An external view of the Met Office building at night.

Dr Matthew Clark

Areas of expertise

  • Nowcasting
  • Observations-based analysis of severe convection and associated phenomena, including hailstorms and tornadoes
  • Mesoscale phenomena associated with hazardous weather in extra-tropical cyclones
  • Crowdsourced data

Publications by Matt Clark

Current activities

Matt currently works in the Nowcasting team, developing new observations-based tools to aid in nowcasting and situational awareness, with a focus on hazards associated with deep, moist convection. In 2021, Matt completed a PhD at the University of Leeds on tornadoes along cold-frontal rainbands, developing prototype tools for the operational recognition of tornado-favourable environments, and conceptual models to describe the situations in which cold-frontal tornadoes most often occur. Latterly, Matt has constructed a climatology of convection associated with flash-flooding in the UK, exploring the typical environments, radar-observed storm morphologies and other characteristics of these events, with a view to advancing understanding and suitable approaches for the nowcasting of these storms in the UK.

In addition to these activities, Matt has also conducted research into other UK severe weather events, including notable tornadoes (for example, the London tornado of 7 December 2006) and hailstorms (for example, the 'Ottery St Mary' thunderstorm of October 2008, and severe hailstorms on 28 June 2012 and 1 July 2015 in the Midlands and northern England, respectively). An overriding aim is to demonstrate how observations can be analysed and synthesised, in conjunction with model output, to enhance our understanding of these events and their causes.

Career background

Matt joined the Met Office in 2005, working in Observations Research and Development until 2020, when he moved to the newly created Nowcasting Team in Weather Science.

Prior to working at the Met Office, Matt studied Meteorology at the University of Reading from 2001, gaining a First Class BSc in Meteorology in 2005. As part of his undergraduate studies, Matt attended the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma for one year.