl Admin Overheads 24,731 33,726 Weather Subscriptlorts and Other C05t5 Staff Costs 62,562 13.068 2.086 52.704 11.660 2,625 Premises and Admin C￿erhead5 77,716 66,989 International Journal of Cllmatology Subscriptions and Other Costs Staff C05t5 193 590 4,560 725 2.533 Premlses and Admin Overheads 569 5,478 3,692 Meteorologital Application5 Subscriptions and Other C95t5 Staff Cost5 1,217 4,060 647 6,749 Premise5 and Adrnin Overheads 1.526 4,707 9,492 Atmospheric Science Letters Subs£ription5 and Other Costs Staff Costs Premlses and Admin Overheads 2.307 368 2.366 530 2,675 2,896 Calendar Production Costs Stsff Costs 2,295 7,749 1,238 1,241 5,199 1,177 Premises and Admln Overhe2ds 11,282 7,617 Other Publications (incl digitall Production Costs 3,125 27,819 4,439 1,332 17,933 4,048 Staff Costs Premise5 and Adrnin Overheads 35.383 23,313 Publicat10Th5 Expendlture Total £ 161,972 147.725 Page 12

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note Oesi8natèd Legacies Fund General 2020 2019 11 Meetings and Events Expenditur Fund Total Total National Meetiws DiTecr Costs Staff Cost5 4,768 19.480 3,112 4.768 19,480 3.112 13,069 29,608 6,685 Premi5e5 ar￿ AdmSn Overheads 27.360 £ 27.360 E 49,362 Other Meetings and Events Other Events Staff Cost5 578 578 2,197 17.811 2,845 17,811 2.845 Premise5 and Admln Overhead5 401 21,234 £ 21.234 E 4.355 col￿erenceS Premises HSre, Travel and Caterin Staff Costs 1,615 23.643 3,781 1.615 23.643 3,781 52.747 34,441 7.779 Prernises and Admln Overheads 29,039 £ 29.039 £ 94.967 5pe¢lallst Groups and Miscellaneous MeetinES Direct Costs 960 960 3,291 960 £ 960 £ 3,291 Totsl Meetiny Expenditure 78.S93 £ 78,593 £ 151,975 13. Sthou15 Activitl Expendituro DSrect Cost5 64,746 64,746 54,951 8,779 18.937 33,316 7.529 Staff Costs 54.951 8,779 Premises and Adrnin Overheads 63.730 £ 64,746 £ 128.476 £ 59,782 14. Gr¥rts Meetln¥5 and Conference Grants Staff Costs 11901 11901 8,837 1.381 311 Premises and Admln Overheads 11901 £ 119cII £ 10,529 Page 13

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts forthe Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note Designated Legacie5 Fund General 2020 2019 Fund Trfal Totsl 15. Supported OrKani$#tions EMS Membership and Meetings Science Council Membership and Meetin8S WMO journal access Other Organisations Staff Cost5 5.695 1,550 5,695 1.550 7,677 1,724 1,503 18,115 2,888 1.503 18,115 2,888 6.572 14.187 3.194 Premises and AdmSn Overheads 29,751 £ 29,751 £ 33,354 16. Miscellaneous Income Grants, special funding Donations and lega¢Ses Reproduction Fees. Advertislng Royalties and other 4,583 li 4,583 li 5,410 140,230 21,581 15,267 15,267 19.861 E 19,861 £ 167.221 17. Investment Income Interest on Deposits In¢ome from Shares and 5ecurlties 1,523 15,801 1.523 23.702 3.864 23,7LO 7,901 17,324 £ 7,901 £ Z5,225 £ 27,574 18. Membership Income Members 186,783 10,705 7,116 186,783 10,705 7.116 176,671 11,674 6,325 Gift Aid Accreditation Fees 204.504 £ £ 204,604 £ 194.670 Page 14

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note Deslgnaied Legacies Fund General 2020 2019 Fund Total Total 19. Local Centres Subverbtions North East Centre North West Centre Scottish Centre 2.￿0 East MSdlands Centre 75 South West Cenrre Yorkshire Centre 400 1,500 Equipment Staff Costs 15.888 15,888 2,543 12,962 2.923 Premises and Admln Overheads 2,543 18,431 £ 18.431 £ 22,860 Award5 Commlttee ExPend￿re Buchan Prize 6DJ 6C 600 600 600 L F Richard50n Prize 1,200 60D 1,200 600 600 Gordon Manley Weather Prize Michael Hunt Award Climate Science Communicatlons Avlard Vaisala Award Malcolm Walker Award Innovation Award PhotO8raphic Priie5 Travel 325 325 6(K) 6LKI 600 300 250 250 250 Z18 1,430 218 15 15 Medals awarded 5,4LKI 5,400 9.623 1,539 4,270 7.451 1,682 Stsff Costs 9,623 1,539 Pretlli5e5 and Admin Overheads 11.16Z £ 9,590 £ 20,752 E 18.327 Page 15

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note Desigr+*ed Legades Fund General 2020 2019 F￿d Total Total 21. Manayment and Adrnin15tration Expenses Govemance.. Audit Fee 3,650 3,650 3.155 6,$20 1,301 356 Professional Char8es- investment manaEement Council (Venues, Post, Photocopies etc.I Travel- Counc51 1.151 1,151 Bank and BACS Ch3rÉes Membership (Posi Photoetrpie5 etc.I Travel- Other Commltrees 4.719 2,302 230 4.719 2,302 230 7,023 2,602 6,384 8.021 3,901 1,588 Travel- Other Meetings Membership Advertising I Promoti¢nal costs other prufe55ional charges Sundrles 974 974 6,489 17,414 2,102 417.023 20.235 53.179 529A77 £ 6.489 17,414 2.102 417.023 20,235 53,179 529.477 £ 1,983 324,845 25,984 56,641 450.404 St3fE Costs (Note 221 Establishment Expenditure (Note 231 Administration Support (Note 241 Staff Admlrbi$tr8tlo Salarfes 566,351 59,342 51.393 677.086 21.2S9 698.345 £ 566,351 59.342 51,393 677.086 461,301 43.981 40,869 546.151 National Insuraneè Pension Scheme Other5taff related costs 21.259 698.345 £ 27.017 573,168 Apportioned to FundraisinE Apportioned toActi¥ities Administration Support 42.511 42.511 238,811 417,023 698,345 £ 41,421 206,9)2 324,845 573.168 238.811 417.023 698,345 £ The averaÉe number of employees during the year was 1712019.. 151, and the average nurnber of full time equivalent employees was IS12019.. 121. Salary of highest paid employee E81,65612019.. E80,0541 The Society Is fortunate ènd 8rateful to receive the support of a large number of volunteer5 who contribure enormou51yatr0s5 all activities of the Charity. This year guest speakers are included In ourvolunteer tota15, in 2020 there were 447 active volunteers 12019.. 3671. Page 16

Royal Meteorological Society Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2020 Note D•snated Leycle5 Fuhd fjpDeral Fund Total Total 23. Estibliihment Rates ir￿l￿dIngwalerRaIes Ckaning Gjrden ' Insurance Bhtingand Heatir Repair53nd mainter￿Tr¢e Dpprecktion of Fvmitwe and Equiprngit Lo55on Thsposalof fixed assets 2,858 7.312 2,858 7,a12 S.604 2.7Y 7.016 6,210 2.693 4,155 17.807 5.004 2,156 4.045 8.769 2,156 4,045 8.769 30,744 E 10.744 f 40,665 Apportloned t0Activit￿$ la,599 10.509 20.235 30,744 E 14,681 25.984 4D,665 30,744 £ Includes É46oTft￿teÈ Indemnity In5urancel2019. £4571 24. Adrnlnl5trat￿￿ SuppprtC45ts Compuiei SoftwèrÈ, Trainin8etc. Priniireand Photocopyir ststiiJnpryandOfficeSupplies Postage and palki￿ Te￿phone3nd Communications 55.896 1,182 2.968 2.271 18,489 80.806 £ 55.896 7L336 1,182 2.968 2.271 18,489 80.806 £ 1.545 2,S65 2.357 10.851 88,654 AppllrtionedtoActivIts Adrninlstratio 27.627 27,6Z7 53.179 Bo￿06 £ 32.013 56.641 88,654 BQ,J06 £ Llbrary No have been intluded in the arcoynt5 for the value of the Library. LukÈ Howard palniing. Iterns on 102n to Saence Museun) Libory. Nevi5 Ill&truments on loan to ft￿1 Sctsttilh Museum and observaiionèl ￿cordS On loan to the Met oifice. The item5 ￿ve accuThYJl)ted bv the Society frotn dorwtion5. or generad from actThrytie5 ￿th whKh thesociety h?5 been invowand SD nD 5¥ni8ficaDt cost of acquiiititsn has beenincurred bythesotiety. 16. 5tothA 5t4ckh45 bpen ITrdl￿ed inoebtors f4r produn5 In whichthescKietyhèsln￿te￿. Noamountha$ be￿Th included In the Accountsforstockof othErPublrJtyons Jnd Instruments heldsiA￿thenetre)1Nble￿IuE is immaterwL 27. RupertFord Memorial Fthrtd DurinE the year there were nD addition41 danaiiow. The fund was establi%hed during 2(M12 tg the rmmory ol the latè Rupttt FLYd to financ travyl aw)rd5. Durin8 2020noawards w4f# madeiia19.. £4.9981. The as5s ofthe fvndat 31 DÉember ZQIOstotsl at E38.92312019'. £39.0211. Thefund 15 artniinistered b¥Offi￿rs of thesotietybut keptwtoromousfrom the soC￿tY$fUnds and in 5epJrJte barthaccount£ IncDn5ultatio Ih the Suciety'54udit¢xs Itwas considered appropriatethatthis fundshW￿ nptbe Included lTrtheSockty'$ 8alarrfeSheet. 2& fle￿1*d Partie5 None of thoTtU5tqe5 hadany personal knterest inorbenelitfrom anytranS&tiun5 Wlth ihe5ocietydurlng 2020. Duringtheye¥ I 11019.. 61 Tnjsieelslwasllwerel raTnbur5edforthEirexp￿5es totalllng £912019.. £14161. Page 17

The 170[th] Annual Report of the Royal Meteorological Society for the period 1[st] January – 31[st] December 2020

Annexes

Annex A - The UK Weather of 2020 9
Annex B - Membership and Accreditation 10
Annex C - Awards and Prizes 15
Annex D - Scientific Publishing 16
Annex E - Societal Benefits 19
Annex F - Underpinning Activities and Cross-Cutting Priorities 30
Annex G - Reports from Other Representative Bodies 41

Page 8 of 42

Annual Report 2020

Annex A: THE UK WEATHER OF 2020

Review of UK Weather for 2020

Another year has passed and with it, more weather records have fallen. Recent reports from the Met Office show that 2020 was the UK’s third warmest year since 1884 and it was Europe’s warmest on record. Globally speaking, 2020 was one of the top three warmest years on record with the average global temperature across the year around 14.9°C which is around 1.2°C warmer than pre-industrial times, and the 10 years from 2011-2020 were the warmest decade on record.

