WIREDGOV

We are very pleased to share the news that former Met Office Operations Director, Phil Evans, has been appointed as the new Director General of EUMETSAT.

EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the provision of satellite observations in support of weather, climate and ocean science. Established in 1986, and with 30 European Member States, EUMETSAT satellites provides critical data for Met Office services.

The role of Director General is an important international leadership responsibility, and a great result for Phil, for the Met Office, and for the UK. Phil spent most of his career to date working at the Met Office, most recently as Chief Operations Officer until earlier this year. In that role, he served as the Head of Delegation for EUMETSAT Council. He is moving from his current role as Director of Programmes at Institute of Physics.

Penny Endersby, Met Office Chief Executive said “I am delighted to see Phil’s talents and knowledge being used to head up a European organisation which is so key to the success of international weather and climate prediction, and at a time when there is an exciting programme of satellite launches due.”

Met Office is a sophisticated user of satellite data in our weather forecasting:

• Satellite data are responsible for ~75% of the observations we feed into our global weather models.
• In addition, satellite imagery products and movie loops allow forecasters to track the development and progress of weather systems, so that they can add value to the forecast.
• Satellite observations can also be compared to past forecasts to verify their accuracy and help us improve our models and accuracy.

The stability and longevity of weather satellite observations mean they are a key contributor to climate monitoring.

The Met Office has a long history at the forefront of exploiting the value from our satellites for benefit to the UK. Our membership of EUMETSAT is essential to safeguarding this vital source of data while sharing the cost among the 30 Member States. EUMETSAT funds the Met Office to lead the Satellite Application Facility on behalf of the EUMETSAT membership.

Find out more on our website

Phil will succeed the current Director General, Alain Ratier, who has led EUMETSAT since 2011. We look forward to working with him as EUMETSAT enters an exciting phase of new programme implementation. Amongst other priorities, EUMETSAT is about to enter an intense phase of launches, with 5 new generation satellite launches from 2020-2024. The first of these will be Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 in November 2020.

Phil will take up the role in early 2021.