UK to Use AI to Help Countries Prepare for Dangerous Weather

The United Kingdom is planning to use artificial intelligence — or AI — to help poorer countries get ready for deadly storms, floods, and droughts. The UK government will work with its national weather service, the Met Office, to bring advanced forecasting technology to parts of Africa and South-East Asia. This effort is launching just as scientists warn that a powerful El Niño could strike in 2026 and cause serious climate disasters around the world.

The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, known as the FCDO, is leading the new programme. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that extreme weather hurts everyone, not just the countries where storms and floods hit. 'When countries are devastated by extreme weather, the effects can be felt all over the world, whether it is through the impact on global trade, the disruption of supply chains, or the increase in food and energy prices,' she said.

British scientists and weather experts will work side by side with local weather services in partner countries. They will share forecasting models, climate data, and technical knowledge. The goal is to help these countries better predict dangerous weather and recover more quickly when disasters do strike.

The Met Office plans to use machine learning — a type of AI that gets smarter over time — to produce weather forecasts faster, more accurately, and at a much lower cost than older methods. This means that countries that could not afford high-tech forecasting before may now be able to use it. Better forecasts can give people more time to prepare and stay safe.

The programme will start in the Philippines, a country with millions of people living along crowded coastlines. The Philippines sits in a part of the Pacific Ocean that gets hit by powerful tropical storms called typhoons every year. Starting there makes sense because so many people are at risk from these storms each season.

Scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, confirmed this week that an El Niño is expected in 2026. El Niño is a climate event where ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean become warmer than usual. This warming changes rainfall patterns across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, often causing both severe droughts in some areas and dangerous flooding in others.

Climate change has been making El Niño events even more extreme in recent years. Scientists say these events now cause bigger temperature spikes and worse flooding and droughts than they used to. Experts warn that without better preparation, the 2026 El Niño could be one of the most damaging on record.

Simon Brown, the acting chief executive of the Met Office, said the partnership would help protect more people from extreme weather. 'This strategic partnership will enable us to amplify the impact we already have through combining our priorities, values and strengths,' he said. He added that it would position the UK as a world leader in this area.

The partnership will be officially launched during London Climate Action Week, a major yearly event that brings together world leaders and experts to discuss climate issues. The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, is among the high-profile figures who have attended the event in past years. The launch puts the new AI weather programme in the global spotlight.

The UK government says this programme reflects a new approach to helping other countries — one that goes beyond traditional aid and focuses on building trade and jobs. Last year, the UK cut its foreign aid budget from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of its national income, a decision that many charities strongly criticised. The government says this new kind of partnership is part of a 'bold new approach to aid' that better fits today's world.