In the UK, 2020 was also the sixth wettest year since 1862 and the eighth sunniest since 1919. Contributions to the total rainfall came, most significantly, from a series of three named storms (Ciara, Dennis and Jorge) which resulted in the wettest February since 1862, together with Storm Alex in October, which provided the UK with 31.7mm (as an area average) on 3[rd] October, its wettest individual day on record since 1891.

Other notable features were Storms Ellen and Francis within five days of each other in August, Aiden and Barbara in October, and Bella, which saw a wind gust of 106 mph on the Isle of Wight on Boxing Day. In total ten named storms affected the UK during 2020. By mid-December, some eastern areas of the UK had already had more than the usual month’s rainfall and on Christmas Eve, Bedfordshire became the latest area to experience flooding.

In terms of sunshine, 2020 had both the sunniest April on record and the sunniest spring across all UK countries, with sunshine hours exceeding those of most summers. April was much drier than average with the UK overall only experiencing 40% of average rainfall for April. Rainfall was also well below average during May, with the UK figure for May only 47% of average. England had its driest May on record, and Wales its second driest. Unsurprisingly, this led to a very dry spring; fifth driest over the whole UK but, in areas of north east England and eastern Scotland, the driest spring since records began in 1862. Also noteworthy was a short hot spell over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Overall, spring conditions did not extend into the summer, which was wetter and duller than average. In fact, all summer months were wetter than average and July was the only month during the year with temperatures generally below average. However, there were several hot spells including: 31[st] July, which was the third warmest day on record for the UK with a temperature of 37.8°C at Heathrow; temperatures exceeded 30°C somewhere in the UK on 13 days during the summer, including one final hot day on 15[th] September; and a pronounced summer heatwave in early August, when temperatures exceeded 34°C in at least one place on six consecutive days and some local night-time minimum temperatures stayed above 20°C (known as tropical nights). Autumn was generally close to normal with some fine and warm days in September. October and December were notably wetter than average. November was largely mild with fewer frosts than normal. In fact, on the whole, 2020 experienced fewer frosts than usual and the lowest temperature of the year, -10.2°C, was recorded on 30[th] December at Dalwhinnie (Inverness-shire).

UK Temperatures

The mean value was 9.6°C, which is 0.8°C above the 1981-2010 average.

UK Precipitation

The total was 1,308 mm, which is 114% of the 1981-2010 average.

UK Sunshine

The total was 1,495 hours, which is 109% of the 1981-2010 average.

Regional Breakdown (data from the Met Office)

Relative to the average
(1981-2010)		 Mean Max
(°C)		 Mean Min
(°C)		 Rainfall
(%)		 Sunshine
(%)
UK 13.3 5.9 114 109
England 14.5 6.6 112 115
Wales 13.5 6.4 115 105
Scotland 11.4 4.7 115 104
Northern Ireland 12.9 5.8 115 101

Page 9 of 42

Annual Report 2020

Annex B: MEMBERSHIP AND ACCREDITATION

Membership

The Membership Development Board (MDB) is represented by members from academic, professional, student and amateur backgrounds who oversee the Society’s membership strategic objectives, the development and delivery of products and services to members, and a programme of activities and initiatives to grow and retain an active membership.

The MDB is chaired by the General Secretary and sits alongside the Professional Accreditation Board within the Membership and Accreditation Business Area. The MDB met three 3 times during 2020, providing invaluable input to the new membership recruitment and retention strategy. In response to COVID-19 the board approved a new discretionary fund for members who have been affected as a result of the pandemic and they approved a change to the qualifying age for concessionary rates, increasing it to 67 in line with government retirement age.

In 2020, membership saw a slight drop compared to 2019, with 2% fall in total membership bringing numbers to 3,162. Whilst the number of our standard Members grew by 4%, Fellowship and Student levels saw a decline. The MDB has agreed a series of initiatives for 2021 to maintain membership numbers and improve the retention rate. Membership fees in 2020 were £94 for Fellowship and £86 for Members, with concessionary rates for students (50%), long-standing retired members (50%), reciprocal members (25% discount) and those taking the Weather journal online only (20% discount). Being mindful of the impact of COVID-19 on our members, Council agreed to freeze membership fees for 2021.

A membership survey was circulated with the 2020 renewals and the results were reviewed as the Society developed a new Strategic Plan. The survey provided some positive feedback on our new videos and podcasts. We made improvements to the content on our website in response to our members asking us to keep them up to date and wanting to learn more about weather and climate. Our members agreed their membership provides value for money.

Key Activities in 2020:

Page 10 of 42

Annual Report 2020

The Society’s membership is made up of amateurs (25%), practitioners (30%), academics (30%) and students (15%). The following table shows a breakdown in membership in each category over recent years.

Grade of Membership 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Honorary Fellow
HonFRMetS		 20 20 26 29 30 29 27 30 30 31 30
Life Fellow FRMetS 36 37 34 33 31 99 94 89 76 82 79
Fellow FRMetS 1,672 1,662 1,633 1,586 1,586 1,513 1,518 1,510 1,471 1,479 1,445
Member_(Associate_
Fellow before 2018)		 1,086 1,009 914 952 974 1,104 1,217 1,223 1,186 1,164 1,217
Student Member 215 267 308 260 261 416 473 471 464 464 378
Corporate Member
(including School
Member before 2011)		 67 25 24 22 22 28 27 14 15 13 13
TOTAL 3,096 3,020 2,939 2,882 2,904 3,189 3,356 3,337 3,242 3,233 3,162

Page 11 of 42

Annual Report 2020

Professional Accreditation

The Society’s activities around Professional Accreditation and Vocational Qualifications are overseen by the Professional Accreditation Board (PAB). Members of the Board come from across the breadth of the meteorological community, including the public and private sectors, along with academia. The PAB sits alongside the Membership Development Board (MDB) within the Membership and Accreditation Business Area. The PAB aims to work closely with the MDB and the Terms of Reference for each group have been updated to reflect this closer cooperation, along with standing invitations for the Chairs to attend each other’s meetings.

The PAB met twice in 2020, in February and in October. It reports to Council and is supported by the Course Evaluation and Continuous Professional Development (CE/CPD) Panel and the Vocational Qualifications Committee (VQC).

The Society defines the scope of its accreditation activity as recognising excellence in people, in organisations, and supporting Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The table below shows the data relating to RMet and CMet over recent years. During 2020, we experienced an 11% increase in the number of accredited members. This growth is in part

attributable to recent success broadening the appeal into new areas including insurance, marine and energy sectors but also through increased collaboration with employers. The number of Chartered Meteorologists (CMet) has increased to 74 and the number of Registered Meteorologists (RMet) has increased to 106.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and ACCSYS

The CPD Panel reviews members’ CPD reports for renewals for RMet and CMet accreditation. The online CPD and application tool, ACCSYS, is the primary mechanism by which Society members may record their CPD activities, apply for RMet and CMet, and prepare CPD reports to maintain their accreditation. CPD records are also used by some members to contribute to their own job applications and performance assessments. A series of ‘How to’ videos illustrating accreditation specialisms, an introduction to ACCSYS, and how to upload CPD records were developed in 2020. The Society, in partnership with the University of Reading, has delivered a Met Masterclass series designed for practicing meteorologists to support their CPD and learning.

The table below shows the data relating to ACCSYS since it was launched in 2014. 2020 saw substantial increases in the number of CPD records and reports held on ACCSYS, indicating both reuse by existing users and new uptake by members. The PAB is considering a number of additional ACCSYS CPD types and a review of areas of meteorological specialism to encompass the breadth of applications of meteorology. A process for consideration of future additions was also agreed.

Page 12 of 42

Annual Report 2020

Accreditation Review

The RMet and CMet growth aspirations have been agreed within the context of a wider review of the Professional Accreditation Framework and the changing environmental factors, which may influence growth and status of the accreditation schemes. This review concluded in 2020 and the PAB agreed a series of priority activities falling into one of two broad themes:

  1. Increased marketing and communications, encompassing an understanding and defining our ‘offering’. Increased promotion and outreach, and managing relationships with key sectors and employers.

  2. Improved technical focus which covers standards, processes, requirements for systems and relationships to other schemes.

ACCSYS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
CPD records 642 1,644 4,782 7,820 9,237 11,984 14,297
CPD reports 321 391 604 718

Registered Meteorologist (RMet)

2020 saw an increase in the number of active RMets. A total of 13 new accreditations were approved taking the total number of RMets to 106.

Registered Meteorologists (RMet) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
No. of applications received 49 35 11 46 5 4 17
No. of accreditations granted 44 28 20 46 5 3 13
No. of RMets resigned/withdrawn 5 19 3
No. of applications outstanding at year end 2 7 4 7 2 3 8
No. of RMets transferred to CMet 8 1
No. of RMets on Dormancy Register 3 5 6 6 6
No. of accredited RMets at year end 44 72 92 124 123 99 106
RMet CPD reports 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
No. of RMet CPDs reviewed 50 71 93 94
No. of RMet CPDs approved 50 71 92 93

Chartered Meteorologist (CMet)

The number of CMets also saw an increase in 2020 to 74. Applications remain steady and successful RMets identified as possible CMet candidates are being contacted to encourage progression to Chartered level.

At the end of 2020 there are a total of 5 applications to be processed and most encouraging were the far fewer number of CMets who have withdrawn or resigned. The PAB has set realistic targets and associated activities to continue this trend and increase numbers in 2021 and beyond.

