Albemarle WMO 03238 – Not a legacy site, a 21st century addition.

55.01981 -1.88170 Met Office CIMO Assessed Class 5 Installed 18th February 2003

Inevitably the Met Office will have weather station sites installed a long time ago that may have either initially been intended for other purposes than climate reporting or alternatively have become compromised by development over time. This is NOT the case with Albemarle which is of 21st century origin and was installed in a completely unacceptable location from the onset that was only going to rapidly get worse.

The wider view point makes this site look like a typical military airfield unit with sensors either set in close proximity to the control tower for ease of taking readings or alternatively at the threshold of the runway for accurate surface temperature readings.

Former RAF Ouston became operational in 1941 and ran through to 1974 when aircraft operations ceased and the site was transferred to the British Army who opened the Albemarle Barracks. There would have been a weather station for aviation purposes at the airfield but none is shown in the CEDA digital archives. However, there was a site known as “Ouston” for which some records have been retained for 1942/3 during the wartime era that clearly indicate “Air Ministry” as below.

The coordinates given are not precise enough to locate the screen but the quoted elevation of 435 feet (132.6 metres) is substantially different to the 142 metres quoted for the current site. This elevation almost certainly locates the original site toward the south eastern end of the south east to north west runway which is also the developed area of the site as below.

Final confirmation that the Albemarle screen location is new and not associated with prior locations is confirmed from Google historic imagery which shows the site just prior to the installation. There was no screen present back then.

This image is very enlightening indeed in that it shows the recent planting of trees both to the north and south of this new chosen location. As can be seen from comparison with the headline image these trees were only ever going to grow and put the screen into shade. Apart from this inevitable oncoming shade a site was chosen hard alongside a huge area of concrete and tarmac. Even discounting the main runway itself this location has a hugely compromised location of hard standing – the delineated area alone is 6,729 square metres (72,430 square feet) of completely unnatural environment that will only ever distort readings. Note that any already warm north easterly around to south easterly breeze will pass over this area picking up warmth prior to reaching the screen

The issues I have with Albemarle is not only that it is unlikely to accurately record temperature but that this was obvious from the outset which is actually less than 22 years ago. The Met Office must have known that this was an inferior site at the beginning and the recent tree planting was clearly visible. Ironically on such a large site under government control there should have been no problems whatsoever with installing a Class 1 premium quality station. Instead it is now rated the worst it possibly can be – an unregulated Class 5

Surely Albemarle demonstrates a complete waste of time, effort and taxpayer’s money. The Met Office must be made to do better than this.

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2025/04/07/albemarle-wmo-03238-not-a-legacy-site-a-21st-century-addition/