## The 171[st] Annual Report of the Royal Meteorological Society **–** for the period 1 January 31 December 2021
## CONTENTS
THE SOCIETY’S MISSION ............................................................................................... 2 PUBLIC BENEFIT ............................................................................................................. 2 The advancement of health or the saving of lives ........................................................... 2
- The advancement of education ...................................................................................... 2
- The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science ............................................. 4 The advancement of environmental protection or improvement ..................................... 5
- PRESIDENT’S FOREWORD ............................................................................................. 6 THE YEAR JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2021 ................................................................... 7 FINANCE ........................................................................................................................ 10
Annexes in a separate document
- Annex A - The UK Weather of 2021
- • 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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## THE **SOCIETY’S MISSION**
The Royal Meteo rological 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 lies the responsibility for the stewardship of both the profession and science of meteorology. The Society plays a key role as the custodian of both the science and the profession of meteorology in the UK and has an important role to play internationally as one of the world’s largest mete orological 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 such as the General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo), the UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC), and the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) as well as many weather service providers, the Society offers support and training for weather-related safetycritical issues. The Society holds weather education seminars and events for operational meteorologists, private pilots and sailors, with the specific purpose of improving safety and reducing the number of accidents and incidents relating to poor weather conditions, which can sometimes be fatal.
In 2021, the Society attended a series of Aviation Safety Information Exchange meetings and GASCo meetings, held a joint training seminar with GASCo for private pilots, held a joint meeting with RIN on Weather and Sailing (https://youtu.be/GiSFinkVpok) and held 6 Met Masterclass events for operational meteorologists in partnership with the University of Reading. Many of these events were free to attend.
The Society is the academic partner with EUROCONTROL to support the SKYbrary website (skybrary.aero/index.php/Main_Page) to oversee weather content in order to encourage a 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
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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.
In 2021, the Society’s relaunched its education website, MetLink ( metlink.org), and developed new curriculum focused resources, including some for chemistry, KS3/Core maths, and resources for geography teachers based on the 2021 IPCC report. These free resources are designed for teachers and are accompanied by lesson plans and some short videos or animations that can set the scene in the classroom or when homeschooling.
Other educational 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 nonmeteorological background. The educational focus during 2021 was on the continued support of teachers and those home-schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our online weather and climate course, Come Rain or Shine, continues to be permanently available and had over 3,000 people interact with it in 2021 and still remains one of the top-rated ‘nature and environment’ courses on the FutureLearn platform.
In 2021, the Society launched 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. The book was distributed to over 3,000 schools across the UK and the resource won a ‘Highly Commended’ award from the Scottish Association for Geography teachers. In addition, the Welsh exam board, WJEC, translated the Teacher’s Guide into Welsh and made it available online to teachers in Wales. 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 2021, the Society:
- developed new partnerships with Geography SW and Transform our World which are leading to greater exposure of our resources;
- developed an annual diversity survey of meteorology undergraduates across the UK, launched in September 2021;
- developed a framework for analysing the geographical div ersity of the Society’s interactions with teachers;
- acted as consultants for a new children’s book, ‘My First Book of Weather’;
- developed new resources which included infographics, films and animations;
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- delivered teacher training at ten Universities and one large Academy Trust, making use of the opportunities for online teaching to reach a wider audience than has been previously possible;
- awarded MetMark – our quality mark for weather and climate teaching in schools, to eight schools;
- produced 11 new car eers videos on the theme of ‘so you want to do something about climate change.
The Society has an Education Committee with representatives from organisations including the Institute of Physics, the Royal Geographical Society, the Met Office, 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. The Society provides careers information, - - such as our updated careers booklet rmets.org/careers meteorology guide published in 2021. It also 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 Society offers a number of CPD opportunities through the events programme, scientific journals and volunteering.
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 competencies 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, including our recently launched new journal Climate Resilience and Sustainability. These are made available free to developing countries through publishing aid programmes and to the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) Regional Training Centres. Half of our portfolio is fully open access providing free access to important science to readers.
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)
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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 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 during 2021 all our events have been fully virtual making 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 2021 the conference was a virtual 2-day event attracting students and young scientists from the UK and from around the world, including Argentina, Ghana, India, Turkey and Senegal.
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, which aims to sustain, encourage and progress activity in climate science and its relevance to society.
The Society had a very busy year in 2021 as it prepared for and attended COP26 which took place in Glasgow in November. Some of the activities included:
- publishing a Joint International Climate Communiqué and five new climate briefing papers;
- hosting a virtual one-day event on the IPCC’s AR6 Working Group 1 report;
- producing two video bulletins each day at COP26 for schools and the public reaching an estimated 50,000 young people;
- hosting a joint Green Zone exhibition stand with UKRI and the Met Office;
- producing two articles for BBC Bitesize;
- delivering climate change communication training to ITV; and
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- responding to numerous media requests.
A fuller list of COP26 activities is presented in the highlights section of this report and in the annexes to this summary. The Society has observer status at COP events. In November, four members of staff and a volunteer attended COP26 in Glasgow, where they participated in formal meetings and provided valuable input into the negotiation process through the constituencies. The Society’s attendance at COP26 will have an ongoing, valuable contribution to its work, through new partnerships which have emerged and ideas that were developed.
The Society provided support by chairing an expert panel for the Jersey Citizens Assembly on Climate Change hosted by the Government of Jersey during the first half of 2021. The - Assembly was a ‘people powered’ approach, givi ng the islanders living on Jersey a say over when and how the island should become carbon neutral.
In 2021 the Society delivered several outreach and engagement activities that promote public interest in the environment:
- The launch of MetMatters rmets.org/metmatters in April 2021 (following the review and rebrand of theWeather Club) after integrating the content into the main Society website.
- the Weather Photographer of the Year Competition ran for the sixth year in 2021 and this was the third time it has been supported by AccuWeather. We received over 8,900 photos from over 3,300 photographers around the world. A new mobile phone category was introduced for 2021 and after announcing the competition shortlist, over 12,300 votes were cast by the public.
The Society’s website 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**
Well COVID- 19 didn’t go away in 2021, so my preside ncy has been a continuation of emails, online meetings and Zoom calls. It is an enormous regret that I must be the most invisible President the Society has ever had. Being a public face of the Society is normally a critical role of the President and by not being able to meet people in person I feel that I have only been doing half the job. But on the bright side, the Society and its staff have managed to maintain, and in many cases expand, the number and range of activities undertaken this year.
It is unfair, to pick out some activities to highlight here, but I am going to do it anyway. The annual State of the UK Climate report published in International Journal of Climatology (IJOC) resulted in over 1,100 news items. Throughout the COP meeting in Glasgow the Society produced two video bulletins each day, one for schools and one for the public as well as a COP26 newsletter. The Society continued to deliver climate change communication training to ITV throughout 2021. MetMatters was launched in April 2021 (following the review and rebrand of theWeather Club) after integrating the content into the
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main Society website. The Weather Photographer of the Year Competition continues to grow in size and profile, receiving over 8,900 photos from over 3,300 photographers around the world and with over 12,300 votes cast by the public. The weather and climate textbook “Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide” was distributed to over 3,000 schools across the UK. The online weather and climate course, Come Rain or Shine, remains permanently available and was taken by well over 3,000 people in 2021.
Obviously COVID-19 had a massive impact on events this year with no face-to-face meetings possible. Despite this, the number of attendees for 2021 showed a significant increase from 2020. The Atmospheric Science Conference returned this year, held across 3 working days, having been postponed in 2020. The Student and Early Career Scientists Conference held parallel sessions, allowing more students to present their work. With the support of others, the Society hosted a virtual one- day event on the IPCC’s AR6 Working Group 1 report, with over 400 live attendees. The Local Centres and Special Interest Groups have continued to organise meetings across the UK with a wide variety of talks which have attracted attendees (and speakers) from all over the world.
As the learned Society for weather and climate, it is important that we practice what we preach. I am therefore particularly pleased that the Society made a commitment to achieving net-zero direct carbon emissions (Scope 1 & 2) by 2025.
So, despite the uniquely difficult circumstances, the Society continues to go from strength to strength. But this has only been possible through the extraordinary efforts of the staff and the unstinting support from you, our members, for which I am eternally grateful.
I thoroughly commend to you our Annual Report for 2021.
Prof Dave Griggs FRMetS Date 20 April 2022
THE YEAR JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2021 A brief review of the highlights.
Another record-breaking year, despite 2021 being rather an average year on the whole for the UK, with annual temperature, rainfall and sunshine amounts being close to the norm. The year ended with a daily record being broken on New Year’s Eve as the UK experienced its highest ever temperature on that day. Other notable events during the year included wintry weather with snowfalls during January and February, a hot spell in July leading to the issue of heat health warnings, heavy and persistent rain in northern England and southern Scotland in late October, and significant disruption caused by Storm Arwen in late November for which a rare red weather warning was issued. April 2021 was exceptionally dry and sunny with only 28% of normal rainfall for the UK overall for that month and it was the sunniest April on record in a series from 1919.
It was another challenging year for the Society, as it has been for us all, due to the impact of COVID-19. The main impacts to Society activities were again for our events programme to be unable to host in-person meetings and staff continuing to work from home for a large part of the year. Despite the challenges, the Society has continued to deliver the vast majority of
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its activities including hosting over 50 virtual meetings, conferences or seminars during 2021.
A priority for 2021 was the Society’s involvement in the run-up to and during COP26. Activities included:
- The Society has observer status at COP events and in November, sent four members of staff and a volunteer to COP26 in Glasgow for two weeks. The team attended to participate in the formal meetings and input into the process through the constituencies;
- Produced two video bulletins each day of COP26, one for schools and one for the public, as well as a COP26 newsletter. The schools’ bulletins were shown in assemblies, lessons and during registration with over 5,000 unique views during the event, reaching an estimated 50,000 young people. The purpose was to engage young people with the COP process and create a lasting legacy;
- Delivered climate change communication training to ITV throughout 2021, with the help of climate scientists and policy experts;
- On World Meteorological Day, the Society released a Joint International Climate Communiqué with 42 other national meteorological societies and organisations working on climate and sustainability www.rmets.org/news/joint-international-climatecommunique. The communiqué reiterated the critical importance of addressing climate change and was one of the top three news stories published in 2021 on the Society website;
- Published five new climate briefing papers in Weather with accompanying podcast episodes. These were promoted in the run-up to and around COP26;
- Hosted a virtual one- day event on the IPCC’s AR6 Working Group 1 report, with the support of the Grantham Institute, BEIS, the Met Office and National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). It was multidisciplinary with over 400 individuals attending live. This event was followed up by a 2[nd] workshop held on the 17 September ‘Responding to the Climate Crisis’ led by the Grantham Institute;
- Joint hosted a Green Zone exhibition stand with UKRI and the Met Office, where various resources were showcased to the public, including our 3D model of the Central England Temperature record.
- Produced two articles for BBC Bitesize – one on the goals of COP26 and benefits of meeting them, and the other on careers in climate;
- Published COP26 journal special issues;
- Partnered with BBC Bitesize to produce content: 'COP26: What are its aims and how do we meet them?' and partnered with the Science Council's 'Connected for COP26' campaign with blogs and glossary content;
- Hosted an in-person networking event for members at COP26.
In 2021 membership totals saw a promising rise after recent years of decline, with a 3.7% increase in membership (3,278 members). Membership development remains one of the strategic aims of the Society focusing on retention and new member acquisition through a series of activities. Retention rates increased by 7% to 98% in 2021, which is all credit to the hard work of the membership team . An upgrade to the Society’s membership database has led to an improvement in tracking member recruitment, follow-up opportunities and member engagement. In 2021, the Society introduced a new member welcome telephone campaign,
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contacting over 300 new memb ers. The Society’s membership is made up of amateurs (25%), practitioners (30%), academics (30%) and students (15%).
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.
The Society gave 188 media interviews in 2021 leading to 2,531 items of media coverage mentioning the Society (compared to 1,650 items in 2020), website users grew by 210% and page views by 77% in 2021, social media presence continued to grow with 14,116 followers on Twitter, 6,154 on Instagram, 4,474 on Facebook and over 2,000 followers on LinkedIn. The Society published its first impact report in June 2021 to showcase the work of the Society based on the 2020 Annual Report. New online content, videos and podcasts helped to increase our public engagement. We reached wider audiences attending our events and experienced a 10% increase in the number of accredited meteorologists to 195 in 2021.
The Society launched its latest 3-year strategic plan at the start of 2021 including a summary document, infographics and a video from the Chief Executive and President as part of the launch rmets.org/strategic-plan.
In 2021, the Society completed the Science Council Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) progression framework, refreshed its EDI committee, provided EDI opportunities for learning and development for its staff, and embedded EDI activities with partners. The Society’s Council has long championed the benefits of diversity in decision-making and conducts an annual skill and EDI audit. The current Council membership has an equal gender balance, with some representation from ethnically diverse communities and sexual orientation.
The Society joined over 100 signatories on the Pledge to Net Zero, CAFA (Climate Action For Associations), and helped develop and signed The Charter for Climate Action in 2021. The Society is committed to achieving net-zero direct carbon emissions (Scope 1 & 2) by 2025, where there is direct control through avoiding, reducing and substituting. It is also working towards net-zero indirect emissions (Scope 3) by 2030, subject to a full feasibility assessment. The Society has already cut its scope 2 electricity emissions to net-zero by switching to a 100% renewable energy tariff, switching to efficient lighting and installing solar panels on the roof to contribute to its energy demands. During 2021, the Society supported the Government of Jersey with the Jersey Citizens Assembly on Climate Change.
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
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programmes of work and charitable activities. In 2021, the Society worked with Wiley to launch a new open-access journal Climate Resilience and Sustainability. In partnership with the Natural History Museum, the Society published a book called Weather: A Force of Nature presenting the most powerful and dramatic images from the Weather Photographer of the Year competition.
The year was again 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 2021. 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.
## FINANCE
The Annual Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2021 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 2021 are £2,737,220 (2020: £2,515,308).
The operating surplus of the Society in 2021 was £115,849 (2020: £85,747) 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 gains of £106,063 (2020: loss £9,211) were recognised, this increase in the value of investments reflects the recovery in the investment market over the year to 31 December 2021.
The Society’s scientific publications made up over 70% of our income, providing £814,515 (2020: £842,850), the 3% reduction in the year reflects adverse exchange rates and a continuing reduction in subscription income. 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 £14,154 (2020: £7,862). The associated expenditure on publications was £191,786 (2020: £161,972).
The total Membership Subscription income including Gift Aid and Accreditation Fees increased to £237,379 (2020: £204,604) with encouraging increases in individual membership income and associated Gift Aid. During 2021 staff have continued to develop the strategy and direction for the future, emphasis continues to be placed upon addressing the anticipated trend of falling individual membership numbers and re-invigoration of sustainable partnerships with corporate members. The pandemic has meant that the opportunities to maximise the financial impact of these initiatives have been more limited, but there is clear evidence that the public and professional profile of the Society continues to be
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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.