Chartered Meteorologists (CMet) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
No. of applications received 6 1 5 5 6 4 9 7
No. of accreditations granted 7 1 3 3 4 5 8 3
No. of CMets resigned/withdrawn 5 0 3 1 5 1 8 1
No. of applications outstanding at year end 1 0 1 2 4 0 1 5
No. of CMets on Dormancy Register 5 4 3 2 2 1 1
No. of accredited CMets at year end 68 64 66 69 67 71 71 74
CMet CPD 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
No. of CMet CPDs reviewed 34 23 30 35 24 27 28 28
No. of CMet CPDs approved 34 23 30 35 23 27 28 28

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Vocational Qualifications Committee

The Vocational Qualifications Committee (VQC) supports the Society’s work to further the professional development of meteorologists through developing and promoting the uptake of high quality, competency-based, vocational qualifications. Included in the VQC's remit is overseeing the development and management of the Society’s vocational qualifications and reviewing the performance of the Assessment Centres. The Society supports five qualifications in meteorology as part of the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) provided by PAA/VQ-SET, an awarding organisation that is nationally recognised and regulated. These qualifications are recognised throughout the EU. Assessments for the vocational awards are based in the workplace and are undertaken by Assessment Centres.

In 2020, the Met Office have advised they will no longer be running a full assessment centre, preferring instead to utilise the Aeronautical Meteorology Programme competence whilst utilising the RQF Briefing Award. They do however recognise on-going professional development schemes such as the RMet and CMet. With DTN's assessment centre being dormant and the Navy's move to make the RQFs optional rather than mandatory, the future of vocational qualifications in meteorology remains uncertain. The number of qualifications awarded in 2020 is shown below.

Royal Navy Met Office
Registered Qualified
Diploma in Meteorological Observing (Level 3) 0 0 0
Award in Meteorological Briefing (Level 5) 0 0 3
Diploma in Meteorological Forecasting (Level 5) 0 0 1
Diploma in Operational Hydrometeorology (Level 5) 0 0 0
Diploma in Operational Hydrometeorology and Flood
Forecasting (Level 6)		 0 0 0

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Annex C: AWARDS AND PRIZES

The Society is delighted to have made the following Awards for the year 2020:

Award Recipient
Honorary Fellow Dr John Eyre
The Symons Gold Medal Professor Sue Grimmond
The Buchan Prize Dr Antje Weisheimer
The L F Richardson Prize Dr Steven Hardiman and Dr Declan Finney
The Adrian Gill Prize Professor Sarah Dance
The Michael Hunt Award Ms Felicity Liggins
The Hugh Robert Mill Award Professor Emily Black
The Society’s Outstanding Service Award Mr Graham Denyer
The Gordon Manley Weather Prize Mr Gavin Huggett
The Climate Science Communications Award Dr Tamsin Edwards
The Innovation Award Sqn Ldr Kenneth Horn
The Vaisala Award Mr Malcolm Kitchen, Dr Edmund Stone
& Mr Steve Addy
The Malcolm Walker Award Mr Simon Lee
International Journal of Climatology Editor’s Award
(sponsored by Wiley-Blackwell)		 Dr Stephen Blenkinsop
Atmospheric Science Letters Editors’ Award Dr Chaofan Li
Quarterly Journal (QJ) Editors’ Award Dr Tijana Janjić
QJ Reviewer’s Certificate Dr Michael Fischer and Dr Laure Raynaud
Geoscience Data Journal Editors’ Award Dr Philip Craig and Professor Ed Hawkins
Meteorological Applications Editors’ Award Dr Lorenzo Giovannini

The Society’s Awards and Prize Winners recognise individuals and teams who have made exceptional contributions relating to weather, climate and associated disciplines. Due to COVID-19, it was not possible to have a physical presentation ceremony. However, the Society took this opportunity to showcase each of the 18 worthy winners on its website and on social media, outlining their achievements alongside a winner’s acceptance message. See https://www.rmets.org/news/2019-awards-and-prize-winners-announced for more information.

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Annex D: SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING

Scientific publishing is one of the Society’s strengths and aims to deliver a high-quality portfolio of journals and book programme, and support scientific knowledge management and promotion of the science. This work is overseen, on behalf of Council, by the Scientific Publishing Committee and the Editorial Boards for each journal in the portfolio. The Society now has eight international journals after launching a new journal in 2020. Income from scientific publishing makes up a significant portion of the Society’s total income and allows the Society to deliver several other important programmes of work and charitable activities. The Society is committed to providing long-term, sustainable access to high quality scientific research for everyone, whilst maintaining high value, trustworthy author and reader services which enhance scientific communication and progress. The Society aspires to offer authors a choice including full open access journals as part of its portfolio. The Society’s academic book aims to be recognised for its international, high-quality publications offering a more diverse choice of books.

Since updating our long-term open access strategy in 2019, the Society has been working with Wiley to deliver many of its goals, most notable of which is the launch of our new fully open access journal Climate Resilience and Sustainability . This is an interdisciplinary journal studying the broad subject of understanding the implications of climate change for a sustainable environment and society. The journal will act as a forum for researchers and practitioners who are using the best weather and climate information available to propose policies and actions that are climate resilient and deliver sustainable outcomes. Inclusion of Impact Summaries written in plain English will be encouraged making the content accessible to a wider audience including practitioners across related industries and the general public. During 2020, the journal established its international editorial board and started to receive submissions, as well as planning for highly relevant and impactful special issues.

Overall, we have seen a significant growth in our open access submissions across the portfolio, including to our hybrid/subscription titles. This has been helped by Wiley’s latest ‘read and publish’ deal with JISC which offers researchers at eligible UK universities access to the full Wiley portfolio of journals and the opportunity to publish open access in hybrid and full gold open access journals at no direct cost to them. Wiley is the first publisher to enter into such an agreement and it comes at a time when we are hearing that are UK researchers are under increasing pressure from their funders to publish in fully open access titles. This agreement means that researchers funded by the major UK research funders can demonstrate compliance with those funders’ open access policies when they publish in journals covered by the agreement.

The Society has also been working with Wiley to expand our reach into China. A huge amount of funding and research is coming out of China and increasing our portfolio’s visibility and community engagement from this region is key to ensuring we are attracting the best talent from high performing academic institutions. In order to do this, we have expanded representation from China in many of our Editorial Boards in the last year as well as introducing senior editorial roles on a couple of our titles, whose specific focus is around growing good quality submissions, increasing our profile and supporting in the peer review process within that territory. Wiley have a team based in China who have been very supportive in this recruitment process as well as with any initiatives proposed by senior editors in this area such as Chinese focused journal webinars and special issues.

Leading on from this we now have a commissioning editor based in China’s Wiley office who is proactively supporting our Editors in Chief (and Guest Editors) in the developments of special issues across the Society portfolio. This is a great resource and should be of benefit to all our journals in terms of future impact factors and recognition in key topics. The Society continues to look for ways to support its Editors and Editorial Board and is extremely grateful for the work they do to support the Society in the publication of its journals. The Society has welcomed a number of new Editors-inChief in 2020: Dr Vicky Pope and Habiba Gitay (Climate Resilience and Sustainability), Simon Lee (Weather) and Prof Kathryn Royse and Prof Jian Peng (Geoscience Data Journal) and Dr Andrew Ross (Quarterly Journal). We would like to thank our outgoing Editors in Chiefs, Dr Linden Ashcroft (Geoscience Data Journal) and Gavin Huggett (Weather), for all their outstanding contributions to the Society and growth of its journals.

Highlights from the journals in 2020:

In 2020 Atmospheric Science Letters (ASL) published 50 research papers and its Impact Factor increased to 1.879. This increase is testament to the dedication of ASL’s Associate Editors (AEs) and the high-quality reviews they attain. As new topics areas emerge in submissions, e.g. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the ASL Board are working to welcome new AEs in these areas and in 2020 ASL welcomed three new AEs and said thank you to two who retired.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the number of manuscripts submitted to ASL decrease, however global reach and readership continue to be seen with submissions from across the world. In the coming year, the current Co-Editors in Chief are excited to start work on their first Special Issue focusing on Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and increase support for ECRs submitting to ASL through improved transparency of the publication process. The ASL Board continue to work with the Society and Wiley to improve the speed of high-quality, original manuscript publication with the aim to ensure ASL's impact factor continues to grow in future years.

Kathryn Royse and Jian Peng took over as Editors in Chief for Geoscience Data Journal (GDJ) in late Spring/early Summer. Since joining they have expanded the editorial board considerably ensuring good coverage of specialists across the geosciences and this has already had a positive impact on the journal, with submissions increasing and a diverse range of special issues planned. The journal put on its first webinar ‘How and why you should publish your Geoscience Dataset’ in conjunction with the Geological Society of London, which had 93 attendees (from a diverse range of organisations) on the day as well as growing download numbers post event through ongoing marketing campaigns. Junxuan Fan also joined the journal in early Summer as Regional Editor for China and with his 5 new associate editors, hosted a Chinese language version of the event which had over 700 attendees either through webinar or livestreaming platforms.

International Journal of Climatology (IJOC) is the largest of the Society’s journals, with almost 6,700 pages published in 2020. The number of submissions continued to be high, exceeding 1,100, which is the new record number. The rejection rate remained over 50%, with more than 32% of submitted papers being rejected without review. The backlog has increased slightly to seven to eight months. The average time from submission of a new manuscript to initial decision is about 50 days. The special issue on the State of the UK Climate was published in close cooperation with the Met Office for the third time, thus becoming a tradition, which receives much publicity.

In 2020 Meteorological Applications transferred to be a fully Open Access journal, which has been a success with only a small drop in submissions (15%), and no significant drop in accepted and published papers. The journal continued to expand the composition and expertise of the Editorial Board with new members from China and Turkey. Two online Special Collections were published in July and September 2020: Recent Developments and Application Examples on Forecast Verification and The use of unconventional observations in numerical weather prediction , respectively, and two calls for new Special Collections were launched in 2020 and are now open: The impact of the present pandemics and Atmospheric Processes and Applications in Urban, Coastal, and Mountainous terrain . A new “Meet the Author” interactive webinar was organised and delivered online. Cristina Charlton-Perez (co-Editor in Chief) hosted two authors via online meeting platform to present their recent papers published in Met Apps. Questions from the audience were moderated by the Society staff and the Editor. The scientific discussion was excellent. The webinar was recorded and is available to watch online. The Editors-in-Chief have been impressed with the dedication and hard work of the many people who make it possible to publish this journal. They would like to thank the entire Editorial Board, Wiley publishing Team, Society staff and countless reviewers for the journal for helping to maintain productivity and even to innovate this year.

The Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society (QJ) has had a buoyant year for submissions and publication of articles, despite the difficulties arising from the global COVID-19 pandemic for authors, editors, reviewers, editorial office staff and the production and typesetting offices. In 2020, 365 manuscripts were submitted and 219 were accepted for publication, giving a 60% acceptance rate. The journal sustained a quick turnaround at the editorial stage with an average first decision within approximately two months of submission. Although the editorial office and the majority of editors were able to keep working efficiently during the lockdown periods associated with the pandemic, there have been periods when some people have been unavailable or working shorter hours than usual. The production office was also impacted and there were some delays with throughput in production from March to July, but the backlog is being tackled by a schedule of larger issues to increase the rate of articles going through to completion. Having said all of this, we are very grateful for the effort that the editorial and production teams have put into the journal and it is a testament to their efforts that the average turnaround time from author submission to final publication has only increased by 5 days for 2020. The journal continues two virtual Special Collections: INCOMPASS, on Indian Summer Monsoon dynamics , and Waves to Weather a programme focusing on high impact weather and predictability research. A new Special Collection was started on the Impact of Polar Observations on Predictive Skill associated with the World Weather Research Programme’s Polar Prediction Project. A further Special Collection is planned, spanning the Royal Meteorological Society journals associated with the African SWIFT project.

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Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, all issues of Weather were successfully published during 2020. Simon Lee joined as Co-Editor-in-Chief, replacing Gavin Huggett, as of September. New editorial board members have been recruited with expertise on a broad range of meteorological disciplines. Following on from a transition that began in the previous year, all content (except for photos) is now submitted through ScholarOne. Numerous changes have been made to the submission, copy-editing and proofing system following extensive author feedback. This includes the introduction of a new HTML-based proofing system which will streamline the manuscript acceptance-to-print workflow and bring it in-line with other journals – benefiting authors, Editors and Production Editors. Two editorial board members have taken up the position of Review Editor, handling the peer review process. A new article feature, “Spotlight”, was introduced, bringing timely high-level summaries of important recent weather events in-line with feedback from the readers survey. The first ‘Insights’ articles (short, explainer articles) have been accepted and published. Two Special Issues were published: Student Conference 2019 and Celebrating observing and 50 years of COL. An online ‘weather quiz’ was held during the summer and proved very popular, with a prize draw for a year’s free Society membership including access to Weather .

WIREs Climate Change is an invitation-only review journal and online interdisciplinary reference work published by Wiley and affiliated with the Royal Meteorological Society and the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). Professor Mike Hulme continues as Editor-in-Chief, supported by a team of 14 Domain Editors who guide commissioning and peer-review. The journal received a 20120 Impact Factor of 6.099 and was ranked 5[th] of the 93 journals in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences and 9th of the 123 journals in Environmental Studies. In 2020, the journal published 55 review and opinion articles, of which 56% were Open Access. The articles spanned climate change research and scholarship in interdisciplinary fields including meteorology, geography, ecology, economics, urban planning and development, policy, human society and culture, and history. 2020 opened with a special issue of peer-reviewed opinion articles from authors who responded to the question “Is it too late (to stop dangerous climate change)?”. Access to WIREs Climate Change is free for our members.

Submissions and Decisions (All Journals Combined)

Submissions and Decisions / Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Number of Submissions 1527 1656 1693 1795 1841 1903 1996
Number Reaching Final Decision 1371 1564 1649 1709 1716 1847 1923
Number Accepted 715 824 873 853 844 944 1022
Average Journal Rejection Rate (%) 35.2 47.3 38 47.5 48 44* 45

*Average of rejection rate of each journal rather than as a collective

Impact Factors

Journal / Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Quarterly Journal 3.25 3.67 3.44 2.978 3.198 3.471
Intl. Journal of Climatology 3.16 3.61 3.76 3.1 3.601 3.928
Meteorological Applications 1.34 1.27 1.411 2.391 1.711 1.685
Atmospheric Science Letters 1.52 1.57 1.504 1.198 1.796 1.879
Geoscience Data journal 1.56 2.8 1.867 2.667 2.714
Weather 0.64 1.26 0.96 0.812 1.143 0.943
WIRES 3.42 3.31 4.57 5.124 7.057 6.099

Academic Book Programme

The Society started a new academic book series ‘Developments in Weather and Climate Science’ with Elsevier in 2020 and has four books in development. Prof Paul Williams is our Book Series Editor. ‘Dynamics of The Tropical Atmosphere and Oceans’ by Peter Webster was the last book to be published in March with Wiley and is available to view through our Wiley hub and on our Society website.

Non-Academic Books

The Society has been working with the Natural History Museum and our Weather Photo Editor (Matt Clark) to put together a coffee table book featuring a selection of photographs from our Weather Photographer of the Year competition. To highlight our changing weather and the threat posed by climate change the photographs in this book are accompanied by six essays on various aspects of climate change. The book will be available in 2021.

Regular discounts continue to be agreed with publishers on books that feature as Book Reviews in Weather .

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Annex E: SOCIETAL BENEFITS

Societal Benefits Board

The Societal Benefits Board (SBB) reports direct to Council and will oversee the Societal Benefits area of the Society and its three programmes of work, each of which focusses on delivering the Society’s charitable aims, these are Education, Events, and Science Engagement.

The initial meetings of the SBB in 2019 took place with the participation of the Education, Meetings, Climate Science Communications and Public & Policy Engagement Committees. However, it was proposed to merge the Climate Science Communications Group and the Public & Policy Engagement Committee to form the Science Engagement Committee. This work commenced in 2020, however, impeded by the onset of the pandemic, it was not concluded until towards the end of the year and the first meeting of the newly-formed Science Engagement Committee took place in October 2020. As a result, the SBB did not meet in 2020 and meetings will resume in 2021.

Science Engagement Committee (was Climate Science Communications Group)

The Climate Science Communications Group (CSCG) was established by Council in the autumn of 2011 to address an important and continuing need to communicate the science of climate change more effectively; the Group was co-chaired by Emily Shuckburgh and Peter Stott. In 2019, a review of the committee structure under the Societal Benefits area of the Society took place and it recommended that the CSCG take on a wider brief to also cover the communication of weather and broader science topics relating to meteorology. For this reason, during 2020 the CSCG transitioned into the Science Engagement Committee (SEC).

The SEC is responsible for developing and overseeing the delivery of the Society's strategy relating to communication and engagement with all audiences, whether that is the general public, government or other key stakeholders representing the interests of the meteorological profession. Chaired by Peter Stott and Michelle Cain, the committee will help the Society engage in important conversations within weather and climate, whilst providing evidence-based information through statements, briefing papers, events, training and informal education activities.

Due to staff changes and the transition of the CSCG into the SEC, no new Climate Science Briefing Papers were developed in 2020. However, the last remaining papers from the original ten were published in Weather throughout the year.

With the support and participation of the SEC, the Society delivered one training session to regional BBC weather forecasters, one session to Sky weather presenters and one session to regional ITV journalists on communicating climate science. The journalist training was specially developed in collaboration with Grantham and focused on how attendees could report on climate change more accurately and efficiently, whilst encouraging them to ask the right questions.

The first meeting of the SEC in October focused on plans for 2021, which included identifying potential future topics for Climate Science Briefing Papers and the Society’s COP26 Action Plan.

Education Committee

A key long term strategic aim informed by our charitable object is to “share our enthusiasm about weather and climate and to extend our reach and impact within the teaching community, the wider public and with strategic partners, to provide informal and formal education in meteorology.” Our staff, members, supporters, partners and volunteers support us, and this enables us to aspire to reach every student in the UK, so that they leave school with the basic weather and climate literacy to understand the impact of weather on their personal life, leisure activities and employment, and to engage with the climate conversation and make informed decisions about their own opportunities and responsibilities.

The Education Committee continues to oversee this important vision and work. Karl Shepherdson became Chair of the committee when Jenny Rourke stepped down from the role in March 2020.

Committee membership remains well supported, with volunteers from education, communications, meteorology and partner organisations such as the Institute of Physics, Royal Geographical Society, Geographical Association and the Met Office. We wish to thank all those who give up their time to share their experiences, skills and time with us to keep the committee functioning effectively.

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During 2020 an organisational review was undertaken, and it was decided that informal education and outreach activities will be overseen by the Science Engagement Committee. Going forward, this committee will revert to the ‘Education Committee’, but we will be aligned closely with the Science Engagement Committee to ensure we continue to fulfil our charitable vision and strategy together.

As with all of the Society’s programmes, the work of the committee was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have been able to adapt and respond to the new opportunities.

Highlights from 2020

Informal Education Activities:

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Main Winner - Blizzard © Rudolf Sulgan. Photo location: Brooklyn Bridge, New York City.

Rudolf took this image in 2018, during a strong blizzard as El Nino’s periodic warming of water often disrupts normal weather patterns. His main concern and inspiration is that his images hopefully do a small part in combating climate change.

Public Favourite - Baikal Treasure © Alexey Trofimov. Photo location: Kotelnokovsky cap, Lake Baikal, Russia.

Alexey took this photo during an expedition to the Lake. The light that the sun gave, refracting in blocks of ice, caught his attention. Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest and largest freshwater lake – containing about one-fifth of the freshwater on Earth. As the temperature drops through winter, the uneven freezing of the lake results in some blocks being pushed up, which are then sculpted by the wind, sublimation, melting and refreezing. Lake Baikal is renowned for its many ice formations and their turquoise appearance.

Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2020 Winner © Stephanie Sergeevna Kolesnik. Photo location: Shakhty, Russia.

This photo depicts “part of sunny summer frozen in ice”. Stephanie describes this as time seeming to have stopped for this leaf.

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Events

The Society continues to support a diverse and ambitious programme of events. The continued success of these meetings and conferences is thanks to the voluntary contributions of organisers, speakers and members of the Meetings and Conferences Committee, together with the tremendous efforts made by Society staff.

