18/04/2018
Minister Eoghan Murphy launches Met Éireann Localised Forecasts on Met.ie
Wednesday, April 18th 2018
Mr. Eoghan Murphy, T.D., Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government today (18th April 2018) launched Met Éireann’s new Website and App. For the first time, the Irish Public will have online access to 7 day forecasts for their own local area on Met.ie.
Commenting at the launch, Minister Murphy said:
“I would strongly encourage the public to download the new Met.ie app from their Phone App store as it is a highly intuitive and easy to use product. You will be able to view 7 day forecasts, including predicted rainfall and temperature, for your own local area along with the latest weather observations including live rainfall radar images. Vitally, you will also be able to see the latest weather warnings for your county. It will be a very useful tool for the Irish public as they go about their daily routine both as general and more specialised consumers of weather information.”
Met Éireann’s Website is amongst the most visited public sector sites in Ireland. It has played a critical public safety role in communicating Met Éireann’s weather warnings during severe weather conditions. Met Éireann’s previous Website received 412,000 and 328,000 daily visitors during the peak of Storms Ophelia and Emma respectively.
Commenting on the new Met.ie Website, the Director of Met Éireann, Eoin Moran said:
“The provision of localised forecasts is a major development in Met Éireann’s role as Ireland’s National Meteorological Service. Our Harmonie Forecast model has been developed specifically for Ireland’s weather and climate and is the most accurate short-term weather forecast product available for Ireland.”
Mr. Moran added:
“Met Éireann intends this Website to play an important educational role in informing the public on climate issues. We plan to further develop this digital platform over the coming years to play our part in engaging and educating young people, in particular, on STEM related issues.
Met Éireann will also increasingly use the Website to publish its data sets as part of Ireland’s Open Data Strategy. We already make a significant amount of data available online and we intend to increase this over the coming months and years to benefit the development of our information and digital economy.”