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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## **The 171[st] Annual Report of the Royal Meteorological Society for the period 1 January – 31 December 2021**
**ANNEXES Annex A: THE UK WEATHER OF 2021 ............................................................................................. 2** Review of UK Weather for 2021 ..................................................................................................... 2 **Annex B: MEMBERSHIP AND ACCREDITATION ........................................................................... 3** Membership..................................................................................................................................... 3 Professional Accreditation ............................................................................................................... 5 **Annex C: AWARDS AND PRIZES .................................................................................................... 8 Annex D: SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING ................................................................................................ 8** Highlights from the journals in 2021: ............................................................................................... 9 Academic Book Programme ......................................................................................................... 12 **Annex E: SOCIETAL BENEFITS..................................................................................................... 12** Societal Benefits Board ................................................................................................................. 12 Science Engagement Committee ................................................................................................. 13 Education Committee .................................................................................................................... 15 Events ........................................................................................................................................... 16 Reports from Local Centres .......................................................................................................... 18 Reports from Special Interest Groups ........................................................................................... 20 **Annex F: UNDERPINNING ACTIVITIES AND CROSS-CUTTING PRIORITIES ........................... 22** Council and Committees ............................................................................................................... 22 Business Development and Strategic Partnerships ...................................................................... 23 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) .......................................................................................... 24 Net Zero ........................................................................................................................................ 24 Marketing and Communications.................................................................................................... 25 **Annex G: Membership of Committees, Boards, Local Centres and SIGs ................................. 27** Accreditation Board ....................................................................................................................... 27 Awards Committee ........................................................................................................................ 27 Course Evaluation and Continuous Professional Development Panel ......................................... 27 Education Committee .................................................................................................................... 27 House Committee ......................................................................................................................... 28 Meetings and Conferences Committee ......................................................................................... 28 Membership Development Board ................................................................................................. 28 Science Engagement Committee ................................................................................................. 28 Scientific Publishing Committee .................................................................................................... 28 Strategic Planning Board .............................................................................................................. 28 Student Conference Organising Committee ................................................................................. 28 Vocational Qualification Group...................................................................................................... 28 Local Centres ................................................................................................................................ 28 Special Interest Groups ................................................................................................................. 29 Journal Editorial Boards ................................................................................................................ 29 Background to the Society ............................................................................................................ 31 Policy Statement on the Role of the Reserves ............................................................................. 33
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**Annex H: REPORTS FROM OTHER REPRESENTATIVE BODIES .............................................. 35** Science Council ............................................................................................................................ 35 General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo) .................................................................................... 35 UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC) .......................................................................................... 35 European Meteorological Society (EMS) ...................................................................................... 36 International Forum of Meteorological Societies (IFMS) ............................................................... 37
## **Annex A: THE UK WEATHER OF 2021**
## **Review of UK Weather for 2021**
Another record-breaking year, despite 2021 being a rather average year on the whole for the UK, with temperature, rainfall and sunshine amounts being close to the norm. The UK climate has warmed by around 1°C since the late 20[th] century, so what we might call ‘average’ today would be notably warm compared to the long-term historical records. Even as recently as the 1990s, a year as warm as 2021 would have been regarded as quite extreme. 2021 was the 18[th] warmest year for the UK, with records dating back to 1884. It is worth noting that 13 of the 17 warmest years have all been in the 21[st] century.
Looking at the detail regionally and from month to month during 2021, there are more notable events including a number of extreme weather events. In fact, 2021 ended with a daily record being broken on New Year’s Eve as the UK experienced its highest ever temperature for 31 December.
Notable extreme events during the year included wintry weather with snowfalls during January and February, a hot spell in July leading to the issue of the first-ever UK Amber extreme heat warning, heavy and persistent rain in northern England and southern Scotland in late October, and significant disruption caused by Storm Arwen in late November for which a rare Red weather warning was issued. Five named storms affected the UK in 2021.
January was the UK’s coldest month since March 2013, and April saw the most air frosts for the UK for at least 60 years. While January, April and May were notably cold, most of the other months were warmer than average, especially September which was 1.8°C above average, with only the September of 2006 having been warmer in a series from 1884. There was a hot spell between 13 and 26 July, with temperatures exceeding 30°C on six consecutive days from 17 to 22 July, the highest reading being 32.2°C at Heathrow on 20 July. On 21 July, 31.3°C was recorded at Castlederg, County Tyrone, a new all-time record for Northern Ireland. The lowest temperature of the year, -23.0°C at Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on 11 February, was the lowest recorded anywhere in the UK since 1995.
May was the UK’s wettest month relative to average, and January was also very wet over much of England. However, April and November were dry — April especially so, with only 28% of normal rainfall for the UK overall — and June was also rather dry with the exception of the south-east. Much of western Scotland had less than 80% of average rainfall for the year, with other areas closer to average.
April was an exceptionally sunny month for the second year in a row, and for the UK provisionally the sunniest April on record in a series from 1919. However, May, August and December were much duller than average with only 27.6 hours for the UK for December overall. Scotland and north-west England fared best relative to average, while most southern areas of the UK saw below-average sunshine totals.
## UK Temperatures
The mean value was 9.3°C, which is 0.1°C above the 1991-2020 average.
## UK Precipitation
The total was 1,077 mm, which is 93% of the 1991-2020 average.
## UK Sunshine
The total was 1,391 hours, which is 99% of the 1991-2020 average.
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**Regional Breakdown** (data from the Met Office)
|**Relative to the average**|**Mean Max**|**Mean Min (°C)**|**Rainfall**|**Sunshine**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**(1991-2020)**|**(°C)**||**(%)**|**(%)**|
|**_UK_**|13.0|5.7|93|99|
|**_England_**|13.9|6.3|99|97|
|**_Wales_**|13.2|6.1|100|98|
|**_Scotland_**|11.3|4.5|85|105|
|**_Northern Ireland_**|13.1|6.1|91|100|
## **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 twice during 2021, providing invaluable input to the new membership recruitment and retention strategy.
In 2021, there was a 3.7% increase in total membership bringing numbers to 3,278. Whilst the number of our standard Members grew by 12.7%, Fellowship and Student levels saw a small decline. The MDB has agreed on a series of initiatives for 2022 to maintain membership numbers and improve the retention rate.
Membership fees in 2021 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).
Since the launch of the Society’s strategic plan, the board has pro-actively contributed with activities to support and promote membership. This included a full review of the current membership benefits resulting in plans to increase the number of ‘member only’ benefits. Event attendee and registration can now be tracked on an upgraded CRM, guest speakers were invited to present on membership trends and the MDB publicly thanked the work of volunteers for their contributions supporting and promoting membership.
## **Key Activities in 2021:**
**New Member Acquisition:** The Society continues to recruit new members. Initiatives for recruitment during 2021 included:
- Running a regular series of reminders and campaigns promoting the key membership benefits
- During July we repeated the discounted six-month membership, welcoming 40 new members by yearend
- Improved CRM tracking member recruitment, leads and engagement more effectively
- Website improvements including named staff contacts, so members know who to contact with a query
- Regular member surveys on member benefits
- Society staff invited to guest present to corporate partners and employers about membership
- New member benefits include free access to all Society journals and inserts from Weather now available on the members’ dashboard
- Membership advert running on MetMatters website
- Hosted the third series of Met Masterclasses attracting over 900 registrants.
In 2021, the Society introduced a new member welcome telephone campaign, which took place during the summer. Over 300 new members were contacted: 45% of members were engaged, 80% accessed the member-only area of the website, 61% accessed the benefits and 91% were intending to renew their membership. Monthly email reminders to all new members, highlighting the membership benefits, were also introduced this year.
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**Collaboration:** The Society continued to collaborate with the University of Reading, hosting two more series of Met Masterclasses focussing on floods, droughts, heatwaves, marine meteorology and climate. These were intended to benefit meteorological practitioners and refresh knowledge and awareness of the latest science. The series attracted over 1,000 registrants including an international audience, helping to raise the Society’s profile and facilitating excellent CPD (Continuing Professional Development) for current members. In April the Society joined with the General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo) to offer a webinar focussed on improving safety for all General Aviation pilots at the Private Pilots Licence level, through an understanding of the weather.
**Communication:** This is key to our engagement with new and existing members, and a crucial element of our membership activity. Work to promote the benefits of membership through our media channels continues to go from strength to strength. Improvements have been made to the content, frequency and brand of newsletters (Member eNews and theWeather Club – now known as MetMatters) and Society News. Updates on membership-related matters are communicated more frequently through our social media channels, events and targeted comms. See the Marketing and Communications section.
**Reciprocal Membership:** The Society continues to foster important strategic partnerships with organisations across the meteorological community and beyond. The Society has reciprocal membership agreements with the 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. The Society has worked with all our reciprocal partners during 2021, engaging with activities to promote the mutual benefits to our respective memberships.
**Corporate Membership:** The Society reviewed its corporate membership scheme in light of its strategic objective to focus on developing partnerships. The decision was made to revert to a single tier of corporate membership and strengthen the benefits of the programme in order to attract more corporate members. One long-standing corporate member was reclassified as a partner, to better reflect the relationship and engagement between the organisations. At the end of 2021, the Society had 14 corporate members, including 3 new corporate members and 11 companies who renewed their corporate membership.
**Student Ambassadors:** The Society continues to have an active student community, with 367 student members at the end of 2021. Key to engagement and retention of our student community is through the important work of our Student Ambassadors. In 2021 three new ambassadors were recruited taking the total number to 25. They supported the Society by promoting the student and early careers conference, our video bulletins from COP26 and events to support early-career professionals.
**Retention:** The Society’s membership retention rate has improved by 7% from 91% to 98%. Improved onboarding for new members and reaching out to members who decide to leave through a lapsed member campaign, has had a dramatic increase in the total number of members who decide to stay. Regular and concise renewal communications supported with key messages leading up to and post subscription has also contributed to this improvement.
The discretionary fund formalising support to members who have been impacted as a result of COVID-19 continues to be available for members who would like to retain their membership but may not be in a position to do so.
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.
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|**Grade of Membership**|**2011**|**2012**|**2013**|**2014**|**2015**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Honorary Fellow HonFRMetS|20|26|29|30|29|27|30|30|31|30|30|
|Life Fellow FRMetS|37|34|33|31|99|94|89|76|82|79|105|
|Fellow FRMetS|1,662|1,633|1,586|1,586|1,513|1,518|1,510|1,471|1,479|1,445|1,390|
|Member
(Associate Fellow before 2018)|1,009|914|952|974|1,104|1,217|1,223|1,186|1,164|1,217|1,372|
|Student Member|267|308|260|261|416|473|471|464|464|378|367|
|Corporate Member
(inc. School Member before 2011)|25|24|22|22|28|27|14|15|13|13|14|
|**TOTAL**|**3,020**|**2,939**|**2,882**|**2,904**|**3,189**|**3,356**|**3,337**|**3,242**|**3,233**|**3,162**|**3,278**|
## **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 reflect this closer cooperation, along with standing invitations for the Chairs to attend each other’s meetings.
The PAB met three times during 2021, in February, June and 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).
## **Key Activities in 2021:**
- Panel-led workshop following the Society’s AGM highlighting the value of professional accreditation
- Professional accreditation specialisms review
- Publicly celebrating the success of newly accredited members through RMetS communications and social media channels
- Regular reminders about the Dormancy register being available as an alternative to lapsing their accreditation
- Met Office engagement emphasising accreditation and personal development
- Attended the Met Office Meteorological conference to talk about professional accreditation
- Feedback now provided to RMets who have been highlighted as ready for CMet.
The Society defines the scope of its accreditation activity as recognising excellence in people, in organisations, and supporting Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The tables on the next page show the data relating to RMet and CMet over recent years. During 2021, we welcomed 18 new RMets (13
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in 2020) and 8 new CMets (3 in 2020) taking the total number of accredited members to 192. Taking into account members who did not renew their membership or transferred onto the dormancy register, this represents a 6% increase overall. 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.
**Accreditation Specialisms Review:** A working group conducted an analysis of the professional accreditation specialisms that resulted in a revised list of specialisms enabling members to sort and locate their chosen specialism from a manageable list. The group, with wider representation from the Accreditation Board, will be reviewing the management of declared specialisms and the associated ‘career journey’ for accredited RMet/CMet.
**Accreditation and CPD:** The Society recognises that membership and professional accreditation are closely aligned offering benefits to both meteorological practitioners and their employers. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) forms part of these benefits and the Society continues to support those across the community in recognising, publicising and delivering CPD. In 2021 the Society delivered two Met Masterclass series, each made up of 3 x 90min sessions aiming to refresh knowledge and awareness of the latest science.
**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.
The table below shows the data relating to ACCSYS since it was launched in 2014. CPD activities linked to Society publishing opportunities and event attendance can be captured directly as a CPD record in ACCSYS through the click of a button.
|**ACCSYS**|**2014**|**2015**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**CPD records**|642|1,644|4,782|7,820|9,237|11,984|14,297|16,400|
|**CPD reports**||||321|391|604|718|825|
**Registered Meteorologist (RMet):** 2021 saw an increase in the number of active RMets to 114 (106 in 2020). The RMet register can be found here.
|**Registered Meteorologists (RMet)**|**2014**|**2015**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**No. of applications received**|49|35|11|46|5|4|17|8|
|**No. of accreditations granted**|44|28|20|46|5|3|13|18|
|**No. of RMets resigned/withdrawn**|||||5|19|3|6|
|**No. of applications outstanding at year end**|2|7|4|7|2|3|8|2|
|**No. of RMets transferred to CMet**||||||8|1|4|
|**No. of RMets on Dormancy Register**|||3|5|6|6|6|8|
|**No. of accredited RMets at year end**|44|72|92|124|123|99|106|114|
|**RMet CPD reports**|**2014**|**2015**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|**No. of RMet CPDs reviewed**||||50|71|93|94|81|
|**No. of RMet CPDs approved**||||50|71|92|93|81|
**Chartered Meteorologist (CMet):** The number of CMets also increased in 2021 to 81. The CMet register can be found here.
Applications remain steady. Successful RMets identified as possible CMet candidates are contacted to encourage progression to the Chartered level. The PAB has set realistic targets and associated activities to continue this trend and increase numbers in 2021 and beyond.
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|**Chartered Meteorologists (CMet)**|**2013**|**2014**|**2015**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**No. of applications received**|6|1|5|5|6|4|9|7|7|
|**No. of accreditations granted**|7|1|3|3|4|5|8|3|8|
|**No. of CMets resigned/withdrawn**|5|0|3|1|5|1|8|1|2|
|**No. of applications outstanding at year end**|1|0|1|2|4|0|1|5|4|
|**No. of CMets on Dormancy Register**||5|4|3|2|2|1|1|0|
|**No. of accredited CMets at year end**|68|64|66|69|67|71|71|74|81|
|**CMet CPD**|**2013**|**2014**|**2015**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|**No. of CMet CPDs reviewed**|34|23|30|35|24|27|28|28|31|
|**No. of CMet CPDs approved**|34|23|30|35|23|27|28|28|31|
**Vocational Qualifications Committee:** _The Vocational Qualifications scheme is currently dormant._ 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, competencybased, 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) previously provided by PAA\VQ-Set.
PAA\VQ-SET have since been acquired by GQA Qualifications, who specialise in providing vocational qualifications for the Glass, Construction and Print sectors. These qualifications are recognised throughout the EU. Assessments for the vocational awards are based in the workplace and are undertaken by Assessment Centres.
||**Royal Navy**|**Met Office**|
|---|---|---|
||**Registered**
**Qualified**||
|**Diploma in Meteorological Observing (Level 3)**|0
0|0|
|**Award in Meteorological Briefing (Level 5)**|0
0|0|
|**Diploma in Meteorological Forecasting (Level 5)**|0
0|6|
|**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 2021:
|||
|---|---|
|**Award**|**Recipient**|
|Honorary Fellow|Prof Andrew Lorenc|
|The Mason Gold Medal|_Not awarded_|
|The Buchan Prize|Prof Michael Montgomery|
|The L F Richardson Prize|Dr Beth Woodhams|
|The FitzRoy Prize|Dr Hazel Thornton|
|The Adrian Gill Prize|_Not awarded_|
|The Society’s Outstanding Service Award|Michael Wood|
|The Gordon Manley Weather Prize|Rebecca Venton|
|The Climate Science Communications Award|Prof Dan Lunt|
|The Malcolm Walker Award|Chloe Brimicombe|
|International Journal of Climatology Editor’s Award
(sponsored by Wiley-Blackwell)|Dr Radan Huth|
|Atmospheric Science Letters Editors’ Award|Ms Ana Paula M. A. Cunha|
|Quarterly Journal (QJ) Editors’ Award|Prof Nedjeljka Zagar|
|QJ Reviewer’s Certificate|Dr Sergey Frolov and Dr Lina Boljka|
|Geoscience Data Journal Editors’ Award|Dr Claudia Di Napoli, Christopher Barnard,
Prof Christel Prudhomme, Prof Hannah L.