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on our planned events programme in 2020 with some face-to-face events being postponed or cancelled. Despite the obvious challenges, the Society worked hard to deliver an exciting events programme made up of online events, including a full 2-day conference for students and early career scientists. The Society used the online Demio platform to host most of its events, except for the Society’s AGM which was hosted on Microsoft Teams.

National Meetings

National Meetings offer a varied and stimulating programme for discussion of a breadth of topics covering all aspects of weather and climate science, bringing together people from academic, professional and other backgrounds to discuss topics of current interest.

The following National Meetings were held face-to-face in 2020:

' ' Jan • REMS At Home : Meteorology (in association with Institute of Physics) Feb • Intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes and implications for flash flood risks (with the Royal Society) March • Understanding the Weather of 2019 (with the Met Office)

After this period, the Society moved quickly to offer a virtual events programme and ran the following meetings for the rest of the year:

June • RMetS 170th Anniversary and AGM

Most meetings in November and December were one-hour taster sessions consisting of a single speaker followed by a Q&A session. This meant that the committee were able to provide a flavour of some of the events that had been scheduled and then postponed due to COVID-19, whilst also enabling a wider audience of attendees to join both geographically and logistically. The virtual meetings were recorded and posted on the Society’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/royalmetsoc/videos as well as the event page of the website so that the content can continue to be viewed after the event.

Many events that have not been moved online will feature in the 2021/2022 events programme.

The Society actively seeks partners to co-sponsor meetings. In 2020 meetings were held in association with the Grantham Institute, the Royal Society, Met Office, the Institute of Physics, Imperial College, the Geological Society of London and the University of Reading.

The Society values feedback from attendees to ensure the National Meetings continue to be attractive and of high quality. Feedback continues to be obtained by emailing questionnaire links to those who have registered for a meeting. The feedback shows overall high levels of satisfaction with the National Meeting topics, the quality of the speakers and the online platform used to deliver the events.

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Attendance at National Meetings over recent years is shown in the following graph.

National Meeting Attendance

----- Start of picture text -----
1500
117
1250 216
1000 130 370
293 56
305
202
141 185
750 68
1298
1137
500
948 904
737 776 733 697 739 827 712 430
250
146
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Wednesday Saturday Virtual
----- End of picture text -----

The overall attendance numbers dropped for 2020 due to the planned reduction in the number of National Meetings and as a reflection of the pandemic which halted our programme for the first half of the year. The number of people attending our virtual programme however was almost 450, which is a great reflection of the hard work and commitment by the committee, speakers and staff to continue the events programme with the introduction of taster events in the second half of 2020. Of those virtual attendees it was encouraging to see that people joined from all over the world, really highlighting the work of the Society to a broader audience.

Conferences and Other Events

The Society’s Student and Early Career Scientists’ conference on 29[th] and 30[th] June was held as a virtual event for the first time ever. The conference was a huge success and attracted an international audience with delegates participating from across the globe including the Philippines, Indonesia, Ghana, Germany and India. Across the two-day period, 253 people registered to attend the conference in total. The keynote sessions were very popular with over a hundred people attending each session. A big thank you needs to be extended to the Student Organising Committee who really went above and beyond to put this conference on virtually.

IMAGE: Student Conference Keynote Speakers

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WeatherLive: Past, Present and Future was held on Saturday 17[th] October in association with AccuWeather. Over 150 people registered to attend WeatherLive and delegates enjoyed an afternoon of presenters who looked back and reflected on changes that have occurred in weather and climate over the last two centuries, before looking to the future to discuss what we could expect under climate change. The conference was seen by delegates in the UK, America, Croatia, Brazil, Canada, and Vietnam. The winners of the Weather Photographer of the Year 2020 competition were also announced at this event.

Two new series of events were added to the calendar for the first time this year. The first is the introduction of Met Masterclass events in September and October with three afternoon sessions offering CPD opportunities to both members and non-members online. The sessions started with one speaker and had two responders who spoke about the subject and how they would apply the science within their workplace. These sessions were very popular with almost 200 delegates attending each event from across the UK and internationally.

The second series of events focussed on the Society Journals:

The Atmospheric Science Conference 2020 was postponed until 2021.

Local Centres and Special Interest Groups

The Society’s Local Centres organise meeting programmes across the UK, providing opportunities for sharing common interests and enthusiasm on a wide range of topics. The Local Centres, this year, have had to adapt to the growing virtual environment due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, this has meant some Local Centres have been unable to be as active as usual, however, it has also seen some local centres be able to open out their work to the wider community.

The Local Centres held a total of 10 virtual meetings between July and December 2020. The two Local Centres that were the most active in delivering virtual meetings were the Scottish and Yorkshire Local Centres. The Local Centres were able to invite speakers and create a virtual meeting using the online Demio platform. These events were a great success and increased the exposure of the Society by reaching international audiences. The virtual meetings also meant international speakers could be invited, as well as sharing speakers among other Local Centres.

The virtual meetings were recorded and posted on the Society’s YouTube channel youtube.com/c/royalmetsoc/videos as well as the event page of the website so that the content can continue to be viewed after the event.

Several other Local Centres have now begun their training to create and deliver virtual meetings and so this is a programme we are expecting to expand further into 2021.

The Chairs of our Local Centres had a General Meeting on 5[th] August 2020 which was considered helpful to share ideas and discuss opportunities for Local Centres moving forward. A second General Meeting has been scheduled for 24[th] February 2021 with the anticipation to hold one meeting every six months in the future.

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Reports from Local Centres

The Society’s Local Centres offer an extensive programme of events and meetings which are of great interest to Society members and the general public all around the country. The meeting details, speakers and dates are available at www.rmets.org/events. The Society and its Local Centres offer grateful thanks to all their speakers, who have provided an interesting and varied programme, to the Society’s staff for their support, and of course to all the regular and enthusiastic audiences for supporting the Local Centres.

East Anglia Centre

Committee Members:

Chris Bell (Chair), Dr Steve Dorling (UEA Staff)

Activities:

The East Anglia Centre was inactive throughout 2020 but aim to schedule some virtual meetings during 2021.

East Midlands Centre

Committee Members:

Roger Phillips

Activities:

Weather Front is still being produced, and any suggestions for improvement are welcome. The Society is assisting Roger in creating an East Midlands Local Centre Committee to help reinvigorate this centre and its activities. The Society has received four keen volunteers and is now in the process of defining this committee with Roger.

North East Centre

Committee Members:

Dennis Wheeler, Ken Cook, Patricia Uttridge

Activities:

The North East Centre hosted one meeting with 12 people in attendance; all subsequent meetings were cancelled. The centre is not looking to hold any meetings whilst we are delivering a virtual events programme due to the demographic of their members.

North West Centre

Committee members:

Emma Simpson (Chair), Hugo Ricketts (Vice-Chair), Andy Smedley, John Wilmer, Michael Woolley, Jonny Taylor, Keith Bower, Ron McLone, Doug Lowe, Ernesto Reyes Villegas

Activities:

The North West Centre hosted one meeting in March; the two meetings planned for April and June were cancelled. There is a virtual meeting planned for March 2021 and they are looking to continue with virtual meetings for the remainder of the year.

Scottish Centre

Committee Members:

Mr G H Johnston (Chair), Mr D Brener, Mr C J Brown, Ms P Draper, Prof. R L H Essery, Prof. D Fowler, Dr V Ingram, Ms A McLure, Mr G Meldrum, Ms M G Roy, Mr H R Shorter, Dr J A Smith, Mr D Steele, Prof. D Stevenson, Dr V Thompson, Mr G Wolverson, Mr A G McDonald (Treasurer) and Mr R C Tabony (Secretary).

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Activities:

The Scottish Centre hosted five meetings with an average attendance of 41. There are currently four meetings planned for 2021. Titles of the meetings included:

Other activities include Scottish weather observations and how to access them, a full day meeting at New Register House which has been postponed with a date still to be confirmed, and a climate conference at Royal Society of Edinburgh.

South East Centre

Committee Members:

Rob Thompson (Chair), Simon Lee, Arathy Menon, Thorwald Stein

Activities:

The South East Centre hosted three meetings with an average attendance of 24. Titles of the meetings included:

South West Centre

Committee Members:

Dick Bateman (Chair), Penny Tranter (Co-Chair)

Activities:

In 2020 Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI) enjoyed its fourth year as the Royal Meteorological Society's South West Local Centre; our aim is to host at least one meteorological lecture per year and in 2020 we were lucky to fit in a lecture before lockdowns were implemented. It was a BRLSI Geography and Adventure lecture in conjunction with BRLSI Science, Royal Meteorological Society and Royal Geographical Society. Dr Parrington had been following the recent bushfires very closely and was able to give a comprehensive overview and explanation of the fires and smoke output in South Eastern Australia.

In August 2020 Penny Tranter, Co-Convenor for Geography and Adventure at BRLSI was interviewed by Jacki HillMurphy, FRGS, also a Co-Convenor at BRLSI, on her work for the Meteorological Office on "Severe Weather". The interview was recorded and posted on the Virtual BRLSI YouTube Channel at youtube.com/watch?v=srWmEcHgRF0.

The centre now has various meetings scheduled throughout 2021 in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society. The meetings are held via Zoom so the Society assists in promoting the events, but does not have an active part in hosting.

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Welsh Centre

Committee Members

Dr Michaela Bray (Chair), Dr Yunqing Xuan (Treasurer), Thomas Green (Cardiff University)

Activities:

The Welsh Centre was inactive throughout 2020.

West Midlands

Committee Members:

Dr Ian D Phillips (Chair)

Activities:

The West Midlands Centre hosted four meetings at which the average attendance was 20. Titles of the meetings included:

Yorkshire Centre

Committee Members:

Kamalika Sengupta (Chair), John Goulding (Secretary), Lindsay Bennett (Treasurer), Beth Woodhams (Publicity Coordinator), Ben Pickering, Sarah Barr, Michael Baidu, Thomas Sharp, Suzanne Robinson, Victoria Smith, Dorian Speakman, David Cherry, Clive Mills-Hicks and Jim McQuaid (Committee Officers)

Activities:

The Yorkshire Centre hosted two physical meetings in January and February before holding five online meetings between July and December. The titles of the meetings included:

Other activities:

The Yorkshire Centre did not organise the annual Christmas social in 2020 owing to COVID-19, but are working towards holding an online social to look back on the weather of 2020.

