Meteorological Courses
This
webpage contains information about meteorology courses in British universities.
It does not explicitly contain information about research opportunities. Details
of research opportunities can be found here.
Information about research opportunities can also be found on the webpages of the schools and departments which are listed below.
Accredited Courses
Not all of the courses shown below have been accepted as fulfilling the requirements for core content under the Society's Chartered Meteorologist Accreditation Scheme. List of accredited courses.Links to each University are given and where the address or telephone numbers ares not clear from the University website, these are given too.
- Birmingham
- East Anglia
- Edinburgh (case study available
) - Lancaster
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Open University
- Oxford (case study available
) - Plymouth
- Reading
- Miscellaneous
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The University of Birmingham
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
MSc in Applied Meteorology and Climatology
Contact Dr Xiaoming Cai
The University of East Anglia
School of Environmental SciencesThree and four-year degree BSc progammes are available as follows:
BSc in Meteorology and Oceanography
BSc in Mathematics with Meteorology
BSc in Environmental Sciences
BSc in Environmental Earth Sciences
BSc in Geophysical Sciences
In the four-year programmes, opportunities exist to spend a year in industry or to study for a year in France, Spain, Sweden, the USA or New Zealand
Contact for BScMSc in Atmospheric Sciences
MSc in Climate Change
Contact for MSc
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The University of Edinburgh

School of Physics
School of Geosciences
BSc in Physics with Meteorology
Tel: +44 (0)131 650 7218 Fax: +44(0)131 650 5902
BSc in Geophysics and Meteorology
Tel: +44 (0)131 650 4845 Fax: +44(0)131 668 3184
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The University of Lancaster
Department of Environmental Science
This degree programme includes some meteorology and climate science
BSc in Environmntal Science
Contact: The Undergraduate Admissions Tutor
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The University of Leeds
School of Earth and EnvironmentBSc in Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
BSc in Environmental Science
MRes in Physics of the Earth and Atmosphere
BSc in Earth System Science
Contact
Tel: +44 (0)113 343 6719 Fax +44 (0)113 343 1590 -
The University of Liverpool
Department of Earth and Ocean SciencesBSc in Physics with Ocean and Climate Studies
BSc in Mathematics with Ocean and Climate Studies
BSc in Oceans, Climate and Physical Geography
BSc in Ocean and Earth SciencesThese combine oceanography with meteorology and climatology.
Tel: +44 (0)151 794 5147 Fax: +44(0)151 794 5196
Contact: The Admissions Secretary, The Department of Earth & Ocean Sciences, The University of Liverpool, 4 Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L69 3GP
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The University of Manchester
School of Physics and Astronomy
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental SciencesThis course includes optional models in meteorology and climatology.
Contact -
The Open University
Understanding the Weather - Short Course
This course can be studied as part of the OU's
BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences -
The University of Oxford

Department of Physics
Sub-department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics
BA in Physics - three year programme
MPhys in Physics - four-year programme
In both of these programmes, there are core courses in atmospheric physics. The MPhys includes, in the fourth year, a major option entitled Physics of atmospheres and oceans.
Contacts -
The University of Plymouth
School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences
BSc in Ocean ScienceThis combines oceanography with meteorology and climatology.
MSc in Global Environmental Change
MRes in Global Environmental ChangeThese include courses on meteorology and climatology..
Contact see course links above.
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The University of Reading
Contact: Department of Meteorology, The University of Reading, PO Box 243, Reading, RG6 6BB. Address correspondence to either the Undergraduate Admissions Tutor or the MSc Admissions Tutor, as appropriate.
COMET
A wide range of free courses in meteorology is available online as part of the COMET programme
Case Studies
Edinburgh - Laura Paterson
What degree(s) have you taken?
I have the BSc Physics with Meteorology from Edinburgh University.
What A/AS levels did you take?