Cloke, and Dr Florian Pappenberger|
|Meteorological Applications Editors’ Award|Dr Rebecca Emerton|
The Society’s Awards and Prizes recognise individuals and teams who have made exceptional contributions relating to weather, climate and associated disciplines. The Society plans to present the 2021 Awards and Prizes at its AGM in June 2022 which is hoped to be a face-to-face event.
In 2021, the Society completed a review of its Awards and Prizes. Recommendations have been approved by Council and will be implemented during 2022.
## **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, _Climate Resilience and Sustainability_ ( _CRS)_ in 2021. 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 that enhance scientific communication and progress. The Society aspires to offer authors a choice including fully open access journals as part of its portfolio. The academic book programme aims to be recognised for its international, high-quality publications offering a more diverse choice of books.
Over the last 12 months, the Society has been in discussion with Wiley about our ongoing partnership to publish the Society owned journals. We are pleased to say that we have now renewed our contract with Wiley for the _Quarterly Journal, Meteorological Applications, Atmospheric Science Letters_ and _Weather_ and we have also extended our partnership for _Geoscience Data Journal_ .
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New author initiatives introduced include ‘free format’ whereby the author can now submit their manuscript to any of the RMetS journals in the format of their choice, and Wiley will update the formatting into journalstyle when their manuscript is accepted for publication. We are also piloting a double-blind peer review with _Meteorological Applications_ . Currently, all other titles operate a single-blind review process in which the identities of the authors are known to the reviewers, but the identities of the reviewers are not known to the authors. There is increasing evidence to suggest that this version may allow biases based on the characteristics of the author rather than on the content of the manuscript to influence the review process. Double-blind hides the identities of both the authors and reviewers and may have a positive effect to support our efforts to improve author diversity, including gender, nationality, and institution. Across the portfolio we have updated our author name change policy to support the anonymity of authors who wish to change their name on already-published research; the author guidelines for use of colour in figures have been modified to improve accessibility to our colourblind readers.
The Society’s journal portfolio has been actively trying to support the professional development of earlycareer researchers (ECRs). A special event took place in November and was led by, and included presentations from members of four of our journal Editorial Boards. It was titled ‘ _The What, How and Why of Scientific Publishing for Early Career Researchers_ ’. Our experts provided guidance on how to successfully publish and promote their scientific research, as well as an insight into the peer review process and how the audience could become more involved with our journals in the future. We have seen a growth in the number of early-career professionals involved in our editorial boards over the last year and journals are actively encouraging reviewers to recommend ECRs to support their own reviewing process. We have had a focus group looking at _Weather_ to get a broader understanding of what they would value in a member publication and have separately included a careers leaflet in the October issue. Additionally, the Early Career Professional Spotlight interview with Simon Lee received over 5,000 views on YouTube.
There have been a number of marketing initiatives that have successfully raised the profile of our journals including the development of a COP landing page promoting journal content. This received 1.5million impressions, 152K click-throughs and an average time on the page of 6.25mins. The annual State of the UK Climate report published in the _International Journal of Climatology_ ( _IJOC_ ) was supported by a press release and media briefing with the Science Media Council, which resulted in over 1,100 news items referencing the report, RMetS and/or the journal. We have also increased our wider engagement with our journal content through social media activities. Content from the journals continues to be promoted daily across social media channels, which provides brand awareness, maintains a regular source of online content, and helps us reach wider audiences.
Across all the journals we have seen continued disruption from the impacts of COVID-19 including difficulty in finding peer reviewers, reduction in submissions and delivery of print issues. We are extremely grateful to all our Editors and Editorial Boards for keeping the journals running smoothly through this difficult time and for all the support and work they put into the journals whilst managing their own personal and work commitments. In 2021, the Society experienced big changes in the leadership role for _IJOC_ : Dr Radan Huth, who was instrumental in the success of the journal for many years, stepped down from the position of Chief Editor and a new senior editorial team have been appointed, consisting of two Editors in Chief, overseeing the strategic direction for the journal, and two Deputy Editors.
## **Highlights from the journals in 2021:**
_**Atmospheric Science Letters**_ ( _ASL_ ) is a wholly open-access electronic journal. Its aim is to provide a fully peer-reviewed publication route for new shorter contributions in the field of atmospheric and closely related sciences. Through its ability to publish shorter contributions more rapidly than conventional journals, ASL offers a framework that promotes new understanding and creates scientific debate - providing a platform for discussing scientific issues and techniques. In 2021, _ASL_ published 44 research papers and its Impact Factor increased to 2.416. This increase is a testament to the dedication of _ASL_ ’s Editors, Associate Editors (AEs) and the high-quality reviews they attain resulting in quality, cited papers. 2021 saw the launch of two Special Issues: ‘ _Novel data science approaches to evaluate weather and climate extremes_ ’ and ‘ _Air pollution at the Indoor-Outdoor interface for built environments_ ’, the Board has been excited to receive submissions to these Special Issues which will be released in 2022. It is acknowledged that submission
Page 9 of 37
numbers have significantly decreased in 2021, the _ASL_ Board is working with the Society and Wiley to try and understand this and develop ideas to receive increased submission numbers from around the world. _ASL_ continues to support Early Career Researchers through the publication process by increasing publication transparency and communication.
_**Climate Resilience and Sustainability**_ ( _CRS_ ) is an interdisciplinary open-access journal studying the broad subject of understanding the implications of climate change for a sustainable environment and society. _CRS_ opened for submissions in 2021 and 17 articles have been published online. As well as a number of interesting submissions from around the world, a number of papers were in relation to a special issue on ‘ _CSSP Brazil: Collaborative Research towards climate solutions in Brazil_ ’. Another special issue in progress is ‘ _Scientific Support on China's Policy-making and Actions to Climate Change Adaptation_ ’.
_**Geoscience Data Journal** (GDJ)_ had a strong year. The editorial board has expanded ensuring good coverage of specialists across the geosciences and this has already had a positive impact on the journal, with an increasing number of special issues being commissioned which we will see published in 2022. Junxuan Fan as Regional Editor for China is working on a special issue on the Deep Time Digital Earth program. The journal has had some very successful papers this year on marine geoscience along with a fantastic opinion piece on open data. The journal continues to commission opinion pieces with an exciting paper on Data ethics shortly to be submitted.
In 2021, the _**International Journal of Climatology** (IJOC)_ experienced a change in its editorial structure. Dr. Radan Huth stepped down and Dr. William Collins and Dr. Enric Aguilar took over in March as coEditors in Chief, with Dr. Christopher White and Dr. Renguang Wu as Deputy Editors. IJOC remains the largest of the Society's journals and this structure of 4 senior editors supported the triaging of submissions - 1,103 submissions in 2021 (1,109 in 2020). IJOC published 6,853 pages in 2021, compared to almost 6,700 in 2020, and the journal experienced a small increase in the number of published articles (517 versus 499 in 2020). Open access submissions continued to grow, with 110 open papers. Nearly half of the submitted papers were rejected (45% versus 46% in 2020), with 65% of the rejections happening at the editorial level, before peer review. Nearly 70% of the articles which were sent to reviewers were accepted. In 2021 the co-Editors in Chief started working on a Special Issue on ‘ _Climate data as a foundation for climate science_ ’ which will be developed through 2022. The Journal continues to stimulate and report research in climatology, from the expansive fields of the atmospheric, biophysical, engineering and social sciences. **Online access to IJOC is free for our members** .
_**Meteorological Applications**_ ( _MetApps_ ) aims to serve the needs of applied meteorologists, forecasters and users of meteorological services by publishing papers on all aspects of meteorological science. In 2021, _MetApps_ is happy to report that the journal’s impact factor increased from 1.685 to 2.119. Median times from submission to the first decision have decreased by 10% from 2020 to 2021. The journal has continued to expand the composition and expertise of the Editorial Board with new members from Finland and Austria. The Editors-in-Chief are grateful to the many people who dedicate their time and expertise to making the journal successful. They would like to thank the entire Editorial Board, Wiley publishing Team, Society staff and countless reviewers for the journal for helping to maintain high standards, productivity and to help the journal improve its practices and output.
The _**Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society**_ ( _QJ_ ) aims to communicate and document the results of new research in the atmospheric sciences and associated fields. The _Quarterly Journal_ is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading meteorological publications. Contributions may take the form of articles, comprehensive review articles, or comments on published papers. The journal is published eight times a year with additional special issues. _QJ_ has had a buoyant year for submissions and publication of articles, despite the continuing challenges posed by COVID-19 for authors, editors, reviewers, editorial office staff and the production and typesetting offices. In 2021, 349 manuscripts were submitted and 222 were accepted for publication, giving a 63% acceptance rate. Submissions are holding up well despite increased competition from other journals and the 2020 Impact Factor of the journal rose to 3.739. The journal saw a slight increase in turnaround times at the editorial stage with an average first decision within 68 days of submission.
Page 10 of 37
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 and both reviewers and authors suffered delays in returning submissions. Having said all of this, we are extremely grateful for the effort that the editorial and production teams have put into the journal to keep the increases in average turnaround time to a minimum. Special collections continue to be important for the journal, with 40 submissions to special issue collections this year. The journal launched new special collections on _Aeolus_ , _Ice Fog and Boundary-Layer Ice Clouds (IFBLIC)_ , _Combined Machine Learning_ and _Data Assimilation for the Atmosphere and Ocean Sciences_ and _Coupled Earth System Data Assimilation_ alongside the existing special collections. **Online access to QJ is free for our members.**
_**Weather**_ aims to act as a bridge between the interests of those having a professional and a general interest in the weather, as well as between meteorologists and others working in related sciences such as climatology, hydrology and geography. It was another highly successful year for the journal. Despite the continuing challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, many fresh opportunities also presented themselves. In detail, there were a record of five Special Issues published during 2021 ("COP26" in October, "Autumn Storms" in September, "Student Conference" in June, "75[th] Anniversary of Weather" in May and "Observational Meteorology" in February). Citations reached an all-time high, with _Weather's_ Impact Factor nearly doubling to 1.596, as well as rising 6 places in the overall rankings of meteorological journals. New editorial board members were recruited with wide-ranging expertise in radar meteorology, operational meteorology and forecasting, and climate science, whilst also increasing the gender diversity of the Board. The Spotlight feature, newly introduced in 2020 and bringing timely high-level summaries of important recent weather events, has continued to grow in popularity and outreach, alongside other shortform articles in the ‘Insights’ and ‘Climate Briefing Papers’ series. New all-colour ‘Weather log’ front page maps were specially designed and coded and brought up-to-date with the latest ERA5 reanalysis data. On the technical side, the new HTML-based proofing system has helped to streamline the manuscript acceptance-to-print workflow and bring it in-line with other journals, benefiting authors and Editors alike. Improvements have been made to the submission, copy-editing and proofing systems, such as moving to free format submissions and clarifying author guidance. **Weather is freely available as a membership benefit to our members** _._
_**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 gender-diverse team of 14 Domain Editors across the UK, Europe, US, Canada, and Australia who guide commissioning and peer-review. The journal received a 2020 Impact Factor of 7.385 and was ranked 7th of the 94 journals in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences and 9th of the 125 journals in Environmental Studies (Journal Citation Reports, Web of Science Group, 2021). In 2021, the journal published 51 review and perspective articles, of which 59% were open access, a slight increase from 56% in 2020. 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. Additionally, in 2021, _WIREs_ launched a new website at wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ and began systematically tracking review article proposal submissions. From May-December 2021, WIREs Climate Change received 60 proposals, approved 30% for submission to the journal, and referred 42% to RMetS’ new open-access journal, _Climate Resilience and Sustainability_ . **Access to WIREs Climate Change is free for our members** _._
## **Submissions and Decisions (All Journals Combined)**
|**Submissions and Decisions / Year**|**2015**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Number of Submissions|1656|1693|1795|1841|1903|1996|1961|
|Number ReachingFinal Decision|1564|1649|1709|1716|1847|1923|1961|
|Number Accepted|824|873|853|844|944|1022|1045|
|Average Journal Rejection Rate(%)|47.3|38|47.5|48|44*|45|47|
*Average of rejection rate of each journal rather than as a collective
Page 11 of 37
## **Impact Factors**
|**Journal / Year**|**2016**|**2017**|**2018**|**2019**|**2020**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**_Quarterly Journal_**|3.67|3.44|2.978|3.198|3.471|3.739|
|**_Intl. Journal of Climatology_**|3.61|3.76|3.1|3.601|3.928|4.069|
|**_Meteorological Applications_**|1.27|1.411|2.391|1.711|1.685|2.119|
|**_Atmospheric Science Letters_**|1.57|1.504|1.198|1.796|1.879|2.416|
|**_Geoscience Datajournal_**|1.56|2.8|1.867|2.667|2.714|1.778|
|**_Weather_**|1.26|0.96|0.812|1.143|0.943|1.596|
|**_WIRES_**|3.31|4.57|5.124|7.057|6.099|7.385|
## **Academic Book Programme**
Prof Paul Williams is the Society’s Book Series Editor and continues to work with authors to develop our academic book programme. There are a number of authors contracted whose books are expected to be published in 2022 and 2023.
## **Non-Academic Books**
In partnership with the Natural History Museum, _**Weather: A Force of Nature** (front cover pictured right)_ was published in October and made available for sale through various bookselling platforms including Waterstones. The book presents the most powerful and dramatic images from the Weather Photographer of the Year competition. They depict dramatic weather phenomena from every corner of the globe and often reveal fascinating stories about what causes them and how they impact on the environment. Also included are six short essays on various climate topics, three of which are written by early career researchers. The book has also been licensed for sale in Australia and Canada and translated for distribution in German-speaking countries.
Our second book, _**Weather: A-Z**_ , is due to be published in May 2022, also in collaboration with the Natural History Museum.
Regular discounts continue to be agreed with publishers on books that feature as Book Reviews in _Weather._
## **Annex E: SOCIETAL BENEFITS**
## **Societal Benefits Board**
The Societal Benefits Board (SBB) reports direct to Council and oversees the Societal Benefits area of the Society and its three programmes of work, each of which focuses on delivering the Society’s charitable aims; these are Education, Events, and Science Engagement. The SBB meetings bring these three Committees together to discuss their work programmes and potential new projects, to ensure continuity, effectiveness and strategic alignment and to review the societal benefits being delivered. The SBB also encourages and reviews new project ideas and, once accepted, helps to develop the investment cases for submission to the Strategic Planning Board and then to Council. The Board is chaired by the Society’s Treasurer and meets twice a year in the Spring and Autumn.
At the Spring 2021 meeting, each Committee provided an
overview of their plans for activities in the run-up to COP26. The SBB also reviewed the process by which the Committees identify new projects for which the Head of Partnerships might source funding, grants or corporate partners. A process was agreed whereby the Board might highlight these projects further ahead to meet the, sometimes lengthy, timescales involved in identifying and securing the appropriate partner or funding.
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The Board also reviewed a paper tabled on Legacies and Donations, outlining how the Society might develop its activities in these areas. The Committees provided extensive input, which was incorporated into the paper, which was then reviewed by the House Committee and subsequently approved at the June Council Meeting. The project is now underway.
During the Autumn, the Head of Partnerships initiated a project, working with an external agency, to define the content and thematic activities that could present commercial opportunities for the Society, furthering our aim of growing and diversifying The Society's income streams. The Autumn meeting of the SBB was postponed until such time as the results of this work are available for review early in 2022.
