The Met Office has launched a new online tool for airlines which offers accurate weather forecasts.

The Met Office has launched a new service, Clearflight, which provides airlines, flight operators and dispatchers with accurate worldwide weather forecasts.

The online tool is designed to help “optimise flight operations” by providing weather information at both departure and destination airports around the world.

It will also help airlines set personalised ‘critical weather thresholds’, which take into account any potential weather problems and help them deal with them accordingly, to ensure passenger and aircraft safety.

The service provides a clear view of weather happening across the globe, and has features such as: global temperatures and winds – up to 36 hours ahead; a real-time display of hazards such as volcanoes and storms; along with a display of global METARs (aviation routine weather reports) and TAFs (Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts).

Doug Johnson, Head of Transport at the Met Office, says: “This new web-based service gives airlines unlimited, round-the-clock access to the most comprehensive weather information – no matter where you are in the world.

“By receiving a weather briefing direct from the specialists in aviation meteorology, flight planners will be able to make the best operational decisions in weather-sensitive situations.”

The Met Office has come under much criticism this year. It had to revise its 2009 summer weather forecast after the country experienced heavy rainfall and below-average temperatures, and in August, critics slammed the installation of the UK’s most powerful computer at the Met Office’s headquarters in Exeter.

The ‘supercomputer’ is designed to help scientists predict long-term weather and climate change forecast, however critics have drawn attention to its less-than-green credentials – it reportedly uses the same amount of electricity as a small town, and is capable of producing 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.