Reading researchers win top meteorology honours

University of Reading researchers and projects have been recognised at the Royal Meteorological Society's 2025 Awards

Dr Stephen Burt, a Visiting Fellow at the University, received the Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Society or Profession in recognition of a career spanning more than five decades. Dr Burt began at the Met Office in 1977 and has since published more than 60 papers in the society's journal Weather, sat on its Council, and provided rainfall records from his home observatory to the Met Office for 50 consecutive years.

His contributions to climate science include co-writing a history of weather observations at the University of Reading and suggesting a citizen science project to rescue historical data from the Ben Nevis Observatory, which ultimately drew more than 3,000 volunteers. The project helped transcribe millions of detailed records that have since informed research into the UK's changing climate.

Dr Burt said: "The award is especially meaningful in a year that also marks the centenary of the University of Reading, an institution with which I have enjoyed a long and valued association."

The University of Reading’s Professor Ed Hawkins, Dr Praveen Teleti and Dr Andrea Dittus were also part of the team behind the GloSAT project, which won the Award for Innovation in Development of Observations or Instrumentation. Led by the National Oceanography Centre and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, the project brought together researchers from six universities including Reading, alongside the Met Office.

GloSAT produced the longest instrument-based record of global surface air temperature, stretching back to 1791, and extending the previous start date of 1850 by nearly 70 years. The team developed new methods to correct for measurement biases in historical records taken before the standardisation of instruments and observing practices, both over land and at sea.

ITV Good Morning Britain meteorologist Laura Tobin, who studied Meteorology at the University of Reading, was awarded the Michael Hunt Award for Increasing Public Understanding of Meteorology. Tobin was recognised for bringing meteorology and climate science to millions of viewers through clear, accurate and accessible broadcasting, covering topics from basic weather systems to complex events such as sudden stratospheric warming and IPCC findings.