## **Science Engagement Committee**
The Science Engagement Committee (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 Prof Peter Stott and Dr Michelle Cain, the committee helps 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.
A key focus for the SEC in 2021 was overseeing and supporting the activities outlined in the Society’s COP26 Action Plan:
- On World Meteorological Day, the Society released a Joint International Climate Communiqué with 42 other national meteorological societies and organisations working on climate and sustainability. The communiqué reiterated the critical importance of addressing climate change and was one of the top three news stories published in 2021 on the Society’s website
- Publishing five new climate briefing papers in _Weather_ with accompanying podcast episodes. These papers focused on tipping points, how an ice-free Arctic could impact European weather, and how climate change could affect UK heatwaves, inland flood risk and North Atlantic Storms, and were promoted in the run-up to and around COP26
- With the support of the Grantham Institute, BEIS, the Met Office and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), the Society hosted a virtual one-day event on the IPCC’s AR6 Working Group 1 report. It was multidisciplinary with over 400 individuals attending live
- Producing two articles for BBC Bitesize – one on the goals of COP26 and benefits of meeting them, and the other on careers in climate
- The Society has observer status at COP events and in November, sent four members of staff and a volunteer to COP26 in Glasgow for two weeks. The team attended to participate in the formal meetings and input into the process through the constituencies. The Society also produced two video bulletins each day, one for schools and one for the public, as well as a COP26 newsletter. For more details, see the Communications and Marketing section. The Society also had a joint Green Zone exhibition stand with UKRI and the Met Office, where various resources were showcased to the public, including our 3D model of the Central England Temperature record
**Left:** Sylvia Knight (Head of Education), David Warrilow (past RMetS President), Liz Bentley (Chief Executive) and Hannah Mallinson (Science Engagement Manager) in front of the COP26 sign in the Blue Zone’s ‘Action Zone’. **Right:** Kirsty McCabe (Communications Officer) filming one of the daily public bulletin videos at COP26, looking over the Blue Zone’s ‘Action Zone’.
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There were also several informal education activities outside of the COP26 Action Plan which included:
- The Society continued to deliver climate change communication training to ITV throughout 2021, starting with Heads of News in January, before delivering further training and support to ITV journalists and broadcast meteorologists in the run-up to COP26. As part of this package, the Society ran two identical half-day training sessions in July and supplied short video updates to attendees through August and September, before holding drop-in sessions on either side of COP26 with a panel of climate science and policy experts
- Launching **MetMatters** in April 2021 (following the review and rebrand of theWeather Club) after integrating the content into the main Society website. The Society now has a regular flow of content that fits with the news agenda on climate and weather topics and have increased guest blog content
- Producing an eight-page ‘Careers in Meteorology’ booklet, eleven ‘So you want to do something about climate change’ videos, holding a careers clinic with Carbon Brief, and organising a publishing webinar for early career researchers
- Running the **Weather Photographer of the Year** Competition for the sixth year and receiving over 8,900 photos from over 3,300 photographers around the world. A new mobile phone category was introduced for 2021 and after announcing the competition shortlist, over 12,300 votes were cast by the public. Some of the winning images are shown below
## **Main Winner – Morning Fog © Giulio Montini.**
Photo location: Adda River - Airuno, Lecco, Italy
Giulio captured this image on a foggy autumn day from a small church on a hilltop. Through the fog and with the help of the trees, you can about see the winding course of the river Adda, illuminated by the first lights of sunrise.
**Public Favourite - Lightning from an Isolated Storm over Cannes Bay © Serge Zaka.** Photo location: Cannes, France.
After driving over 300 miles, waiting for eight hours and a half-night sleeping in the car, Serge finally captured this forecasted thunderstorm on a full-moon night. "This thunderstorm unleashed several thunderbolts in the clear sky under the stars. There was no rain, no parasite clouds, just the calm of the night and the sound of thunder - ideal conditions!"
## **Mobile Phone Category Winner – Foggy Morning © Christopher de Castro Comeso.**
Photo location: Qasr Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi, UAE (United Arab Emirates).
Christopher took this image of the Qasr Al Hosn, one of the oldest landmarks in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in December 2020 when the temperature dropped. He was on his way home after dropping his wife at work when he saw the fog forming. Immediately, he took out the only camera he had – his mobile phone – and captured this beautiful shot.
**Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2021 Winner - Kansas Storm © Phoenix Blue.** Photo location: Kansas, USA.
Phoenix captured this image of an approaching supercell, a thunderstorm with a deep rotating updraught, called a mesocyclone. They are powerful storms that can produce some of the most severe weather, including tornadoes, large hail, damaging wind gusts and torrential rain.
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## **Education Committee**
During the last year, formal education (often in a school context) has been a focal point in the global COVID-19 pandemic. Learners have been impacted in lots of ways, from studying at home, changes to examinations or reduced socialisation. The Society has continued to be there to support all who have needed them, especially teachers and their learners. The Society’s charitable focus continues to strengthen its belief that every student should leave school with the basic weather literacy to understand the impact of weather on their personal life, leisure activities and employment; and that every student should leave school with the basic climate literacy that would enable them to engage with the messages put forward by the media or politicians, or to make informed decisions about their own opportunities and responsibilities.
COP26 provided a unique opportunity to bring the very latest climate change news and agenda into the classroom and home learning environment. The Society produced daily short video bulletins via YouTube direct from the green and blue zones in Glasgow. These were shown in assemblies, lessons and during registration. The use of social media was central to the success, with over 5,000 unique views during the event, reaching an estimated 50,000 young people. The purpose was to engage young people with the COP process and create a lasting legacy. The Society’s attendance at COP26 will have an ongoing, valuable contribution to its Education work, through new partnerships which have emerged and ideas that were developed.
_**Left:** Sylvia Knight (Head of Education) standing at the Society’s joint Green Zone exhibition stand with UKRI and the Met Office._ _**Right:** Sylvia Knight (Head of Education) and Hannah Mallinson (Science Engagement Manager) showcasing a section of our 3D model of the Central England Temperature (CET) record in front of the Society’s joint Green Zone exhibition stand with UKRI and the Met Office._
The Society staff and volunteers of the Education Committee continue to give their time and experience to help oversee the educational remit. The well attended Committee formally met virtually twice in 2021. There have been discussions and decision-making regarding teacher resources, examinations, work experience opportunities, teacher fellowship, evaluation of weather and climate literacy, as well as the routine business of reviewing our activities, strategies, priorities and risks. The Society continues to look for new ways to assess the impact of its activities.
Many partners assist the Committee, including the Institute of Physics, Royal Geographical Society, Geographical Association, the Met Office, plus many others. The Society would like to thank everyone for their generous support, significant efforts, and loyal dedication.
## **Highlights from 2021 include:**
- The weather and climate textbook for 11-14-year-old geography teaching “Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide”, consisting of a printed teachers’ guide supported by online resources, was distributed to over 3,000 schools across the UK and won a ‘Highly Commended’ award from the Scottish Association for Geography teachers. In addition, the Welsh exam board, WJEC, translated the Teacher’s Guide into Welsh and made it available online to teachers in Wales
- New partnerships, for example with Geography SW and Transform our World, are leading to greater exposure of our resources
- Developing a diversity survey of meteorology undergraduates across the UK which was launched in September 2021. The data from this survey will be analysed and the survey will be repeated annually
- Developing a framework for analysing the geographical diversity of the Society’s interactions with teachers
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- Acting as consultants for a beautiful new children’s book, ‘My First Book of Weather’
- The online weather and climate course, Come Rain or Shine, remains permanently available and was taken by well over 3,000 people in 2021
- Relaunching MetLink (MetLink.org), our schools’ website, and continuously developing and adding new resources, including some for chemistry, KS3/Core maths and resources for geography teachers based on the 2021 IPCC report. Other new resources include infographics, films and animations
- Delivering teacher training at 10 Universities and one large Academy Trust, making use of the opportunities for online teaching to reach a wider audience than has been previously possible
- Awarding MetMark, our quality mark for weather and climate teaching in schools, to 8 schools
- Producing 11 new careers videos on the theme ‘so you want to do something about climate change’.
## **Events**
The Society continues to support a diverse and ambitious programme of events with 51 virtual events during 2021. 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.
Once again, COVID-19 delayed the return to face-to-face events for the 2021 programme of events. The decision was made early in the year that no live events would run until 2022. In turn, the Society delivered a successful and complex programme of events across the year, increasing delegate numbers and demographic reach. The Atmospheric Science Conference returned after being postponed in 2020 and the Society held the topical and timely event on the 6[th] Assessment Report IPCC Science Report and its Implications. The majority of events were once again hosted using the online platform Demio, although Zoom and Microsoft Teams were used where appropriate.
This year the team expanded the programme of events by trialling lunchtime taster sessions and also holding a Summer Series whereby events were replayed, giving new audiences the opportunity to see popular Local Centre and National Meetings - some sessions welcomed back the speaker, to allow for questions to be asked and providing a live element to the event. Lunchtime sessions were often well attended, and the Society will look for opportunities to run events at this time again in future.
The events team started to send out monthly events emails, which were seen to have a significant effect on increasing registrations figures. These emails also provided links to past event recordings available on YouTube (all offering voice transcription), thereby giving the event content longevity, inclusivity and encouraging greater audiences. On top of the attendees at live events, there was an additional 2,652 views of the event content through YouTube. If you missed any of our free events, please visit our YouTube channel to view all past sessions - youtube.com/c/royalmetsoc.
## **National Meetings**
The National Meeting programme offers a wide variety of events to cater for all aspects of the meteorological community. Diversity within the programme remains one of the key priorities and brings people together from academic, professional and other backgrounds to discuss and challenge current topics of interest.
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|The following|National Meeting and Taster sessions were held virtually in 2021:|
|---|---|
|**Jan**|Improving Atmospheric Reconstructions for Historical Extreme Events|
|**March**|
Machine Learning Applications in the Atmospheric Sciences|
||Understanding the Weather of 2020|
|**June**|
The Royal Meteorological Society’s AGM|
|**Sept**|The 6th Major IPCC Science Report and its Implications|
|**Oct**|Measuring Climate Change|
|**Nov**|Weather and Sailing 2021|
|**Dec**|Air Quality and Climate Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdowns|
||President’s Address|
All meetings were held virtually and ranged from a one-hour session with a single speaker to a full-day event with 8 speakers. Some previously postponed 2020 events were not suitable to be held virtually and these have been moved to 2022 where we plan to return to in-person events.
The Society actively seeks partners to co-sponsor meetings. In 2021 meetings were held in association with the Grantham Institute, RIN, Met Office, Imperial College, FleetWeather and the University of Reading. As all meetings were held virtually in 2021, the Society continued to explore different meeting formats, durations, start times and virtual platforms. This ensured every opportunity was available for our members and non-members to be able to engage with the National Meeting programme of events.
## **Attendance at National Meetings (and Tasters) over recent years is shown in the following graph. A breakdown of Local Centre events has also been included.**
*Figures for 2020 and 2021 include Taster sessions in the National Meeting figures
The number of attendees for 2021 showed a significant increase on 2020, which was mainly due to everyone becoming more comfortable and accustomed to events moving online. The Society received continued support from the Meetings and Conferences Committee, international speakers and chairs, and other volunteers who supported the events team to ensure the programme could be delivered. There has been a noticeable drop in the number of delegates registering for an event and the actual attendance numbers and we are looking into ways to reduce this. The Local Centres continued to provide a wide variety of talks and also noticed their attendees expanded into a more global audience.
## **Conferences and Other Events**
This year the Society expanded its conference programme online, replicating the diverse live events usually on offer. The **Atmospheric Science Conference** was held across 3 working days (22 June, 6 July and 21 September). Call for Papers gave individuals the opportunity to present orals or Short Talks (replacing Posters) across the 11 parallel sessions and 17 Keynote Speakers gave updates on the conference themes of Net Zero, Adaptation and Science across the Next Decade.
The **Student and Early Career Scientists Conference** was held online for the second year in a row on 2829 June. The conference was held in parallel sessions, allowing more students to present their work to their peer community. Poster sessions were trialled using the platform Wonder.me. This allowed delegates to talk about an individual’s poster, whilst asking questions face to face. This year the conference was able to offer hardship funds to help international students attend the 2-day event, thanks to Carbon Brief. This was a huge success and students attended from Argentina, Ghana, India, Turkey and Senegal. A big thank you needs to be extended to the Student Organising Committee who once again delivered an outstanding event for the student community.
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**WeatherLive: From One Extreme to Another** was held on Saturday 16 October in association with AccuWeather. Speakers discussed the UK and Global Extremes and then heard talks on Flooding, Heatwaves, Wildfires, Warning for Extremes and COP26. In recognition of this year’s WeatherLive being in a significant year with the UK hosting COP26 in Glasgow, we took the decision to make the event free for all to attend. The event attracted over 130 delegates and saw the demographic reach as far as the United States. The winners of the Weather Photographer of the Year 2021 competition were also announced at this event.
On 15 September, the Society held an event on ‘ **The 6[th] Major IPCC Science Report and its Implications** ’. This meeting reviewed the main findings of the report, considered what it meant for the ongoing development of our response to climate change and discussed what messages it should send to the government before COP26. The response to this event was overwhelming and over 550 people registered to attend. This event was followed up by a 2[nd] workshop held on 17 September ‘Responding to the Climate Crisis’ led by the Grantham Institute.
Two series of **Met Masterclasses** continued in 2021, one in March and the other in October. These afternoon sessions are co-organised alongside the University of Reading and offer CPD opportunities to both members and non-members online. We were fortunate enough to have the third series sponsored by FleetWeather, enabling these workshops to be run free to the Met community. These sessions proved extremely popular for the second year running, attracting over 300 delegates per session.
## **Local Centres and Special Interest Groups**
The Local Centres have continued to organise meetings across the UK with a wide variety of talks attracting attendees (and speakers) from all over the world. A benefit of the virtual talks has been the opportunity to work with speakers who they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to due to their location.
The Local Centres held a total of 26 virtual meetings in 2021 with the Scottish Centre and the Yorkshire Local Centre continuing to be the most active. The East Midlands Local Centre was revived in 2021 and has already held 2 virtual meetings. Some of the Local Centres have remained more dormant as there is a preference for in-person meetings and they hope to return to in-person talks where possible in 2022.
The Local Centre General Meeting was held in February 2021 which was another opportunity to share the activities of each centre and their plans for the next 6 months.
## **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 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. Activities of the Society’s Local Centres during 2021 are detailed below:
## **East Anglia Centre**
The East Anglia Centre was inactive throughout 2021.
## **East Midlands Centre**
The East Midlands Local Centre committee was reconstituted in March. Two virtual meetings were held during the year:
- 13 July: Why We Need More Ambitious Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Prof Simon Gosling (University of Nottingham)
- 16 November: Weather Photography Dr Matthew Clark (Met Office)
There were 19 attendees for Prof Gosling’s talk and 70 attendees for Dr Clark’s talk, after an intensive campaign to contact photographic groups and societies in the region. The East Midlands Centre plans to continue with online meetings for the foreseeable future. The Weather Front (established 1981) is now
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produced monthly and entirely online. There are currently 13 observers in the regional network, which the editor is working to expand.
## **North East Centre**
The North East Centre was inactive throughout 2021.
## **North West Centre**
The North West Centre hosted two virtual meetings in 2021. There are currently no meetings planned for 2022, however, this may change. Future meetings may be in person or virtual.