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Reports from Special Interest Groups

The Special Interest Groups (SIGs) of the Society are informal groups interested in specific areas of meteorology. The groups are primarily a means of bringing together those with a specialised interest that cannot be explored fully by the general Society meetings.

Atmospheric Chemistry

Committee Members:

Dr Ryan Hossaini and Dr Ruth Purvis (Co-Chairs)

Activities:

No meetings were held during 2020; there are plans for a virtual meeting in 2021.

Atmospheric Electricity

Committee Members:

Giles Harrison (Chair), Martin Füllekrug, Karen Aplin (Treasurer), Alec Bennett, Keri Nicoll

Activities:

The group virtually held the ‘Wilson Meeting on UK Atmospheric Electricity’ on 12[th] November; 67 people attended. A meeting report was produced in preparation for Weather , and work also began on a set of briefing notes on lightning and atmospheric electricity.

Aviation Meteorology

Committee Members:

Bob Lunnon (Interim Chair), Jacob Kollegger

Activities:

The Aviation Meteorology SIG was involved in planning a joint RMetS/GASCo (General Aviation Safety Council) seminar Weather for Private Pilot License Holders but the seminar was postponed due to COVID-19 until 2021. The group has over 20 members.

Climate Science

Committee Members:

Richard Betts (Chair), David Warrilow OBE, Nigel Arnell, Tom Burke, Peter Gibbs, Joanna Haigh, David Hone, Jo House, John Mitchell, Liz Parkes, Emily Shuckburgh, Stephen Smith, Richard Walker

Activities:

The group had a quiet year due to the added pressures of the pandemic on committee members’ work. Tentative plans are being made for meetings in the coming year following the publication of the IPCC 6[th] Assessment Report Working Group 1 volume and the 3[rd] UK national Climate Change Risk Assessment.

Data Assimilation

Committee Members:

Amos Lawless (Chair), Joanne Waller (Secretary), Cristina Charlton-Perez, Stefano Ciavatta, Keith Haines, Bruce Ingleby and Matthew Martin

Activities :

The DA SIG held one meeting in 2020.

In March 2012, the DA SIG supported UK CEH and NCEO in the organization of the HydroJULES Land Surface Data Assimilation workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to take stock of land data assimilation activities across the UK, with a focus on soil moisture and hydrology.

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The DA SIG also supported the organisation of the Joint Workshop on Representation Uncertainty in the Earth Sciences due to be held in April 2020. Unfortunately this event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the meeting has been rescheduled for March 2021.

History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography

Committee Members:

Norman Lynagh (Chair), Julian Mayes (Secretary, Newsletter Editor), Mick Wood (Treasurer), Howard Oliver (Coordinator - Occasional Papers), Chris Folland (Coordinator - Pen Portraits of Past Presidents), Sarah Pankiewicz and Catherine Ross (Representatives from NMLA), Rob Allan, Catharine Bailey, John Gould, Richard Griffith, Peter Rowntree, Andrew Russ-Turner. Dennis Wheeler and Brian Booth are Corresponding Members.

Note: Norman Lynagh stood down as Chairman at the end of 2020. From 1[st] January 2021 Vladimir Jancovic will be Chairman. Norman Lynagh will continue as a member of the Committee.

Group Membership:

At the end of the year, the number of members of the group had remained steady at approximately 90 individuals.

Activities :

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Group activities were again limited in 2020. The Steering Committee meeting scheduled for April was cancelled. The October meeting did take place but it was a virtual meeting, held via a group Zoom call. Despite all of the difficulties this year, Julian Mayes managed to produce two newsletters which were distributed by e- mail. Two Occasional Papers were received during the year. These will be available via the Society website.

One meeting was scheduled for the year – “The History of Climate Science Ideas and their Applications”. It was booked for a date in April but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been a few subsequent postponements and the latest idea is to hold the meeting in the Spring of 2022, possibly in March.

Meteorological Observing Systems

Committee Members:

Steve Colwell (Chair), Mark Dutton (Newsletter Editor), Mike Brettle (Treasurer), Ian Strangeways, Keri Nicoll, Stephen Burt, Dave Bullock, Simon Bell, Stuart Goldstraw

Activities:

The group held its AGM via zoom on 22[nd] October with 19 people attending which is a record for recent years. We did have two meetings planned for 2020 but due to COVID-19 these have been postponed and it is hoped that they will run in 2021.

Weather, Art and Music (WAM)

Committee Members:

Pierrette Thomet, (Chair), Peter Stott, (Secretary), John Thornes, (Treasurer)

Activities:

Nothing to report.

Weather Service Providers

Nothing to report.

Association of British Climatologists

Nothing to report.

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Annex F: UNDERPINNING ACTIVITIES AND CROSS-CUTTING PRIORITIES

Council and Committees

MEMBERSHIP OF COUNCIL (TRUSTEES OF THE SOCIETY)

Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales, HonFRMetS

From 1[st] January to 30[th] September 2020 the constitution of the Council was as recorded in the Annual Report for 2019. On 1[st] October 2020, the following Council held office:

PRESIDENT

Prof David Griggs, PhD, FRMetS

VICE-PRESIDENTS

David Warrilow OBE, FRMetS Prof Lesley Gray, PhD, FRMetS

Dr Jon Petch, PhD, FRMetS (also Chair, Strategic Programme Board)

VICE-PRESIDENT FOR SCOTLAND

Gary Johnston

GENERAL SECRETARY

Shanti Majithia FRMetS, FRSS (also Chair, House Committee)

TREASURER

Jennie Campbell

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Dr Amanda Maycock, PhD (Meetings and Conferences Committee) Karl Shepherdson, FRMetS (Education Committee)

Prof Peter Stott, PhD, FRMetS (Science Engagement Committee) Dr Will Lang PhD, FRMetS, CMet (Professional Accreditation Board) Dr Anna Ghelli, PhD, FRMetS (Scientific Publishing Committee)

MEMBERS OF COUNCIL

Aisling Creevey, FRMetS, RMet Helen Rossington, FRMetS, RMet

Council met on three occasions during 2020 in February, June and November. They approved the Strategic Plan 202123 and associated budgets, the Society’s Open Access Strategy, recommendations from theWeather Club Review, the risk register, and operational procedures for attracting volunteers. They also discussed the long-term implications of COVID-19 on the Society, vacancies arising on Council, the Society’s COP26 action plan and an open letter to Government on climate science in formal education. Council agreed to freeze the 2021 membership and accreditation fees at the 2020 rate.

Council Diversity

The Society’s Council has long championed the benefits of diversity on decision-making and seeks to have a diverse range of individuals on its Council and committees in terms of protected characteristics and in terms of diversity of background and experience. Council is currently 43% female. To identify the skills and knowledge it needs and inform future recruitment, the Society conducts an annual skills audit.

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House Committee

The House Committee reviews and develops the key functions that underpin the general activities of the Society in order to achieve its strategic aims. The Committee, chaired by the General Secretary, normally meets ahead of the Council meetings. The House Committee met twice in 2020 on 19[th] May and 15[th] October.

Highlights from 2020:

Strategic Planning Board

The Strategic Planning Board (SPB) supports the development of the Society’s Strategic Plan. It normally meets biannually to ensure the Strategic Plan remains fit for purpose, to provide guidance on cross-cutting themes and potential strategic partnerships, and to review and prioritise strategic project proposals. However, during the year when the new strategy is being developed, the SPB meets more frequently and in 2020 met four times, in February, June, July and September, with the February meeting in-person and the others meeting virtually. The Chair of the SPB is President of the Society. The business of the SPB has taken place with the backdrop of COVID-19 imposed upon the business-asusual of the Board.

The February meeting was facilitator led to review the current strategic plan, the strengths, weaknesses and values of the Society and to begin to shape the themes of the new strategy. The June meeting reviewed the wording for the vision and mission and the Board began to shape the strategic objectives and cross-cutting themes. In July the Board reviewed a proposal relating to the public engagement work of the Society as part of a review of theWeatherClub and provided recommendations to Council. In September the Board reviewed the first draft of the Strategic Plan 2021-23, recommending it to Council for approval at their November Council meeting.

Below is a table of the some of the strategic projects that were prioritised in 2020 and progress against each project.

Project Description
Membership survey
and SWOT analysis		 Key items to work on were identified
COVID-19 Implications of COVID-19 on the Society were discussed, plans were developed and the
SWOT analysis was revised
Purpose and Mission Revised drafts of the Mission Statement and Strategic Objectives of the Society were
developed
Diversity Agreed this should be a strategic priority and a request made to the Diversity and Inclusion
Committee to develop an action plan
theWeather Club Discussed theWeather Club review and recommendations to Council on how to proceed
Strategic Plan Draft Strategic Plan reviewed and recommended to Council
Public communications Increased visibility and proactive stance in climate change conversation and related issues
with recommendations to Council

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Business Development and Strategic Partnerships

The Society partners with a range of organisations including academic institutions, business and industry, NGOs and government to support the delivery of its charitable objectives. The Society partners with: Grantham Institute, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading, AccuWeather, Create Education, BBC, ITV, Sky, Met Office, ECMWF, Royal Horticultural Society, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, the American Meteorological Society, the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, the Indian Meteorological Society, the Royal Photographic Society and the Institute of Physics, European Meteorological Society, International Forum of Meteorological Societies, Royal Geographical Society, Geographical Association, BBC Bitesize Scotland, Royal Imperial College, Geological Society of London, Wiley, StormHour, TORRO and the World Energy and Meteorology Council.

In 2020, the Society delivered the following through its business development and strategic partnership activities:

Partnership and business development activities have been significantly impacted by COVID-19, with a number of opportunities delayed until 2021.

Marketing and Communications

The role of communications and marketing is to promote the Society’s work and the understanding of weather and climate. The Society recognises the importance of increasing its visibility, raising awareness and being an independent, authoritative voice about weather and climate science.

In 2020, the Society delivered the following key activities:

Membership

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Accreditation

Scientific Publishing

Events

Education and Outreach

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Membership of Committees of Council

The Committees listed below are the standing Committees of the Society as at 31[st] December 2020. Membership of other sub-committees, working groups and similar ad hoc bodies are not detailed.