In Scotland we sit Highers and Advanced Highers rather than A/AS levels. I sat 5 Highers (which are more equivalent to AS levels I think, however Advanced Highers are not essential to getting accepted into Scottish Universities) in Maths, English, Physics, German and Modern Studies.
How did your degree help develop your interest in Meteorology? Did you take relevant units or modules and did they involve any trips orwork experience?
In 2003, I began studying Astrophysics with the option of taking an extra outside course after my first year. My Director of Studies suggested I tried Meteorology, and after a couple of lectures I was hooked. I found it far more interesting than the Astronomy I had been studying and promptly swapped to the Met related degree. That year I took two Meteorology courses, which included drawing up surface pressure charts, interpreting satellite imagery and doing observations from the roof of our building. All proved to be very helpful in passing the interview process at the Met Office three years on. In our 4th year I also studied courses in Atmospheric Dynamics, Atmospheric Physics and the Physics of Climate which gave me a good grounding when it came to our Forecaster training. The other two thirds of the degree was Maths and Physics which gave me the ability to understand the principals rather than simply memorising equations.
(We didn't go on any trips or work experience which is a shame! I heard one of the courses in the School got to go to Jamaica!)
What work are you doing now? Can you (briefly) describe a typical day or week? How does your job use knowledge from your degree?
I am currently working for the Met Office as a forecaster, primarily on the aviation benches, however I have spent time time over the winter forecasting for OpenRoad, the Met Office's winter road forecasting service. I am usually based in their HQ at Exeter, but for this summer I am working on detached duty on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. On a typical day, we provide forecasts and observations for the island itself along with briefings to aircrew flying out of the Island. Working as a forecaster means working shifts, which are usually 12 hours long, in a mixture of days and nights. My degree taught me the basics of Meteorology, both the theory and practical aspects. It also gave me the mathematical skills to be able to understand the physical principals I have to work with every day to come up with forecasts.
Oxford - Rosalind West
Case study: Rosalind West
What degree have you taken?
I did a 4 year MPhys degree in Physics at Mansfield College, Oxford.
What A/ AS levels did you take?
I took A levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Music and Design & Technology
What units or modules did you take as part of your course, and did it involve any trips or work experience?
In my third year I did a course on Climate Physics and one on Fluid Dynamics. As one of my fourth year major options I chose the Physics of Atmospheres and Oceans course. Over the summer in between my third and fourth years I did a vacation project with Nick Faull and Myles Allen using data from climateprediction.net. I then extended this for my MPhys research project.
What work are you doing now, and is it directly related to the subjects you studied in your degree?
I'm currently working on a DPhil in the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics department at Oxford, in conjunction with the Hadley Centre at the Met Office. I work in the Climate Processes group and use both computerised climate models and earth observation satellite data to investigate the interactions between aerosols (airborne particles), clouds and climate.
Oxford Jonathan Flowerdew
What degree(s) have you taken?
I did a four year undergraduate physics degree at Oxford University, during which I chose Atmospheric Physics as one of my two major options for the final year.After working in the software industry for two years, I returned to do a PhD in atmospheric physics.
What A/AS levels did you take? Were you interested in meteorology or similar subjects at school?
I did pure maths, mechanics, physics, chemistry and A/S philosophy. If anything, I expected to go on to a more 'traditional' physics subject such as particle or solid state physics, perhaps working in a university environment.
How did you degree help develop your interest in Meteorology? Did you take relevant units or modules and did they involve any trips or work experience?
The Atmospheric Physics option during my undergraduate degree provided a nice rounded course that I did well in. Together with the superior funding available compared to other branches of physics, this encouraged me to choose atmospheric physics for my PhD.
What work are you doing now? How does your job use knowledge from your degree?
I work on ensemble weather forecasting, both the mathematics of constructing the atmospheric ensemble forecast and some post-processing and derived customer applications. This is not directly related to anything I studied in my degree, but was supported by the general background in atmospheric science which it gave me.
What do you most enjoy about your work?
I like the mix of an understandable theoretical basis, practical computer work, and genuine application to solve real problems.