- 2 March: The Circle of Flight: from ‘The Aeronauts’ to forecasts for today’s balloon pilots Prof Ann Webb (University of Manchester)
- 13 April: Chasing a Giant
_Prof Jonathan E. Martin (University of Wisconsin–Madison)_
## **Scottish Centre**
The Scottish Centre hosted seven meetings with an average attendance of 60. Titles of meetings included:
- 12 January: Recovering observations from a whaling wreck in Baffin Bay Dr Matthew Ayre (University of Calgary)
- 19 February: Post-Graduate Student Talks 2021 Dr Craig Poku (University of Leeds), Mr Dan Shipley (University of Reading)
- 26 March: The Golden Age of Radar
- Dr Ben Pickering, University of Leeds
- 20 April: How climate models deal with ice around Antarctica Dr Shona Mackie (University of Otago)
- 6 October: Scotland's climate change science and COP26 Conference with 6 speakers held jointly with Royal Society of Edinburgh
- 23 November: Building and informing climate resilience near you Prof Andrew Millar (Scottish Government)
- 17 December: Air pollution and health
Dr Kaja Milczewska (UK Health Security Agency)
## **South East Centre**
The South East Centre hosted four virtual meetings with an average attendance of 39 from across the world. Titles of the meetings included:
- 2 February: Seasonal Forecasting Of Indian Monsoon and Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones Of 2020 Dr Arathy Menon (NCAS, University of Reading)
- 9 March: Post-Graduate Student Showcase Simon Lee (University of Reading) and Alex Doyle (University of Reading)
- 6 April: How much rain?
- Dr Mark McCarthy (Met Office)
- 4 May: The Golden Age of Weather Radar Dr Ben S. Pickering (University of Leeds)
## **South West Centre**
In 2021 Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI) enjoyed its fifth 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 2021 we were able to provide lectures via Zoom. We continue to provide lectures through BRLSI Geography and Adventure, in conjunction with BRLSI Science, Royal Meteorological Society and Royal Geographical Society – as appropriate.
- 14 January: The Road to Indian Independence Olie Hunter Smart
- 11 February: “Midgard Viking Expedition”: The Search For Intelligent Life On Earth Bjorn Heyerdahl
- 11 March: UKFALL and Retrieving Meteorites Dr Luke Daly (Glasgow University)
- 18 March: Natural and Human Disaster Relief
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Rob Davis (then Assistant Fire Chief Avon Fire and Rescue Service)
The centre now has various meetings scheduled throughout 2022 in partnership with BRLSI and 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. There is the potential for some events to be held physically in BRLSI this year, but it will depend on COVID-19 restrictions.
## **Welsh Centre**
The Welsh Centre was inactive throughout 2021.
## **West Midlands**
The West Midlands Centre was inactive in 2021. However, the Centre will be resuming face-to-face meetings in 2022, with speakers booked for 17 February and 17 March.
## **Yorkshire Centre**
The Yorkshire Centre hosted 9 online talks in 2021 including a Christmas special/year overview presented by members of the committee. The titles of the meetings included:
- 26 January: If a particle forms in a city, does anybody breathe it, or is it just all hazy? Neil Donahue (Carnegie Mellon University)
- 23 February: Yorkshire Local Centre Annual PhD Showcase Yvan Rome, Paloma Trascasa-Castro, Vania Lopez Garcia
- 16 March: The Winter Weather of February 2021 Richard Martin-Barton (MetDesk)
- 21 April: MOSAiC: A Year in The Arctic Sea Ice Prof. Ian Brooks (University of Leeds)
- 12 May: Health and Climate Change: The health emergency Alexis Percival (Yorkshire Ambulance Service)
- 15 June: Clean Air is Essential for a Sustainable World Prof Sagnik Dey (Indian Institute of Technology)
- 14 October: The Weird and Wonderful World of Radar Aeroecology Freya I. Addison (University of Leeds)
- 24 November: Climate Feedbacks and Dealing with Uncertainty in Climate Policy Prof. Piers Forster (University of Leeds)
- 15 December: Seasonal Selections from 2021
Sarah Barr, Ben Pickering, John Goulding (RMetS Yorkshire Local Centre committee members)
## **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**
The group held a virtual meeting titled ‘Air Quality and Climate Impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns’ on 18 November. The meeting was well-attended, with up to ~50 participants. It included several invited speakers from outside of the UK, including prominent scientists based in Germany and the US. The topic stimulated much interesting discussion.
## **Atmospheric Electricity**
The group virtually held the ‘Wilson Meeting on UK Atmospheric Electricity’ on 18 November; 51 people attended internationally. A meeting report was produced in preparation for _Weather._
## **Aviation Meteorology**
The Aviation Meteorology SIG was reactivated in 2021, and a committee was formed consisting of 6 members. A virtual meeting was held in June where members discussed areas they feel the SIG should address, noting that prioritising areas to focus on is essential due to limited time resource. There has been activity from committee members to support a proposed webinar for GA on weather on the near continent.
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## **Climate Science**
The Climate Science Special Interest Group was involved in a society discussion meeting on the IPCC 6th Assessment Report (AR6) Working Group 1 volume, “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”, on 15 September, which had been published in August. This meeting reviewed the report’s main findings and considered what it means for the ongoing development of our response to climate change and what message it sent to governments before they met in Glasgow at COP26.
## **Data Assimilation**
The DA SIG held two meetings in 2021. In March, the DA SIG supported the virtual Joint Workshop on Representation Uncertainty in the Earth Sciences which was attended by 77 scientists. The objective of this discussion-based workshop was to determine how representation uncertainty is defined and quantified in the Earth science communities of data assimilation, Earth observation and forecast verification. A workshop commentary has been submitted to Earth and Space Science.
In November, the DA SIG held the virtual meeting ‘Data assimilation for convection-permitting NWP’. This meeting reviewed the challenges of improving convection-permitting data assimilation including methodological developments and progress in making the best use of observations.
## **History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography**
At the end of the year, the number of members of the group had remained steady at approximately 80 individuals. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Group activities continued in 2021, including virtual meetings – ‘Picturing the Atmosphere: Photography and the Advancement of Atmospheric Science’ and ‘Everything is Unprecedented if you don't Study History’. Two Steering Committee meetings were held in April and October via Zoom.
Despite the difficulties this year, Julian Mayes once again produced two newsletters which were distributed by e-mail. Julian has also prepared an article on the History Group which was accepted for publication in Weather in 2022. Chris Folland and Peter Read published (in _Weather_ ) a Pen Portrait of former Society President, Prof. Raymond Hide, continuing our series of Pen Portraits. One Occasional Paper was published during the year; this is available via the Society website. The Society made our series of interviews with notable meteorologists available through the Distinguished Voices podcast.
Committee Member Chris Folland coordinated the Society’s meeting “The History of Climate Science Ideas and their Applications” to be held on 12 March 2022 at the Army and Navy Club in London.
In order to maintain activities during the pandemic, the Group launched a series of evening online meetings in 2021 with speakers including James R. Fleming, (Colby College), Terrence Nathan (UC Davis) and Martin Young (UK Met Office – retired). The Group also started accounts on Twitter and Facebook.
## **Meteorological Observing Systems**
Mike Brettle organised a joint national meeting titled ‘Measuring Climate Change’ which was held on 20 October. The meeting had been postponed several times, and although a live event would have been preferable, it was held virtually ahead of the COP26 meeting to avoid further delay. There were 5 speakers covering all aspects of measurements used for assessing climate change and the challenges each creates, and 80 people attended.
The group held its AGM via zoom on 17 November and produced both a spring and autumn newsletter.
## **Weather, Art and Music (WAM)**
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 January to 30 September 2021 the constitution of the Council was as recorded in the Annual Report for 2020. On 1 October 2021, the following Council held office:
PRESIDENT
David Griggs, PhD, FRMetS (also Chair, Strategic Planning Board and Awards Committee)
VICE-PRESIDENTS Lesley Gray, PhD, FRMetS (President Elect) Robert A Varley, FRMetS, CMet Catherine Senior
VICE-PRESIDENT FOR SCOTLAND Gary Johnston
## GENERAL SECRETARY
Shanti Majithia FRMetS, FRSS (also Chair, House Committee, Salary and Remuneration Committee and Membership development Board)
TREASURER Jennifer Campbell (also Chair, Societal Benefits Board)
COMMITTEE CHAIRS Amanda Maycock, PhD (Meetings and Conferences Committee) Anna Ghelli, PhD, FRMetS (Scientific Publishing Committee) Karl Shepherdson, FRMetS (Education Committee) Peter Stott, PhD, FRMetS (Science Engagement Committee) Will Lang PhD, FRMetS, CMet (Professional Accreditation Board)
MEMBERS OF COUNCIL Aisling Creevey, FRMetS, RMet Indrani Roy, FRMetS
Council met on three occasions during 2021 in February, June and November. In addition to routine business, Council approved the recommendations of the Society’s Awards Review, had discussion items on volunteering, net zero and the Fellowship review. Council also has pre-meeting presentations on: Charity Governance and the Role of Trustees; Net Zero; and Equality Diversity and Inclusion.
In addition to the Council meetings, an additional strategic planning activity took place in 2021. In order to take a longer term strategic view Council held a horizon scanning meeting looking at the 10-year timescale. The meeting focussed on what the major issues and trends are in a) weather and climate, and b) society in general, that could have a major impact on (i) what the Society does, and (ii) how the Society does it?
## **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. To identify the skills and knowledge it needs and inform future recruitment, the Society conducts an annual skills audit. The current Council membership has an equal gender balance, with some representation from ethnically diverse communities and sexual orientation.
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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 2021 on 17 May and 27 October.
## **Highlights from 2021:**
- Monitoring Governance issues is an important activity for the House Committee. An overall governance health check has been completed and highlighted that the Society is in a good position. However, it is crucial that changes in the outside environment, including the impacts of COVID-19, data protection, charity law and employment law are monitored closely to ensure the Society remains compliant.
- The Society’s Risk Register is one mechanism that ensures ongoing risk is reduced and monitored. This year House discussed risks relating to liability and added a new risk relating to the planning application and possible development work on the land adjacent to the Society’s Headquarters. House recommended that the Society take up the services of a surveyor and a heritage expert to provide advice.
- The House Committee was informed that the Society’s investment policy does not allow direct investment in tobacco, arms or fossil fuel providers. House has also recommended that the investment policy should be reviewed and consideration given to investment in companies that may indirectly have a negative reputational issues or environmental impact.
- Health and Safety issues continue to be carried out by professional experts with recommendations reported to and monitored by House.
- House supported the budget and business plan recommending them to Council. There was particular support for the new Fellowship proposal to help deliver strategic activities.
- Progress updates against the Society’s Net Zero pledge in future will be overseen by House
- • House was updated on the Society’s donations and legacies plan, including messaging to attract donations by framing specific projects aligned with charitable objectives and online donation platforms.
- • A comprehensive review of the Society’s Awards was undertaken and presented to the House. It was also agreed that a diverse Awards Committee with representatives for each award category and a regular skills audit to support this will be monitored.
## **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. The Chair of the SPB is the President of the Society. The business of the SPB has taken place with the continuing backdrop of COVID-19 imposed upon the business-as-usual of the Board.
Having agreed a new Strategic Plan in November 2020 there was less requirement for the SPB to meet in 2021 and consequently only one meeting was held on 6 October. At that meeting the Board reviewed the Strategic Plan and confirmed that the plan was still fit for purpose. It was suggested that the worst-case financial scenario should be updated to include the planned guaranteed minimum payment in the new publishing contract. The Board discussed the challenges and opportunities for the Society arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the impact on members, partners and on the Society’s events programme. The SPB also reviewed the draft budget and recommended that the Society revisit its reserves’ policy to help steer decisions about the amount of reserves it holds. The Board also considered priorities for additional spending, should resources be available, and recommended additional spending should be considered for introducing funded fellowship roles, producing more videos and podcasts on Society activities, explainers and careers etc, increasing communications and public engagement and to look at the long-term IT and infrastructure requirements of the Society.
## **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. In 2021, the Society partnered with: Grantham Institute, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading, AccuWeather, Create Education, BBC, ITV, Met Office, ECMWF, Royal Horticultural Society, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, the American Meteorological Society, the Australian Meteorological and
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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, The Society for Underwater Technology, UKRI, Wiley, StormHour, TORRO, Climate Action for Associations, Mathematics Education Innovation, Public Relations and Communications Association, Government of Jersey, STEM Learning, Global Action Plan/Transform Our World, Carbon Brief and the World Energy and Meteorology Council.
Highlights from the activity delivered through the Society’s business development and strategic activities in 2021:
- Delivering two Meteorological Masterclass series in partnership with the University of Reading to support the continued professional development of meteorologists
- Working closely with the Met Office to support the professional development of its staff through membership and accreditation
- Launching a partnership with Mathematics, Education, Innovation (MEI) to develop new teaching resources aimed at supporting maths teachers to integrate climate change into their lessons
- Continuing our partnership with ITV to support their broadcast meteorologists and journalists in communicating effectively about climate change, with a particular focus on developments in policy and science ahead of COP26
- Launching a new partnership with the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) to deliver climate change communications training to communication professionals, enabling them to communicate with their audiences about climate change
- Partnering with the Met Office and UKRI to deliver public engagement activity in the Green Zone at COP26
- Renewing our partnership with the National Centre for Atmospheric Science
- Supporting the Government of Jersey with the Jersey Citizens Assembly on Climate Change
- Joining the STEM Learning Climate Change Education Partnership to support the delivery of climate change education across formal and informal settings
- Delivering a careers workshop about climate journalism, with support from Carbon Brief
- Delivering the Weather Photographer of the Year competition in partnership with AccuWeather, significantly increasing engagement with the campaign for the second year in a row
- Partnering with the BBC to publish articles on Bitesize about careers in climate change and COP26
- • Joining Climate Action for Associations to share experiences with and learn from other associations and membership organisations working towards Net Zero
## **Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)**
In 2021, the Society completed the Science Council EDI progression framework, helping to identify areas to prioritise for improvement. Additionally, the Society refreshed its EDI committee, inviting a core of new committee members to help establish the scope of the Society’s work on EDI, and provided opportunities for learning and development for its staff, including delivering a workshop on unconscious bias. The Society has also begun to embed EDI activities into its partnerships to support the delivery of its broader EDI objectives.
## **Net Zero**
The Society joined over 100 signatories on the Pledge to Net Zero, the initiative tackling greenhouse gas emissions within the UK’s environmental services sector. This initiative strengthens the Society’s longstanding efforts to address the global climate emergency.
The Society is committed to achieving net zero direct carbon emissions (Scope 1 & 2) by 2025, where there is direct control through avoiding, reducing and substituting. It is also working towards net zero indirect emissions (Scope 3) by 2030, subject to a full feasibility assessment.
In addition, in 2021, the Society joined CAFA (Climate Action For Associations), which aims to increase climate and sustainability leadership, drive change and reach net zero using the collective power and influence of professional, trade associations and membership organisations. All CAFA members are committed to the same overarching goal: to become a net zero organisation and support their members to
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accelerate their collective net zero position. The Society also helped develop and signed The Charter for Climate Action. This Charter aims to leverage greater collective ambition through interdisciplinary coordination and is supported by many other professional bodies.
The Society will report on progress annually, and has already been collating information about scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2019 and 2020. It has been mindful of reducing its carbon footprint for over a decade and is taking steps to eliminate scope 1 emissions by replacing an end-of-life gas boiler with a new electric system. The Society has already cut its scope 2 electricity emissions to net zero by switching to a 100% renewable energy tariff, switching to efficient lighting and installing solar panels on the roof to contribute to its energy demands. Work to fully understand the scope 3 emissions is currently underway, and the roadmap will be updated after feasibility studies are complete.
## **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.
## **Highlights from 2021:**
- **Media coverage** : 188 media interview requests and 2,531 items of media coverage mentioning the Society, an increase of 9% and 52% respectively (worth noting that 2020 was not a full year as a formal monitoring contract only began in April 2020).
