Friday, May 2nd, 2025 on 5 at 8:00pm
Storms are becoming stronger and stronger. But the fightback has begun. And it’s taking place up above us, above the clouds. Today, cutting-edge technology is helping meteorologists track the most dangerous weather like never before – from above! Warning people about lightning, tornadoes, and hurricanes, so they can get to safety.
With climate change making the world’s weather even more deadly, Earth’s arsenal of weather-watching weaponry is essential in the fight to keep us safe and well. Watched over by satellites, drones & weather planes, we’re better at forecasting weather than ever.
Our planet’s weather is being policed by incredible flying laboratories, aeroplanes taking off every day in the UK carrying out scientific analysis with no less than four tonnes of science equipment. The weather is being observed by high-altitude drones from Switzerland which are flying higher than any drone has flown before. And it also being watched over from space by futuristic weather satellites. Like the game-changing GOES satellites from the USA, tracking hurricanes over the Atlantic, watching them, and sharing vital information with meteorologists on the ground to help minimise the destruction they cause when they make landfall in the Caribbean and in US states like Florida. Europe has its own secret weapon too, the most modern weather satellite ever constructed, looking out for dangerous weather events including spotting wildfires early and enabling emergency services to save lives.
But we are also trying to control the weather, using cloud seeding to create rainfall. It’s a controversial topic, but it’s happening all over the world.