Accreditation Board

Will Lang (Chair), Paul Davies, Andrew Eccleston, Alan Hisscott, Pete Inness, Derek Swannick, Julian Mayes, Ross Reynolds, Bob Riddaway, Keith Thomson, Becky Venton, Emma Boorman, Ewen McCallum.

Awards Committee

Dave Griggs (President and Chair), Eddy Graham (Co-Editor, Weather), Simon Lee (Co-Editor, Weather), John Methven (Co-Editor, QJ), Andrew Ross (Co-Editor, QJ), Becky Hemingway (Co-Editor, ASL), Andrea Montani (Co-Editor, ASL), Cristina Charlton-Perez (Co-Editor, Met Apps), Dino Zardi (Co-Editor, Met Apps), Radan Huth (Editor, IJOC), Kate Royse (Co-Editor, GDJ), Jian Peng (Co-Editor, GDJ), David Warrilow (Vice-President), Jo Haigh, Liz Kent, Alan Thorpe.

Course Evaluation and Continuous Professional Development Panel

Keith Thomson (Chair), Andrew Eccleston, James Dent, Paul Gundersen, Peter Jonas, Norman Lynagh, Paul Monger, Penny Tranter, Rebecca Venton, Michael de Villiers.

Education Committee

Karl Shepherdson (Chair), Lindsay Bennett, Andrew Charlton-Perez, Simon Foster, Geoff Jenkins, Ellen Phillips/Taj Bhutta (representatives of the Institute of Physics), James Rae, Paula Richardson (Representative of the Geographical Association), Jeremy Thomas, Simon Pinfield/Steve Brace (representatives of the Royal Geographical Society) Felicity Liggins/Rebecca Griffiths (representatives of the Met Office), Phoebe Smith-Barnes.

House Committee

Shanti Majithia (Chair), Anna Ghelli (Chair of Scientific Publishing Committee), Lesley Gray (Vice-President), Jennie Campbell (Treasurer).

Meetings and Conferences Committee

Amanda Maycock (Chair), Natalie Harvey, Edmund Henley, Simon Levey, Mark Rodwell, Steve Colwell.

Membership Development Board

Shanti Majithia (Chair), Daniel Brener, Sarah Dennis, Richard Griffiths, Sarah Hewitt, Amethyst Johnson, Roger Webber.

Science Engagement Committee

Peter Stott (Co-Chair), Michelle Cain (Co-Chair), Emily Shuckburgh, Pierre Friedlingstein, Alyssa Gilbert, Candice Howarth, Adam Scaife, David Warrilow OBE, Clare Heaviside, Dann Mitchell.

Scientific Publishing Committee

Eddy Graham (Co-Editor, Weather), Simon Lee (Co-Editor, Weather), John Methven (Co-Editor, QJ), Andrew Ross (CoEditor, QJ), Becky Hemingway (Co-Editor, ASL), Andrea Montani (Co-Editor, ASL), Cristina Charlton-Perez (Co-Editor, Met Apps), Dino Zardi (Co-Editor, Met Apps), Radan Huth (Editor, IJOC), Kate Royse (Co-Editor, GDJ), Jian Peng (CoEditor, GDJ. Representatives of Wiley are also invited to attend.

Strategic Planning Board

David Griggs (President and Chair), David Warrilow (Vice President), Jennie Campbell (Treasurer), Shanti Majithia (General Secretary), Steve Noyes, Rob Varley, Will Owen.

Student Conference Organising Committee

Hannah Brown (Co-Chair), Joanna Raymond (Co-Chair), Kris Boykin, Shaun Dempsey, Jinghua Li, Paloma Trescasa Castro, Amethyst Johnson, Tom Faherty, Ben Pickering, Joshua Hampton.

Vocational Qualification Group

Bob Riddaway (Chair), Julian Mayes, Jodie Ramsdale, David Goldsworthy, Ann Randall.

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Other Representatives Appointed by Council

Atmospheric Science Letters

Editors: R Hemingway and A Montani Associate Editors: K Bhaganagar, E Black, J Booth, A Bott, A Dosio, V Ferracci, S Ghosh, S Hardiman, C Holloway, I Hoteit, M Kretschmer, C Li, C Liu, O Martinez-Alvarado, J McQuaid, A Miller, A Mohebalhojeh, R Neely, S Pal, R Parfitt, M Pritchard, H Reider, A Subramanian, N Theeuwes, D Woolf.

GeoScience Data Journal

Editor: K Royse and J Peng Associate Editors: J Fan, L Brocca, R Crouthamel, Y Chen, P Diviacco, D Franco, B Hassler, G Lasslop, J Lawrimore, G Leng, C Reason, S Rennie, Y Shi, L Slater, V Slonosky, Y Su, J Tedds, C Vitolo, J Wagemann, J Wang, Y Wang, L Xu, M Zhang.

International Journal of Climatology

Editor : R Huth Associate Editors: J Abatzoglou, E Aguilar, A Cherchi, J Marengo, I McKendry, V Moron, M Roth, T Zhou

Meteorological Applications

Editors: C Charlton-Perez and D Zardi Associate Editors: C Archer, J Barre, J Bech, S Bell, D Brayshaw, M Brunetti, L Carvalho, E Cattani, B Chen, X Chen, A Cherchi, C Coelho, F Costabile, M Dorninger, R Emerton, E Ferrero, A Ghelli, L Giovannini, N Petersen, X Huang, C Kiel, M Kobmann, S Kotthaus, S Lerch, J Lundquist, G Marshall, C Mazzoleni, A Merlone, S Orlandini, E Tan, J Waller, M Yan.

Quarterly Journal

Editors: J Methven and A Ross Associate Editors: C Bishop, M Bocquet, D Bouniol, J Broecker, H Coe, C Cotter, S Davolio, A Dornbrack, T Frame, E Gerber, R Hart, S Havemann, A Illingworth, J Inoue,T Janjic-Pfander, B Lamptey, S Marras, G McFarquhar, Z Meng, A Mitra, M Reeder, P de Rosnay, R Scott, B Sinha, G Steeneveld, A Turner, M Vellinga, N Vercauteren, A Weisheimer, V Wirth, N Zagar.

WIREs Climate Change

Editor: M Hulme Associate Editors: M Blomfield, S Capstick, T Carter, L Dilling, B Henley, M Heymann, B Larson, I Lorenzoni, LO Naess, S Pulver, S Rodder, J Rozenberg, H Schroeder, E Zorita.

Weather

Editors: E Graham and S Lee Associate Editors: T Blackmore, M Clark, S Hardy, S Keates, P Knightley, R McElwee, J Ramsdale, A Sibley, D Smart, C Sweeney, B Venton, Y Xuan.

Representative with the:

UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC): R Lunnon General Aviation Safety Committee (GASCo): P Nicol-Gent European Meteorological Society (EMS): S Majithia International Forum for Meteorological Societies (IFMS): Chief Executive Science Council: Chief Executive

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Without Whom

During the year, the following Officers and Council Members retired from office with our grateful thanks. Their successors are shown above.

Vice President: Derek Swannick Vice President for Scotland: Vicky Ingram Chair of Education Committee: Jenny Rourke

The Society depends heavily on the valuable and unstinting work done each year by those who hold voluntary office. The Society would like to record its grateful thanks to all of those who give up their time and who contribute with great dedication to the work of the Society. The Society could not achieve all that it does without the kind support of all of its volunteers – thank you.

Staffing at the Society

The Society has a secretariat that supports the day-to-day running of the Society and carries out its executive functions. A detail of the secretariat team and the organisational structure on 31[st] December 2020 is shown below.

The Society

Catherine Bicknell went on maternity leave in May 2020 with Samantha Hargreaves recruited to provide maternity cover for the role. Vicky Dickinson returned from maternity leave in June and Ella Clarke returned from maternity leave in September. The Society welcomed Hannah Mallinson as Science Engagement Manager, Aitana Breton as Digital Marketing Manager, Melissa Gerbaldi as Communications Manager, Sharon Stephens as Memebreship and Accreditation Manager, Britta Jarvis as Administration Coordinator and Eleanor Fettes as Event Coordinator during 2020.

The following staff left the Society during 2020:

Amanda Callard (Maternity cover for Ella Clarke) Samantha Hargreaves (Maternity cover for Catherine Bicknell) Suzie Kelly Tara Thompson

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Background to the Society

The British Meteorological Society was founded in 1850 and was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1866. In 1883 the name was changed to the Royal Meteorological Society. A separate Scottish Society had existed from 1855, but in 1921 was merged with the Royal Meteorological Society. The Society is a United Kingdom Charity with a national and international reach and reputation.

The Royal Charter states that the Society was established “for the advancement of Meteorological Sciences”. That remains the aim of the Society and includes advancement of applications of the science and related sciences, including climatology and climate science, the interaction between the atmosphere and the oceans, and environmental awareness. Copies of the Society’s Charter and By-Laws are available on request.

The Society’s Annual Report and Annual Accounts are submitted to the Annual General Meeting by the Trustees, the Society’s Council, who are elected or re-elected each year at the Annual General Meeting. The Annual Report illustrates activities during the year, which reflect Council’s policies in pursuit of the aim of the Society.

Trustees' responsibilities statement

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

The Royal Meteorological Society (Registered Charity No 208222):

Address: 104 Oxford Road Reading RG1 7LL Telephone: 0118 2080 142 E-Mail: info@rmets.org Web: www.rmets.org Bankers: Lloyds Bank plc Solicitors: Blandy & Blandy PO Box 1000 1 Friar Street BX1 1LT Reading RG1 1DA Auditors: Porter Garland Investment Rathbone Investment Management Ltd Communication House Advisors: 1 Curzon Street Victoria Avenue London, Camberley W1J 5FB Surrey GU15 3HX

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Investment Powers:

By-Laws (July 2011) 82 and 83 read:

Policy Statement on the Role of the Reserves

Principal Objectives

The principal objectives of the Society’s reserves are to maintain and make use of capital reserves to:

Background and Introduction

The Society derives its primary annual income from a combination of members’ subscriptions, sales of publications, and income from investments. The Society holds three types of investments: Tangible Assets, a General Reserve, and a Legacies Fund. Council first approved the policy on management of these two last items on 5[th] December 2001 and this is kept under regular review.