- **Website statistics** : Website users grew by 210% in 2021, with a total of 694,031 users visiting the website. The number of page views increased by 77%, from 520,111 in 2020 to 922,865 in 2021
- Our **social media** presence continues to grow across all our platforms; we have 14,116 followers on Twitter, 6,154 on Instagram, 4,474 on Facebook and over 2,000 followers on LinkedIn
- **Impact Report** : We published the first impact report (rmets.org/impactreport2020) in June 2021 to showcase the work of the Society based on the 2020 Annual Report. The Impact Report landing page and news story were viewed 380 times
- **Strategic Plan** : We launched this at the start of the year with a summary document, infographics and -
- video from the Chief Executive and President (rmets.org/strategic plan)
- **Media training** : Training for Science Engagement Manager as part of the Weston Communicating Climate programme
- **Email marketing** : We migrated our marketing email system in August 2021 and moved to Dynamics Marketing. The new system is fully integrated with our CRM and has additional capabilities, including marketing automation, landing pages, forms, and customer journeys. We trialled building user journeys through Dynamics Marketing in Q3 and Q4 through various lead-generation campaigns, which proved to be a tremendous success, resulting in 273 membership leads
In 2021, the Society delivered the following key marketing and communications activities:
## **COP26 Communications**
- Supported 10 broadcast media requests in the lead-up to and during COP26
- 11 daily public video bulletins were produced and included in a daily newsletter to showcase the people behind COP26 and demystify what was happening behind the scenes. Interviews included Peter Stott, the former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, Ed Hawkins, Laura Tobin, Penny Endersby, Emily Shuckburgh, actor Tim Guinee, Richard Betts, and the United Nations Global Indigenous Youth Caucus
- • The videos were kept behind a paywall to encourage newsletter sign-ups and have more meaningful engagement with the audience, with positive feedback from Media Trust, Glasgow City Council, Royal Geographical Society, Science Council and AccuWeather
- 283 contacts signed up to receive the daily bulletins in their inbox
- 189 member leads generated (new contacts/non-members)
- Over 1,700 views on YouTube
- 93 new subscribers to YouTube - we know that some of that total was a direct conversion whilst watching the COP bulletins (including the education bulletins from COP26)
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- Partnered with BBC Bitesize to produce content: 'COP26: What are its aims and how do we meet them?' and partnered with the Science Council's 'Connected for COP26' campaign with blogs and glossary content
- COP tab created in MetMatters, glossary page developed, and a webpage of resources for media in the lead up to COP26
- The Comms Team secured a place through a competitive process for Media Trust's first Weston Communicating Climate course, sharing learnings with colleagues over six months, and built new relationships with the other organisations taking part.
## **Membership**
- We continue to see a high engagement on our Members eNews, with stats performing above average. In 2021 the average open rate was 47%, and the average click-through rate was 16%. According to Campaign Monitor, the benchmark for charities is 20.4% and 13%, respectively.
- We shone a spotlight on Student Ambassadors for Volunteering Week in June, with content on our website and social media
- We piggybacked Laura Tobin's promotion of her Society Fellowship on Good Morning Britain and saw a spike in web traffic to our membership pages
- We negotiated a free trial of 'React and Share' – a website tool to capture immediate feedback and sentiment so we could tailor our content and see how well it is performing and meeting expectations
- Continue to make regular contributions to the European Meteorological Society and International Forum of Meteorological Societies newsletters and Met Office intranet, and work in partnership with communications teams across universities, NCAS (National Centre for Atmospheric Science), Science Council, and Wiley.
- We are developing the membership user journey, driving people through to the RMetS.org website and signposting them to relevant content and calls to action, e.g. using MetMatters and Weather Photographer of the Year as a membership recruitment tool. We are signposting member benefits as frequently as possible.
- Society Awards were virtual again in 2021, building on the previous landing page on the RMetS website to highlight each recipient and their achievements. A week-long social media campaign supported the winner announcements, and press coverage was coordinated with the relevant university and Met Office communications teams.
- We promoted an in-person networking event for members at COP26.
- We supported the Membership Team with flash polls across the year, and following feedback that 42% of members surveyed said their preferred members benefit is publications, we worked with Wiley to facilitate members' access to all our journals
- We launched a member-exclusive ‘Distinguished Voices’ podcast. This podcast is a digitisation of an audio series of interviews with distinguished meteorologists that the society began in the early 1980s. The podcast was a success amongst our members, with over 439 listens on launch day.
## **Scientific Publishing**
- Content from the journals continues to be promoted daily across social media channels. This promotion provides brand awareness and a regular source of content that benefits the social media algorithm and allows us to reach wider audiences.
- Potential news stories are identified within the journals to proactively gain media coverage, e.g. Hurricane Debbie's anniversary targeting Irish media.
- We built on our relationship with Wiley, the Met Office, and Woodland Trust for more substantial recognition of the State of the UK Climate Report in IJOC (International Journal of Climatology). We secured a media briefing with the Science Media Council ahead of publication and numerous interview requests, resulting in 1,100+ news items referencing RMetS and/or the journal.
- In 2021 there were 938 national and international coverage items directly referencing our publications.
## **Education and Outreach**
- We launched the new MetLink.org website on 25 February. The new website is designed to encourage users to stay on the site longer thanks to the addition of related resources and easier navigation through the sidebar, and the new teaching resources search functionality. The new website design also
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encourages people to sign up for our quarterly newsletter. 397 users have signed up for our MetLink newsletter since we launched.
- We migrated theWeather Club in April 2021 from a standalone website to a dedicated section under rmets.org. It was rebranded as MetMatters. The website stats so far demonstrate that this has had a positive impact on the number of website users and pageviews. From May to December 2021, we had 551,462 users browsing the website, of which 36% visited MetMatters content. Of the 696,895 total page views during that period, 31% can be attributed to MetMatters.
- Kirsty McCabe joined the team in 2021 as the MetMatters Editor and has developed a content strategy that allows us to be relevant and timely. We are also improving the content with more guest blogs, infographics, animations, and video content. We have already seen the success of this, with international news articles referencing MetMatters content and social media discussions noticing our explainers. Our tweet on heat domes received an above-average engagement with over 32k impressions and 163 reactions. We can also drive these conversations ourselves on social media by joining in with trending weather and climate topics. An example of this was a guest blog article on ‘The impacts of Hurricane Ida,’ our 3[rd] most viewed MetMatters post in 2021.
- The 6[th] year of Weather Photographer of the Year, and the third time in partnership with AccuWeather. A strategic plan was implemented to grow the competition by 10% beyond the huge uplift in KPIs in 2020. We received 8,908 entries from 114 countries - 13% increase (52% increase in last 2 years), 3,312 photographers - 22% increase (60% increase in last 2 years) and 12,392 votes for ‘The Public Favourite’ - 10% increase (167% increase in the last 2 years). Media coverage was across 410 outlets in 40+ countries – a 10% increase. We also introduced a 'Meet the experts' pre-launch webinar with 100 delegates attending.
- We ran an inbound marketing campaign with the 2021 careers booklet being offered as downloadable content in exchange for non-members' email addresses. We created a user journey using Dynamics Marketing, so any users that expressed an interest in our content would receive follow-up emails about the Society and its benefits; this resulted in 82 membership leads.
## **Annex G: Membership of Committees, Boards, Local Centres and SIGs**
The Committees listed below are the standing Committees of the Society as at 31 December 2021. Membership of other sub-committees, working groups and similar _ad hoc_ bodies are not detailed.
## **Accreditation Board**
Will Lang (Chair), Andrew Eccleston, Alan Hisscott, Pete Inness, Derek Swannick, Julian Mayes, Ross Reynolds, Bob Riddaway, Keith Thomson, Becky Venton, Emma Boorman, Ewen McCallum.
## **Awards Committee**
David Griggs (President and Chair), Eddy Graham and Simon Lee (Co-Editors, Weather), John Methven and Andrew Ross (Co-Editors, QJ), Becky Hemingway and Andrea Montani (Co-Editors, ASL), Cristina Charlton-Perez and Dino Zardi (Co-Editors, Met Apps), Bill Collins and Enric Aguilar (Co-Editors, IJOC), Kate Royse and Jian Peng (Co-Editors, GDJ), Lesley Gray (Vice-President), Jo Haigh, Liz Kent, Alan Thorpe.
## **Course Evaluation and Continuous Professional Development Panel**
Keith Thomson (Chair), Andrew Eccleston, Peter Jonas, Norman Lynagh, Paul Monger, Penny Tranter, Rebecca Venton, Michael de Villiers.
## **Education Committee**
Karl Shepherdson (Chair), Andrew Charlton-Perez, Simon Foster, Geoff Jenkins, Melissa Lord, Elah Matt (representative of World Energy and Meteorology Council), Ellen Phillips/Taj Bhutta (representatives of Institute of Physics), James Rae, Paula Richardson (Representative of Geographical Association), Jeremy Thomas, Simon Pinfield/Steve Brace (representatives of Royal Geographical Society), Rebecca Griffiths (representative of Met Office), Phoebe Smith-Barnes.
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## **House Committee**
Shanti Majithia (Chair), Catherine Senior (Vice-President), Anna Ghelli (Chair of Scientific Publishing Committee), Jennifer Campbell (Treasurer).
## **Meetings and Conferences Committee**
Amanda Maycock (Chair), Ioana Colfescu, Steve Colwell, Natalie Harvey, Edmund Henley, Simon Levey, Malcolm Newman, Mark Rodwell, Dafni Sifnioti, Alcide Zhao.
## **Membership Development Board**
Shanti Majithia (Chair), Daniel Brener, Sarah Dennis, Richard Griffiths, Sarah Hewitt, Amethyst Johnson, Katherine Latham.
## **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 and Simon Lee (Co-Editors, Weather), John Methven and Andrew Ross (Co-Editors, QJ), Becky Hemingway and Andrea Montani (Co-Editors, ASL), Cristina Charlton-Perez and Dino Zardi (CoEditors, Met Apps), Bill Collins and Enric Aguilar (Co-Editors, IJOC), Kate Royse and Jian Peng (CoEditors, GDJ), Vicky Pope and Habiba Gitay (Co-Editors, CRS). Representatives of Wiley are also invited to attend.
## **Strategic Planning Board**
David Griggs (President and Chair), Lesley Gray (Vice President, President Elect), Jennifer Campbell (Treasurer), Shanti Majithia (General Secretary and Chair of House Committee), Robert Varley.
## **Student Conference Organising Committee**
Shaun Dempsey (Chair), Michael Baidu, Tim Banyard, Lisa Degenhardt, Katie Hodge, Clare Lewis, Isabel Smith.
## **Vocational Qualification Group**
VACANT (Chair), Julian Mayes, Jodie Ramsdale, David Goldsworthy.
## **Local Centres**
**East Anglia Centre** Chris Bell (Chair), Dan Holley (Co-Chair)
## **East Midlands Centre**
Michael Steven (Chair), Roger Phillips (Editor: Weather Front), Alan Jones, Mike Longman.
## **North East Centre**
Deborah Smith, Ken Cook, Patricia Uttridge
## **North West Centre**
Emma Simpson (Chair), Hugo Ricketts (Vice-Chair), Andy Smedley, John Wilmer, Michael Woolley, Jonny Taylor, Keith Bower, Ron McLone, Doug Lowe, Ernesto Reyes Villegas
## **Scottish Centre**
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 G Meldrum, Ms M G Roy, 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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## **South East Centre**
Rob Thompson (Chair), Arathy Menon, Isabel Smith, Thorwald Stein
## **South West Centre**
Dick Bateman (Chair), Penny Tranter (Co-Chair)
## **Welsh Centre**
Dr Michaela Bray (Chair), Thomas Green
## **West Midlands**
Dr Ian D Phillips (Chair)
## **Yorkshire Centre**
Sarah Barr (Chair), John Goulding (Secretary), Thomas Sharp (Treasurer), Suzanne Robinson (Publicity Officer), Michael Baidu (Publicity Officer), Ben Pickering, Victoria Smith, Dorian Speakman, David Cherry, Jim McQuaid.
## **Special Interest Groups**
## **Atmospheric Chemistry**
Dr Ryan Hossaini and Dr Paul Griffiths (Co-Chairs)
## **Atmospheric Electricity**
Giles Harrison (Chair), Martin Füllekrug, Karen Aplin (Treasurer), Alec Bennett, Keri Nicoll
## **Aviation Meteorology**
Bob Lunnon (Chair), Mike O'Donohoe, Piers Buchanan, Frank Barrow, Phil Nicol-Gent, James Morrison
## **Climate Science**
Richard Betts (Chair)
## **Data Assimilation**
Amos Lawless (Chair), Joanne Waller (Secretary), Cristina Charlton-Perez, Stefano Ciavatta, Keith Haines, Bruce Ingleby and Matthew Martin
## **History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography**
Vladimir Jankovic (Chair), Julian Mayes (Secretary, Newsletter Editor), Howard Oliver (Coordinator - Occasional Papers), Chris Folland (Coordinator - Pen Portraits of Past Presidents), Sarah Pankiewicz and Catherine Ross (Representatives from NMLA), Norman Lynagh, John Gould, Richard Griffith, Peter Rowntree, Andrew Russ-Turner. Rob Allan, Dennis Wheeler, Joan Kenworthy and David Pedgley are Corresponding Members. **Note:** Mick Wood stepped down as Treasurer after serving for seventeen years.
## **Meteorological Observing Systems**
Steve Colwell (Chair), Mark Dutton (Newsletter Editor), Mike Brettle (Treasurer), Ian Strangeways, Keri Nicoll, Stephen Burt, Dave Bullock, Simon Bell, Stuart Goldstraw, Katie Muchan and Steve Turner.
## **Weather, Art and Music (WAM)**
Pierrette Thomet, (Chair), Peter Stott, (Secretary), John Thornes, (Treasurer)
## **Journal Editorial Boards**
## **Atmospheric Science Letters**
_**Editors:**_ R Hemingway and A Montani _**Associate Editors:**_ K Bhaganagar, E Black, J Booth, A Bott, T Diomede, A Dosio, V Ferracci, S Ghosh, S Hardiman, C Holloway, I Hoteit, M Kretschmer, C Li, C Liu, O Martinez-Alvarado, J McQuaid, A Mohebalhojeh, A Miller, R Neely, S Pal, R Parfitt, M Pritchard, H Reider, A Subramanian, N Theeuwes, D Woolf.
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**Climate Resilience and Sustainability** _**Editors:**_ V Pope and H Gitay _**Associate Editors:**_ Y Xu _(Deputy Editor)_ , K Monk _(Deputy Editor)_ , D Bernie, E Boyd, M Ekström, K Halsnæs, W Jiang, G Nagy, A Sharifi, J Supriatna, M Thompson-Hall, G Wang, C Weaver. **GeoScience Data Journal** _**Editor:**_ K Royse and J Peng _**Associate Editors:**_ J Fan ( _Regional Editor, China),_ L Brocca, R Crouthamel, Y Chen, P Diviacco, D Franco, B Hassler, G Lasslop, G Leng, C Reason, S Rennie, Y Shi, Y Su, J Tedds, C Vitolo, J Wagemann, J Wang, Y Wang, L Xu, M Zhang. **International Journal of Climatology** _**Editors**_ **:** W Collins and E Aguilar _**Associate Editors:**_ C White _(Deputy Editor),_ R Wu _(Deputy Editor)_ , R Huth, J Abatzoglou, A Argiriou, A Cherchi, J Marengo, I McKendry, V Moron, M Roth, Q You. **Meteorological Applications** _**Editors:**_ C Charlton-Perez and D Zardi _**Associate Editors:**_ C Archer, J Barre, J Bech, S Bell, J Bhandari, D Brayshaw, M Brunetti, L Carvalho, E Cattani, B Chen, A Cherchi, C Coelho, F Costabile, M Dorninger, R Emerton, E Ferrero, L Giovannini, N Petersen Guðrún, X Huang, C Kiel, M Koßmann, S Kotthaus, S Lerch, J Lundquist, G Marshall, C Mazzoleni, A Messeri, 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 Žagar. **Weather** _**Editors:**_ E Graham and S Lee _**Associate Editors:**_ T Blackmore, M Clark, S Hardy, D Holley, S Keates, P Knightley, R McElwee, B Pickering, J Ramsdale, D Smart, K Thomas, B Venton, Y Xuan.
