The RMS parents an electronic mail group called Meteorology within the national Academic Mailing List Service. It is open to all interested in exchanging information and ideas in meteorological research.

Messages sent to the group will be automatically distributed to all those who have joined it. It can be used to raise and start discussion on research issues, to make enquiries from the members of the group and as a vehicle for the announcement of conferences, calls for papers, meetings etc. Membership of the group is free to anyone interested.

To join the list, send the message

join meteorology firstname lastname

Michael McIntyre writes:

You are invited to help recruit schools to take part in the Society's hugely successful MetLinkInternational project. For details of this internet-based weather project, see:

The October 2001 issue of Weather will be a Special Issue entitled 'Water resources and floods'. It will deal in detail with both meteorological and hydrological events relating to the October floods in England last year, together with articles on the Italian floods the same month, a substantial flood event in Lynmouth in 1770 and a paper on the long-term hydrological stability of the UK's water resources.

If anyone would like to order extra copies of this 68-page issue (at the usual price of £3.80 per copy) they should contact the Society.

The calendar for 2002 is now available from the Society. It's called the European Meteorological Calendar 2002 and its theme is 'wind'.

The wall space needed for it is the same as last year, i.e. 30cm by 41.5cm landscape format.

The cost?

1, 2 , 3 or 4 calendars -- 8.50 pounds per calendar including postage and packing
5 or more calendars -- 7.00 pounds per calendar including postage and packing

The new LaTeX style file (class file) for the Quarterly Journal is available to use it, simply copy it to your local computer. (You may require the help of your system manager as it should be placed in the same directory as other LaTeX class files.)

(To copy either of these files to your local computer, hold down the SHIFT button and then CLICK with the LEFT mouse button on the filename-link above.)

The Society has received a letter from Dr Sehra (of the Punjab, India). He would like to undertake collaborative work with other members of the Society. Although he does not mention a topic, he can be contacted c/o Drs Bhupinder Sehra, S. Nihal Singh Pahwa Charitable Hospital, Industrial Area-B, Ludhiana-141003, Punjab, India. Tel: 00 91 161 545945.

As announced in the recent issue of Society News, approval was recently given for the national occupational standards for meteorological observers and forecasters. Approval was also given for the design of the vocational qualifications and the assessment strategy. These items have been under development for a year, so this is a major milestone.

Attention now shifts to the Society's awarding body, Vocational Qualifications in Science, Engineering and Technology (VQSET), who are on scehdule to produce the necessary materials for assessment of the awards for the launch of the National/Scottish Vocational Qualifications in April 2001.

In parallel with this development work, an agreement to govern the relationship between the Society and VQSET has been negiotiated and signed. An action plan to promote the awards is being implemented.

In response to comments from some schools who participated in MetLinkInternational, we have launched a series of pages under the banner 'Weather Data Exchange' to encourage an interest in weather and climate among schools.

Imagine a frozen wilderness, where polar bears outnumber people, and the sea freezes solid. Where the sun never sets for weeks on end and then disappears for three months, giving way to the magical aurora borealis that lights up the Arctic sky. At 80 degrees north lies the Arctic wilderness that is Svalbard, probably Europe's most pristine and unspoiled environment, guarded for us all by the Norwegian government. In 2001, 36 young people set out from Britain on the journey of a lifetime. The students, aged 16 to 21, are spending an entire academic year living in the harsh and challenging Arctic environment. Selected from all walks of life and educational backgrounds, their only qualifications are their physical fitness, commitment, enthusiasm, common sense, tolerance and sense of humour.