I can assure her there’s not going to be a hurricane… the UK Meteorological Office listed its achievements for this year to the paying public, including a new computer model for measuring dispersion of volcanic ash and other pollutants: invoiced sales from the office rose 22% to UKP16.9m in 1991-92, while Metstar, the research and development consultancy offering external organisations access to Met Office resources, completed its first year of trading; apparently this consultancy doesn’t extend to answering some of the more esoteric questions from the public to the television weather presenters – written requests this year ranged from birthday announcements and the weight of a snowflake to the saddest one of all – Will you be my friend? a note written to one of the presenters every day for three months.