**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 Rödder, J Rozenberg, E Zorita.
## **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
## **Without Whom**
During the year, the following Officers and Council Members retired from office with our grateful thanks.
**Vice President:** Jon Petch **Vice President:** David Warrilow **Council Member:** Helen Rossington
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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 December 2021 is shown below.
The Society welcomed Kelly Fletcher as Events Coordinator and Kirsty McCabe as Communications Officer during 2021. Sharon Reeve provided maternity leave cover for Cat Bicknell during 2021. The following member of staff left the Society during 2021: Eleanor Fettes.
## **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.
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## **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 and 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:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
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 and Blandy PO Box 1000 1 Friar Street BX1 1LT Reading RG1 1DA Auditors: Porter Garland Investment Advisors: Rathbone Investment Communication House Management Ltd Victoria Avenue 1 Curzon Street Camberley London, W1J 5FB Surrey GU15 3HX
Investment Powers: By-Laws (July 2011) 82 and 83 read:
- 82 The monies of The Society which are not subject to any specific trust purpose, and which are not required to meet current expenditure, may be invested in any securities quoted in the official list of any recognised Stock Exchange or placed on deposit with a reputable organisation. Council may only delegate its powers to select and make investments to the extent permitted by the provisions of The Royal Charter and the relevant legislation governing responsibilities of Trustees and Charities[1] .
> 1 Reference should be made to Part IV, Section 11(3) of the Trustees Act 2000.
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83 The Society’s premises shall not be sold or disposed of except with the sanction of a General Meeting of The Society.
## **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:
- Ensure the viability of the Society on a year-by-year basis and in the long term as an assurance against significant financial risks.
- Enable the medium to long-term development of the Society’s aims and objectives.
## **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).
## **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:
Page 33 of 37
- provide some resilience against “single event” failures, e.g. a significant failure of a large conference (~£100,000);
- allow front-loaded strategic spend-to-save measures (~£200,000);
- allow some “one-off” expenditures on an opportunist basis (~£100,000);
- allow a recovery period for significant changes in the income/expenditure balance (~£150,000);
- create a margin for medium term market fluctuations (~£100,000).
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.
Page 34 of 37
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.
## **Annex H: 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 plays an important role in ensuring public trust and confidence in the scientific workforce and transparency in the process of science. The Science Council’s registers (CSci and RSci) provide independent peer-led recognition of achievement and evidence of the profession. The organisation was formed 20 years ago from an informal network of professional science bodies; the Science Council’s membership now stands at 36 organisations with many more associated through the Employer Champion and Technician Commitment programmes. It brings the science community together to harness its collective expertise in the pursuit of professional excellence and uses that expertise to inform public policy. The Science Council set standards for professional registration of scientists and science technicians and fosters 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 Carole Mundell as the President.
The Science Council has four key themes in its current strategy: registers and licenses; community and membership; policy and influence; and EDI. The Society continues to be a Member of the Science Council.
## **General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo)**
GASCo is a body aimed at facilitating good communication of relevant safety information amongst private flyers. It 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. The Society is a member of GASCo.
In 2021 the Society continued its participation through virtual meetings. A joint event between the Society and GASCo, that had been due to take place in April 2020 on the subject of “Weather for Private Pilot Licence Holders”, was successfully run as a webinar on 10 April 2021, attracting 54 participants. The webinar was well timed for those pilots returning to the cockpit after the extended breaks from flying occasioned by the pandemic, reminding them of the importance of looking carefully at the weather when flight planning. Discussions are currently underway with GASCo to run a virtual event in April 2022. During 2021 the Society took the opportunity that virtual platforms have provided to re-form the Aviation Meteorology Special Interest Group, with Robert Lunnon as Chair.
## **UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC)**
The Flight Safety Committee (FSC) comprises commercial operators including airlines such as EasyJet, Ryanair, and smaller concerns down to British Antarctic Survey. Bob Lunnon attended the three virtual FSC Safety Information Exchange meetings held in 2021. At the April meeting, the issue of problems of landing at Malaga was raised and dialogue with the relevant Flight Planning company and the Society on aviation meteorology means it is likely that the problem could be solved. There were no reports of met-related concerns at the July meeting. At the December meeting, two accidents involving inadvertent flight in instrument meteorological conditions (i.e. in cloud when the pilot has to fly primarily by reference to instruments) were reported. Inadvertent flight in instrument meteorological conditions was one of four principle factors identified by the CAA as contributing to GA accidents.
Page 35 of 37
## **European Meteorological Society (EMS)**
## **EMS Membership and RMetS Representation**
The European Meteorological Society (EMS) is an Association of 39 Meteorological Societies from 31 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.
The following meetings have taken place:
- 45[th] EMS Council on 3 February 2021
- 46[th] EMS Council on 22-23 March 2021
- 47[th] EMS Council on 26 August 2021 Shanti Majithia, General Secretary, attended the meetings via video conferencing. These were chaired by Bert Holtslag, EMS President.
## **EMS Annual Meetings**
The EMS Council decided to host a virtual EMS Annual Meeting 2021 on 6-10 September and it was attended by 549 participants from 43 countries.
- **2022 EMS Annual Meeting** will take place in Bonn from 4-9 September 2022 on the topic of ‘Connecting communities to deliver seamless weather and climate science and services’. EMS Annual Meeting 2022: 4-9 September 2022, University of Bonn, Germany
- **2023 EMS Annual Meeting** : 3-8 September 2023, University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia
- **2024 EMS Annual Meeting** : likely 2-6 September 2024, Historical University of Barcelona, Spain.
## **EMS Silver Medal Award**
Erik Lundtang Peterson was selected as the recipient of the EMS Silver Medal 2021. This award recognises his outstanding contribution to wind energy meteorology and leading role in the creation of the European Wind Atlas.
## **EMS Strategy**
The EMS launched its new strategy in 2021. The strategic plan is based on a set of strategic objectives:
- There is a forward-looking, responsive and cooperative European meteorological community that includes professionals from the academic, public and private sectors.
- The activities of Member Societies and Associate Members are promoted and supported to maximise the benefits and outreach of those activities.
- Meteorological information is well understood and considered to the maximum possible extent by users, policymakers and the public.
- The EMS is an influential and well-run organisation with effective governance and use of social platforms/networks, based upon the committed involvement of its membership.
The plan can be downloaded here: EMS-Strategic-Plan_2021-2024.
## **EMS Council membership**
Saskia Willemse (SMG, Switzerland) and Panagiotis Nastos (HMH, Greece) completed their term of office on the EMS Council and Guðrún Nína Petersen, as representative of the Veðurfræðifélagið (VeF), and Tanja Cegnar, as representative of the Slovensko Meteorolosko Drustvo (SMD), joined the EMS Council for a 3-year term.
Page 36 of 37
## **International Forum of Meteorological Societies (IFMS) IFMS Membership and RMetS Representation**
The International Forum of Meteorological Societies (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. Prof Liz Bentley, the Society’s Chief Executive, is the IFMS Councillor for the WMO Region VI. The Council meets every few months via teleconference.
## **IFMS General Assembly Meeting**
The 7th Global Meeting of IFMS took place virtually during November and December 2021 split over 6 days across different time zones to accommodate as many international delegates as possible.
- **Session 1A** on 17 November and 1B on 18 November: Get to know your sister Societies including presentations from IFMS members followed by a short discussion on how IFMS can help member Societies to grow.
- **Session 2** on 24 November: Importance of Creating NMSocs and a Panel Discussion on IFMS Approach on Education and Training.
- **Session 3** on 1 December: Presentation on IFMS Value Proposition and Financial arrangements and a Panel Discussion on “IFMS Value Proposition (VP) and prioritization of VP items”.
- **Session 4** on 8 December: Public Lecture on Causes of Global Warming & Climate Change (GW&CC), its Remedies and knowing it is happening how to cope with the effects of GW&CC and a Panel Discussion.
- **Session 5** on 15 December: Presentations on Multi Hazard, Early Warning System of Europe (A4EU and MH-EWS) and a Panel Discussion on Requirements of MH-EWS and best ways to make it available to all countries.
The IFMS website is updated regularly and a newsletter is produced and distributed twice a year. The IFMS hosts webinars and during 2021 there were four webinars on Education and Training, Creating National Met Societies, Global Campus Initiative and COMET Training Programs, all are available on the IFMS website ifms.org.
Page 37 of 37
Royal Meteorological Society
Audited Accounts
For the year ended 31 December 2021
INDEX
Page
Auditor5, Report
Statement of Financial Activities
Balan 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 2021 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:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 December 2021, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
## **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:
- the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees’ report;
- or
- the charity has not kept adequate accounting records; or
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 41 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:
- Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
- Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charity’s internal control.
- Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the trustees.
- Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charity to cease to continue as a going concern.
- Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation (ie. gives a true and fair view).
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.
## **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.
|A Williams|22 April 2022||
|---|---|---|
|Porter Garland Limited (Ms A E Williams)||Communication House|
|||Victoria Avenue|
|||Camberley|
|||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 2021
Designated
Legacie5
Fund
Total
Funds
2021
Total
Funds
2020
General
Fund
Income and Éxpenditure
Note
Incoming Resources
Donations, Le8acie5 and Gift5
Membership
Charitable Actiwties
PublicotlOFJ5
- Meetings ond Evethts
Investment Income
other Income- mistrllaneous
16
18
1,633
237,379
1,633
237379
li
204,604
828,669
19,823
18,339
32,181
828,669
19,823
27.380
32.181
850,711
5.695
25,225
19,850
9,10
17
16
9.041
Total Incoming Resources
1,138,024 £
9.041 £
L147.065
1.106,097
Resources Expertded
Fundralsing
Charitable Attiwties
Publicotions
Meetings ond Evenrs
- SchoolsAttivities
- GrontsAworded
-SupportedOrguni50rions
. Locol Centres
-Awords ond Pn2es
Centrolsupport
Other costs miscellaneous
22
51.161
51,161
42.511
li
12
13
14
15
19
zo
21
191,786
87,845
49,236
1,185
47.755
17,126
9,659
540,101
11.756
191,786
87,845
66,117
2.685
47.755
17,126
1¢.884
540,101
11,756
161,972
78,S93
128,476
11901
29,751
18,431
20.752
529,477
10.577
16,881
1,500
5.225
Total Resources Expended
1,007,610 £
23.606 £
1,031,216
1,020,350
Net Incomlng Resources for the Year
130.414 £
114,5651 £
115.849
8S.747
Other Re¢o¥nised Gains and Losses
Gains 1 ILossesl on Revaluation of Investments
Gain5 1 IL05se51 on Investment Sales
62,049
8.659
31.025
4,330
93,074
12,989
956
IID,1671
Net Movements in Funds
201.IZ2 £
20.790 £
221,912
76.536
Total Funds brought forward
Z,224,949
290.359
2,515,308
2,438,772
Total Funds carried for%v3rd
2.426.071 £
311,149 £
2.737.Z20
Z,515.308
The notes on pages 6 te 17 forrn an integral part of these accounts.
Page 3
## **Royal Meteorological Society**
## **Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2021**
|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|2021
555,349
1,240,931
1,796,280
68,586
1,117,807
1,186,393
245,453
940,940
£
2,737,220
2,426,071
311,149
£
2,737,220|2021
555,349
1,240,931
1,796,280
68,586
1,117,807
1,186,393
245,453
940,940
£
2,737,220
2,426,071
311,149
£
2,737,220|2020|
|---|---|---|---|
||68,586
1,117,807||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|
|||
||
||1,186,393
245,453|||
|||||
|||£
£||
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 22 April 2022 by:**_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
David Griggs President
**----- End of picture text -----**
_Jennifer Campbell_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Treasurer
**----- End of picture text -----**
Page 4
Royal Meteorological Society
Cashflow Statement
for the Year ended 31 December 2021
DesIated Total
General Legacles
Funds
Fund
Fund
2021
Total
2020
Note
N•t ush pro¥lded by owatlrrf actlvltles..
N¢t mo%*nefit itt funds
201,122
20,79CI
221.912
76,536
Oepreciatlon of tangible fixed a55ets
Investment Income
IGainsl I1055es on revaluation of investments
IGainsl I losses on disposal of investments
Decrease / Iln¢reasel in debtors
Inueasel Ideueasel in creditws
4,967
118,3391
162,0491
18,6591
134.2651
114.5161
4.967
127.3801
193,0741
112.9891
134.2651
114.5161
8.769
125,225
19551
10,167
16.973
4764
17
19.0411
131,0251
14.3301
1132.8611
144.3961 1177.2571
57.S93
Netash from OPErating actmtyes
68.261
23.6061
44,655
134,129
Cashllowsfrom Irwe5tinB arti¥ities'.
Dividends recelved
Interest recelved
Purchase of In¥estment5
Proceeds of dlsposal of investments
pUhaS• of tangible fLYed assets
18,082
257
1103.9911
93.215
19.8511
9,041
27.123
257
151.9961 1155.9871
46.607
139.822
19.8511
23,702
1,523
1169.7901
77.827
Tot•1 from In¥éstin8 aCti¥ltl
12.2881
3.6S2
166.7381
Inueasel IDecreasel (ash
65,973 £
19,954
46.019
67,391
ReConclllatTh of net ¢ashflow
Cash held at 310e¢ember
Cash held at l January
1.117,807
1.071.788
1,071,788
1.004.397
Ch•hi• In t•sh •hd tash e4uivalents duTlW th• y••i
46,019
67.391
Page 5
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year ended 31 December 2021
General informatlon
The Charity is a re8lStered charity in England and Wales and is unincorporated.
The address of the principal office is 104 Oxford Road, Readin& RGI 7LL.
These financlal statements h3ve been prepared in compl&ance with FRS 102. 'The Financial Reportin8 Standard
applicable in the UKand the Republic of Ireland, the5tatement of Recommended Practice applicable to charitie5
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 Charitie5 Act 2011.
l. Accounting Policies
83sis of preparation
The financial Statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis. as modifled by the revaluation of
certain financial assets and liabilities and investment properties rneasured at fair value through incorne or
expenditure.
The finanoal statements are ppared in sterlinE, whlch is the functional currency of the entity.
Goln8 Concern
There are no material uncertainties about the charity's abtlity to continue.
Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees to further any of the Charity's purposes.
Designated funds are UnstrICted funds earmarked by the trustees for a parricular 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.. restricted income funds or endowment funds.
Incomin8 resources
All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when entitlement has passed to the
charity,. it is probabl& that the economSc benefit5 associated with the transaction will flow to the charlty and the
amount can be rellably measured. The followin8 specific policies are applied to particular cate@orie5 of incorne..
income from donations or grants is recognised when there is evldence of entitlement to the gift.
receipt is probable and it5 amount can be measured reliablv.
legacy income Is recognised when receipt is probable and entitlernent is established.
income from donated goods 15 measured at the fair value ol the 8oods unless this is impractical to
measure reliably. in which case the value is derived from the cost to the donor or the estim3ted
resale value. Donated facilities and services are recognised in the accounts when recelved if the value
can be reliably measured. No amounts are included for the contribution of Eeneral volunteers.
income frorn contracts for the supply of services is recognised with the delivery of the contracted
service. Thi5 Is classified as unrestricted funds unless there is a contractual requirement lor it to be
spent on a particularpurpose and returned if unspent, in which case it may be regarded as restricted.