Historically the only major demand (> £100,000) on the reserves has been the purchase of the Oxford Road Headquarters, pending the sale and resolution of the problems with the previous Headquarters (James Glaisher House, in Bracknell). Other demands have been comparatively small (~£50,000 spread over several years) and relate to upgrade of the IT equipment.

The medium and long-term investment strategy of the Society has been formulated by Council, is overseen by the Society’s House Committee and is being implemented by the Chief Executive, who reports to Council three times a year. This policy statement provides guidelines on how the reserves may be used inter alia to fund non-recurring costs resulting from proposals on strategic development projects of the Society and to mitigate the major risks of the Society. Individual items of expenditure are presented for Council approval in the normal way.

The Annual Budget

The annual budget covers the income and expenditure of the Society in all its activities, including the reserves. Council sets the budget for the Society and at each quarter receives a forecast of out-turn against the budget. The management accounts format is broken down into the four business areas of Publishing, Societal Benefits, Membership and Accreditation, and Underpinning Support.

Overall, the budget shall normally be break even, with the exception of expenditure on strategic development projects, which may fall across some or all of the business areas. The budget for strategic development projects may be funded from previous years’ reserves surplus, which have been specifically identified as ringfenced for this purpose. The budget shall be set by taking into account the gains on the reserve available for investment in the Society’s charitable objectives. This is informed by the Charity Commission’s guidelines on the ratio of annual turnover to capital reserve.

The Reserves - Tangible Assets

Tangible assets, which comprise the premises, the furnishings and equipment are essential for conducting the business of the Society and are an effective way of providing “rent free” accommodation. These shall be routinely maintained primarily through the annual budget at a level appropriate to provide accommodation and facilities to support the normal operational activities of the Society. This includes committee meetings, but not necessarily the regular Society meetings and conferences. Major changes to tangible assets would be funded on a case-by-case basis through the General Reserve and could include external contributions (e.g. on appeal).

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The Reserves - The General Reserve

The role of the General Reserve is basically to provide a degree of financial robustness to the long-term survival and mitigation of the major risks of the Society. In line with the Society’s Risk Register and its strategic and development requirements, the General Reserve shall:

For this model to work at these sorts of levels over a long period the fund needs to have a topping up mechanism. This has to be through income or growth in the market. This gives a target value of the General Fund and the Legacies Fund together which is approximately equivalent to the annual turnover of the Society.

The Reserves - The Legacies Fund

The policy for this fund is to protect and grow it. Subject to this policy, capital gains and dividends are used to support, in a sustained manner, benefits primarily to individuals through Grants, Awards and Bursaries. The number and level of grants and bursaries shall be determined by the level of available funds and by second priority call on the General Fund.

The Investment Policy

The Management of Investments

The Council, advised by the House Committee, are responsible for overseeing the Society’s investments. The management of investments is delegated by Council to Rathbones Investment Management. The portfolio is kept under regular review, in addition the House Committee formally reviews performance of the portfolio twice a year and Council reviews investments at least annually. The choice of Fund Manager is kept under annual review in line with performance and the Society’s investment requirements.

Choice of Investments

Investments may be made in cash deposits, property, gilts and equities in such proportions as to endeavor to maximise the total return to the Society over the longer term, in order to deliver the required investment return for the Society’s development programme and to mitigate the Society’s major risks. The ethical policy in place does not allow direct investment in tobacco or fossil fuel providers. Over the last 10 years the Society has sought to divest from equities held in companies whose activities are contrary to the aims of the Society or its social, environmental and ethical responsibilities as the Professional Body and Learned Society for meteorology. Rathbones is committed to the evaluation and reporting on the environmental, social and governance scores of the direct investments which are held.

Where investment is made in equity shares, these should be mainly in FTSE-100 companies and no purchase of a single equity should represent more than 5% of the total portfolio value. This guideline excludes shares held indirectly through, for example, Investment Trusts, where there is already an underlying diversity. If any holding reaches 20% of the value of the portfolio a partial sale should be considered. The portfolio should be diversified over both market sectors and geographic markets, and no one sector should represent more than 25% of the total portfolio value.

Cash Flow Requirements

Council, when considering the budget, shall identify the likely demand for withdrawing funds from the investments over the next financial year and this shall be communicated to the Fund Manager so that they are able to anticipate the requirement for sales of investments whilst maximising profits and minimising losses. Any surplus cash on deposit may also be transferred at any time to the Fund Manager for investment at the discretion of the Society’s Chief Financial Officer.

Trustee Liability

Charity trustees are responsible for the efficient management of the organisation’s assets and may be held personally liable for the financial state of their charity. Delegation and effective performance monitoring of the management of the funds to suitably qualified professionals adequately discharges that responsibility.

The Society carries trustee indemnity insurance against claims of up to £1m (excluding cases of willful fraud). It is important that all those Trustees and Fellows involved in managing the Society’s funds are seen to take and act upon relevant professional advice and ensure that the Society Investment Policy is adhered to.

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Annex G: REPORTS FROM OTHER REPRESENTATIVE BODIES

Science Council

The Science Council is a membership organisation for professional bodies and learned societies across science, bringing together a range of disciplines and sectors to reflect the multi-disciplinary practice of science in today’s society. The Science Council set standards for professional registration of scientists and science technicians and provides a voice on policy and ethical issues affecting the science community, fostering debate and the exchange of ideas across the network. It also supports member organisations to be more effective in meeting the needs of the science community and attracting the next generation into fulfilling science careers. The Science Council was established under Royal Charter in October 2003 and the current Chief Executive is Helen Gordon with Professor Sir Keith Burnett as the President.

The Science Council has three key themes in its current strategy: registers and licenses; community and membership; and policy and influence.

The Society continues to be a Member of the Science Council.

General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo)

As with many aspects of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Society’s participation on the General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo), a body aimed at facilitating good communication of relevant safety information amongst private flyers. The Council’s meetings of GASCo moved seamlessly online in March however the planned joint seminar between the Society and GASCo on Weather for Private Pilot License Holders postponed due to COVID-19 until April 2021 ahead of what is hoped to be a return to flying both as lockdown ends and the weather improves.

UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC)

The Flight Safety Committee (FSC) comprises of commercial operators including airlines such as EasyJet, Ryanair, and smaller concerns down to British Antarctic Survey; the General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo) comprises umbrella organisations in general aviation such as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, British Balloon and Airship Club, British Gliding Association, British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.

Bob Lunnon attended two of the three FSC Safety Information Exchange meetings. As in 2018 and 2019, meteorology did not feature explicitly in any of the meetings but came up indirectly in all. Normally meetings are bi-monthly but after the January meeting ad-hoc arrangements were put in place to cope with COVID-19.

The meetings provided opportunities to discuss some meteorological related topics including turbulence, wind shear, climate change, and geometric height of pressure surfaces.

Some miscellaneous events included:

European Meteorological Society (EMS)

EMS Membership and RMetS Representation

The European Meteorological Society (EMS) is an Association of 38 Meteorological Societies from 30 European countries. In addition, EMS has 30 Associate Members made up of National Meteorological Services, international institutions, research and education institutions, and commercial companies. The Society is a permanent member on the EMS Council and the RMetS General Secretary is the Society’s representative on the EMS Council. The aim of the EMS is to advance the science, profession and application of meteorology, and of sciences related to it, at the Europe-wide level, for the benefit of the whole population. The EMS General Assembly of representatives of all the Member Societies convenes at least once a year and decides on constitutional and financial matters of the EMS, hears the report of the Council and the statement of the EMS’s auditor.

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The following meetings have taken place:

Shanti Majithia, General Secretary, attended the meetings via video conferencing, which were chaired by Bob Riddaway, EMS President.

Annual Meetings

The EMS Council decided to cancel the EMS Annual Meeting 2020, planned for 7[th] – 11[th] September 2020 in Bratislava, agreeing instead to hold three virtual events on 8[th] / 9[th] September 2020 on open science, COVID-19 and meteorology and Weather Enterprise in Europe.

Future EMS Annual Meetings are planned as follows.

EMS Silver Medal Award

Jean Jouzel was selected as the recipient of the EMS Silver Medal 2020. This award recognises his fundamental and pioneering scientific contributions to the understanding of paleo, present and future climate processes, as well as his outstanding contribution to increase public knowledge and awareness of climate change.

Other activities and developments

The EMS is developing its new strategic plan which it hopes to launch in 2021. The 44[th] Council Meeting was the last Council Session that was chaired by Bob Riddaway as President of the EMS. The new EMS President, Bert Holtslag from the Netherlands, took up office on 10[th] September 2020 – an interview with the new President can be found here.

International Forum of Meteorological Society (IFMS)

IFMS Membership and RMetS Representation

The International Forum of Meteorological Society (IFMS) is an organisation that aims to foster and encourage communication and exchange of knowledge, ideas and resources among the world’s meteorological societies. It is an association of 40 meteorological societies and related organisations.

The IFMS has a Council comprising of officers and representatives from the six WMO regions. IFMS Council Elections were held in August 2020 and Prof Liz Bentley was re-elected as the Society’s representative on the IFMS Council as Councillor for the WMO Region VI. The Council meets every few months via teleconference.

IFMS General Assembly Meeting

The 6th Global Meeting of IFMS Global Meeting took place on 14[th] and 16[th] January 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts concurrently with the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) centennial celebration conference. The Global Meeting comprised of presentations from guest speakers and updates from Chairs of IFMS committees and the representatives of Member Societies. Guest speakers included Prof. Petteri Taalas (Secretary General of WMO), Dr. Vladimir Tsirkunov, (Head of GFDRR), Dr. Tim Spangler and Dr. Patrick Parrish (Chief of Training Activities Division of the WMO Education and Training Office) on the Global Campus Initiative, Dr. Walter Dabberdt on Volunteer Force, Dr. Mary Glackin (AMS President), Dr. Louis Uccellini (Director of US-NWS) and Dr. Bob Riddaway (President of the European Meteorological Society).

The IFMS website is updated regularly and a newsletter is produced and distributed twice a year. The IFMS hosts webinars and during 2020 there were two webinars on GWE Initiative: Public, Private, and Academic Collaboration for Strengthening the Weather Enterprise and the WMO’s Open Consultative Platform PPA Collaboration, both available on the IFMS website.

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Annual Report 2020