An external view of the Met Office building at night.

Dr Mike Thurlow

Areas of expertise

  • operational numerical weather prediction
  • research to operations processes
  • development of research and operational NWP suites
  • use of observations in NWP

Current activities

Mike is a senior scientific software engineer working on global numerical weather prediction (NWP) within Research to Operations.

He is responsible for the development of research and operational global NWP suites and provides advice to other users on suite design and implementation.

All changes that are made to the operational NWP systems must be thoroughly tested to ensure their scientific and technical integrity, and to evaluate their performance in terms of improved forecasts and efficient use of expensive resources. Mike undertakes the final research testing of all proposed changes to the global suites and their subsequent operational implementation.

Mike has a strong interest in the methodology and processes involved in making research developments operational. He works closely with others in Research to Operations and the operational teams to define, refine and implement practical and robust processes, and to advise users on how to record, evaluate and submit their changes as suitable candidates for operational use.

Career background

Mike's career in the Met Office began in 1992 as part of the team which developed and coded the variational assimilation system currently used operationally. Following a spell in postdoctoral condensed matter physics research he returned to the Met Office and to his current role. Before joining the Met Office Mike obtained a PhD in low temperature physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester.