Automatic Weather Stations

Royal Meteorological Society

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Weather Stations

An automatic weather station usually consists of a number of outdoor weather sensors which communicate with a display unit indoors, which can in turn often be linked into a PC to store and display data. The link between the instruments outdoors and the display inside can be wireless, although the range will be 100m at best.

What can I use my school weather station for?

If you would like to submit high quality weather observations to a UK network, try the Met Office Weather Observations Website or COL.

Some specific lesson ideas:

KS2/3 science: Use automatic weather station data together with the Met Office resources to study the difference between day and night and to look at the seasons .
KS3 geography: an introduction to weather maps, weather systems and automatic weather station data from Maiden Erlegh School
KS3/5 geography: An excellent GA resource investigating weather conditions needed for the various Olympic sporting events using weather station or WOW data.
KS3/ 5 geography or maths: Use automatic weather station data to see whether there is a relationship between air pressure and rainfall amount. Does most of our rainfall in the UK occur when the pressure is low?
KS 4/5 science or maths: Does it rain more at weekends? An experiment trialled at Manchester Science Festival
KS3/ 5 geography: look at the current wind speed and direction (you could also use WOW data for this). How do they relate to the orientation and spacing of the isobars on the current analysis chart? This could be used in conjunction with the introduction to weather maps.

What are other schools using their weather stations for?

Have a look at the websites of
Pitsford Hall school weather station
Radley College
archived Becta
South east grid for learning with examples of using an automatic weather station in a primary school together with curriculum links
Yorkshire & Humber grid for learning together with curriculum links

There is also more information about using Davis weather stations in schools, together with curriculum links with further lesson ideas using weather stations for KS1-4 from here (American site)

Why have an automatic weather station?

There are many advantages to an automatic weather station. Weather observations can be made more quickly and conveniently. The sensors can be placed well out of the way and reduce the chances of vandalism - and (in the case of wind measurements, for example) in a better exposed location than would be possible with manual instruments. With a PC link, the data can be used for all sorts of projects, from simple averaging ones to looking at correlations between different measurements such as wind direction and temperature. The main disadvantage of an automatic weather station is that it removes the observer from the real elements being measured, and so the experience of what -5ºC temperatures or 30 knot winds feel like, is lost.

What sort to buy

The RMetS doesn't actually recommend specific instruments or manufacturers, but some well known makes are Oregon Scientific, TechnoLine/LaCrosse, Irox and (at the more professional end) Davis.

The price will depend upon how many weather elements are measured; for example, just outdoor temperature (including maximum and minimum) might be around £15, temperature and humidity around £40. Even a station which displays the six main weather elements (temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall and pressure), can now be bought for about £100. In addition to giving the basic measurements, quite often the display unit will also calculate quantities such as wind chill, dew point, etc. Sometimes it will also give a weather forecast, though based as it is on only local conditions, this must be taken with a big pinch of salt!
At the cheaper end of the price range, manufacturers often do not specify accuracy, and this may be considerably less than the precision the unit displays measurements at. A professional automatic station costs more, but you will get the benefits of a known accuracy for all the measurements, and probably higher reliability and longer lifetime.

Where to buy them

A list of instrument suppliers can be found here

School Members of the Society who have held membership for over a year can apply for small grants to buy instruments.
Members are also able to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at discounted prices.

How to set them up

The main installation points to consider are location – these weather stations don’t work well in direct sunlight. Also, make sure that you calibrate the pressure reading by comparison with local published data.

Further information for schools about manual and visual weather recording can be found here . Further guidelines for observing and measuring the weather and climate.

If you know of any other top tips for using automatic weather stations in schools, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it