Page 6
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year ended 31 December 2021
Resources expended
Expenditure 15 recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which
cannot be fully recovered, and is classified Urer headings of the statement of financial activities to which it
relates..
expenditure on rèising fLJnds includes the costs of all fundraising activities, events, non-charitable
trading activities, and the sale of donated goods.
expenditure on charitable activities includes all costs incurred by a charity in undertaking activities
that further its charitable airns for the beneflt of it5 beneficiaries, including those support costs and
costs relating to the governance of the tharity apportioned to charitable activities.
other expenditure includes all expenditure that 15 neither related to raisin8 funds for the charity nor
part of Its expenditure on charitable activities.
All costs are allocated to expenditure categorie5 reflecting the 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 reasonablei justifiable and consistent basis.
Tan8lble a55ets
All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost.
Depreciatlon
Depreciation is calculated so as tts write off the cost or valuation of an asset, le5S Its residual value. over the
useful economic Ilfe of that asset as follows-
Furniture, fixtures and fi'tting5
Office equipment
IO% on cost
20%- 33% on cost
Investments
Unlisted equity inve5tment5 are initially recorded at cost. and 5ubseouently measured at fair value. If fair value
cannot be reliably measured, assets are rnea5ured at cost less impairment.
Listed investments are measured at fabr value with changes in fair value being recognised in income or
expenditure,
Finantial instruments
A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the charity become5 a party to the contractual
provisions of the instrument.
Basic financial instrument5 are initially reco8nised at the amount reTrivable or payable Including any rel3ted
transaction costs.
Current assets and current liabilities are subsequently measured at the cash or other consideration expected to
be paid or received and not discounted.
Page 7
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year ended 31 December 2021
Where investments in shares are publicly traded or thelr falr value can otherwlse be measured reliabfy, the
investmènt IS 5ub5equèntly measured at falr value with chan8es in fair value recognised in Income and
expenditure. All other such investments are subsequently measured at cost less impairment.
Oebtgrs and trade creditors that are measured at cost or amortised cost are eWed for ob}eIVe evldence of
impairmeni ai the end of each reporting dale. If there is objective evidence of impairment. an impairment loss
15 recognised under the appropriate headin8 in the Statement of financial activities Sn whlch the initial gain was
recognSsed.
For all equity instruments re8ardles5 of si8nificance, and other flnanclal assets that are individually signlflcanL
these are assessed 1rndividua1 for impairment. Other finan¢ial asseis are either assessed individually orgrouped
on the basi5 of similar credit risk characteri5tlC5.
Any reversals of impairrnent arè recognised imrnediately, to the extent that the reversal does not result In a
carryin8 amount of the flnancial asset that exceeds what the carrying amount would have been had the
impairment not previously been recognSsed.
P•nsbon
The Sodètls eontribvtions In respect of the Staff penston arrangèments are charged to the Income and
Expenditure Account for the year in which they are payablè to thè pension providers. From I lune 2016 the
Society has had auto enrolment pension arrangements in plate.
Page 8
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
forthe Year Ended 31 December 2021
Note
FTh•Pd &
Eqdwn¢nt
Property
Tthl
At l January 2021
Additlons
Disposals
$44.$90
188,809
9,851
110.0131
733,399
9,851
110,0131
*131 D•¢•mb•r2QU
544.$9) É
101617 £
n3,207
D¢pr¢¢l•ii•n
At l January 2021
Charyeforytor
Lkn th"Jp05
182,934
4.967
182.934
4.967
110,0•31
At JI D•¢•mt*2021
177,858 É
177,858
N*t BookV*lu•
Al 31 D4(•mb•r2011
S44.5 E
14759 E
555.349
At31 tso(•mb•r202
544,590 £
&875 £
550,465
Quoted In¥•rtm8*ts
Marketv•IuÈ * i linuary
L118.703
155.987
1116,8321
IP35.952
169.789
87.9941
r*5P051
At 31 D•umbv
I.14758 £
1.117.74?
Ilevaluaihinto Mothtvalue
93?3
MiwketV•l¥e4t JI Deten
L240.931 £
1,118.703
1.019.756 E
955.613
TheSoc*Ws Investments ale man¥ed iryRthbrffje*we5tm•it nagneI iirrdt•d. Thevalue olthe portlolty). tr¢the
2021
2010
Governm•nt Siockand Corporat• 8orAs
UK Equit195
I15 EqultIESIOtt1nvestThfv1J
305.126
359.373
57&432
316,742
367,961
1.24Q931 £
1,118.70J
Page 9
## **Royal Meteorological Society**
## **Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2021**
## **Note**
|**4.**
**Debtors and Stock**
Debtors
Payments in Advance
Gift Aid Recoverable
**Total Debtors**
**5.**
**Balances at Bank and Cash in Hand**
Lloyds Bank Pie - Current Account
Lloyds Bank Pie - Deposit Account
Investment Managers Cash Account
Cash
**6.**
**Creditors: Amount Falling Due Within One Year**
Creditors and Accrued Charges
Amounts Received in Advance:
Membership Subscriptions
Value Added Tax Payable
PAYE and National Insurance|**2021**
2020
5,430
1,564
18,879
5,980
44,277
26,777|
|---|---|
||**£**
**68,586£ **
**34,321**
28,668
65,426
1,061,413
980,998
27,493
25,044
233
320|
||**£**
**1,117,807£ **
**1,071,788**
137,451
165,856
90,006
70,426
2,471
9,206
15,525
14,481|
||**£**
**245,453**£
259,969|
## **7. Analysis of Net Assets between Funds**
|Fund Balances are represented by:
Quoted Investments
Other Net Assets|**Designated**
**Designated**
**Unrestricted**
**General**
**Unrestricted**
General
**2021**
**2021**
**2020**
**2020**
413,644
827,287
372,901
745,802
-102,495
1,598,784
-82,542
1,479,147|
|---|---|
||**£**
**311,149 £**
**2,426,071£ **
**290,359£ 2,224,949**|
Page10
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year Ended 31 December 2021
Note
2021
2020
Publlcations etc- Incom* IG•neral Fund)
Net receipts from scientif1¢ publications
Calendar
Other Publications
814.515
3,422
10,732
842,850
4.648
3.214
Publlcatlons In¢ome Total
828.669 £
850,712
Deslgnated
Legacies
Fund
General
2021
2020
Fund
Total
Total
Meetlngs and Events Income
National Meetin8S
SIG meetlng5
250
250
10. Conference Income
Oelegate Receipts and Sponsorship
19.823
19.823
5.445
19,823 £
19,823 £
5,445
Total Meetlng5 kncome (Not¢$ 9 & 101
19.823 £
19.823 £
5,695
Page11
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year Ended 31 December 2021
Note
IL Publlutlons Expenditure IGen•ral Fund)
2021
2020
3rterly Journ31
Subscrlptlons and Oiher Costs
Stall Costs
1.826
16.4C
2.725
19.737
3,146
Premi5es•nd Admin ¢knhud5
20.957
24.731
Weath•r
Sub5¢ripfions and Other Costs
siaff Costs
64.923
12,601
2.097
62,562
13,
2,086
pmISeS and Admsn Overhead5
79,621
77.716
Intern3tlonal Journal of CllmatoloKy
Subscriptions and Other Cosls
Staff Costs
120
193
3.348
4.550
Premlsts •ndAdrnin 0s*rheads
557
725
4.025
5,478
Meteorologlcal Applkatlon5
Subscriptions 3nd Other Costs
ststt Costs
Pr•mis•s•nd Admin Overheads
5.543
924
4.060
647
6,467
4,707
Atmospherf¢ ence Lellers
Subscrlption5 and Other Cost5
Staff Costs
3,999
2.307
PremJse5 and Admin thErheads
663
4.662
2.675
Calendar
Produrtion Costs
1,481
2.295
7,749
1,238
Staff Costs
Premise$ ond Admln Overheads
3,946
651
6.078
11.28Z
Oiher Publications li1 digltall
Prodvction Costs
15,802
46,463
7.711
3,125
27,819
4,439
staff Costs
Premise5 and Adrnin (thrheads
69.976
35,383
Publcatlons ExpendltureTotsl
£ 191,786
161.972
Page 12
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
forthe Year Ended 31 December 2021
Note
De4gnat•d
Legad•s
Jnd
2011
2020
IL Meetfjty ar Evetts Expendltur•
Fund
Totsi
Total
Natlon•l MeetlnES
Dlrecr C051S
Staff Costs
1.701
19.619
3.258
L702
19,619
3,Z58
4,768
19,4
3,112
Premls•s 4ndAdmin Ov¢rh¢•ds
24,579 £
24.579 £
27,360
(ther Meetlnyand events
other E¥t5
stsff Cosis
and Adrnin cfvethoads
578
16.561
2.748
1fi561
2,748
17.811
2,845
19,309 £
19.309 £
11,234
Conference5
Premists HSre.Travd and Caiwfjr¢
Staff Cost5
Premlses and Admln O¥erheads
6.397
32,205
6.397
32.205
5,355
1.615
23,643
3.781
43.957 £
43,957 £
29,039
SpEcialistGmupsand Mi5tdl*n•ous Meetings
Dlrert Costs
960
Total Meetln4s EXpelIre
87.845 £
87,845 £
79.S93
ExpEndltur•
Dirert Costs
16,881
16.881
64,746
54.951
8,779
Staff Costs
Premlses and Admin (herhe*Js
42,223
7.013
42,223
?.013
49,236 É
16.881 £
66,117 £
128,476
Grants
Meetkn85 and ConferniceGrants
stsff Co$15
Premlses and fvlmin O¥*tsads
119))
L019
166
1.019
166
1.185 £
i.soo £
2.685 É
11901
Page 13
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year Ended 31 December 2021
Note
Desiin•ted
Leiacles
Fund
Genlrnl
2021
2020
Fund
Total
Total
15. Support•d Or8anisation5
EMS Membership and Meetin8S
Sclence Council Member5hlp and Meetings
Other Or6anisation5
Staff Costs
5.237
1,706
4,110
31,478
5,237
1,706
4.110
31.478
5,224
5,695
1,$50
1.503
18.115
2.888
Premlsesand Admin Overheads
5.224
47,755 £
47.7SS £
29.751
l& Mixellantoljs Incom•
Grants, special funding
Donatlons and legacies
Reprodutiion Fees, Advertlslng Royakies and other
10.285
1,633
21,896
10,285
1,633
21,896
4,583
li
15.267
33,814 £
33,814 £
19.861
17. Investment Income
lThterest on Deposits
Incomé fr¢)m Share5 and secur1t$
257
257
1523
23.702
9.041
27.123
18,339 £
9,041 £
27,380 £
25.225
18. Memb•r$hip In¢omE
Members
Gift
213,658
17.5C¥)
6.221
213,658
17,500
6,221
186.783
10.705
7,116
Accredltatlon Fees
237.379 £
237,379 £ 204.604
Page 14
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year Ended 31 December 2021
Note
De5111•d
Gethetal
2021
2020
Fund
Fund
Total
Total
19. Loc•1 c•1¥$ Subvention5
North Elst Centre
West Centre
Scottish Centre
East Mlrflands Centre
South West Centre
YorkshSre Centre
We¥t Midands
staff Costs
14.345
2,381
14,345
2,381
15,888
2.543
Prernlse5 •nd Adrrln Cbrtthe•ds
17,126 £
17.126 £
18A31
Awa$ Comnttee Exp&)diiur•
Buthan Prf2e
600
600
6C
L F Rlchardson Prize
1.2C#)
1.200
1.2(N)
Fitiroy Pri2È
Gordon Manley Weafvr Prts*
Michad Hunt Award
325
325
325
600
Climate Science CornmUnl¢•C0¥ Award
Valsaa Award
600
600
300
300
Malcolrn WalkerAward
250
250
250
Innovatlon Award
15
Medals aw4rdEd
4SO
450
5,400
9,623
1,539
Staff Costs
Premi5e5 ènd Admin Overheads
8,285
1,374
8,285
1,374
9,6S9 É
S.225 £
14.884 £
20,752
Page 15
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year Ended 31 December 2021
Note
De5MIe0
L¢8*tl¢s
Fund
General
Funo
2021
2020
Total
Tot•1
21. M•na8ement ind Admlnistralion Exptnse5
Governance..
Audit Fee
4.484
838
3,650
1.151
Counol (Venuei P05L Photoeorlesetcl
rravd- Cowdl
838
B•nk and BACS Charges
Mernbership IP05t. Photocopies etc.I
Travel- Other Cornrnlttees
6.39)
1,676
6,390
1.676
4,719
2.302
Iravel- Othtr Meetir85
Membership Advertising 1Pmfi1k1nII costs
ProfessTraI charges
Sundries
4.794
5.680
33,922
2.708
403.989
20,8(K>
54,820
540.101 £
974
5,680
33,922
6,489
17,414
2.102
417.023
10,235
53,179
529.477
staff Costs (Note 221
E#alA1$hrrt Expendlture (Note 231
Ath¢Thistration Support (Note 241
403,989
20,800
54,8ZO
540,101 £
aff Admlnistr
Salaries
581,172
54,243
56,016
691.431
21.760
713,191 £
581,172
54.243
S6,016
691,431
21.760
713,191 £
566,351
59.342
51.393
677,D86
21.259
698,345
NatSonal Insurance
Pension kheme
Other staff related costs
AprtIoned to Fundrai
Apportioned to Activities
Administration Support
51.161
258,041
403.989
713,191 £
51,161
258,041
403.989
713.191 £
42.511
238,811
417,023
698.345
The 4vérage number ol em0vee5 duriw the year w•5 171202fy. 171, and the ara¢e number of full time equNalent employees
was 1412020.. 151.
Salary of hl8he5t p•ld ernployee £83,07812020.. £81,656>
The society fOrtUna1eaTrd gra11 to re(ei%* the SUFWrt ol a large nwnberolNxslunteefswho£ontrthJut¢ enorn%)us acr055 all
artiwtit5 of the chty. ThisyearBuest speakn •re Irded in ow **unteertotals. STh 2021 there were 49S activevoluntetrs
12020.. 4471.
Page 16
Royal Meteorological Society
Notes to the Accounts
for the Year Ended 31 December 2021
Not•
6•n•r
2021
2020
Fund
Fund
To
Ert•WJ5hrn•nt
Pates irflwJlNaWaterRat•s
2J35
9.765
5.980
2.4$6
6.585
2M35
9.765
5,9
1456
&585
4.967
2.8S8
InSurCe
5.604
2.156
8htlll8and HIatl
Pepairs and Maknierwce
1,769
ItssDTrtxswsil•f rd ass•t6
Ji580 £
32W £
30.744
11.788
20.800
J2,M8 £
' Ir*ludq5Tryst•• Ir£mrtY IUrIeth1S Pwt c4the iTht•irai•é combinodctyrtr.
IL78B
20.800
10.$09
20.23S
3Q,744
AdminOn5¥pP0rtCQlts
ComputerS4ftwariTr3iniwètE.
printiw PtsJiocQ1rI(
StsIKJnEry•n¢ orfiteW*s
Postw*d Pxki
64,386
297
SS.896
197
2.216
2,216
17.172
Z.271
18,489
17.172
15J78 £
Jl.059
54.820
JL059
54.820
15,179 £
17,627
53.179
rniThStration
Is79 £
2k Ilwary
14o•mounts have been ilUded in the Jccoynu ftyr th• of th• Lbbrarytr Luk• Huward wintity, iierns on loan w 5cSEnhwil not b¢Sl1n1¢S*S0*Q 5heei.
. PA*odP¥ti•%
N•n*of tTrv51qS hAd interest irtoi b•nefit Irom tfènsact10nsthtScrt1ItyUNrll02L tsJriNth• yearnpTrwtqis
wery reiffibur51dtrlheif4y4*nS•$12010- 1 rnlmt4rwrteTrtfor£91.
Page 17