The Met Office recently hosted a hackathon in Johannesburg, South Africa on utilising artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in climate research, as part of our AI4Climate project.   

The five-day event brought together scientists and researchers to develop skills in applying machine learning techniques to climate modelling and how these methods can complement traditional approaches. Dr Keith Williams, Met Office Associate Director for Prediction Science, said: “This science partnership is about working together and delivering bigger and better science than any country would be able to do on its own.”  

The AI4 Climate project is delivered by the Met Office in partnership with the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand.  

Our Climate Conversations series covers the latest research and real-world impacts of climate change. Topics have included record-breaking marine heatwaves, the future of UK sporting events and sustainable education. Stay tuned, as there are more episodes coming up. You can watch all previous episodes on our playlist and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up to date. 

In our latest episode, we spoke to Professor Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading and Met Office Senior Scientist Neil Kaye about the art and science behind climate data visualisation.  

Introduce yourself to the key concepts of climate risk assessments and aid your understanding of climate projections across an introduction and three training sessions. Run by Met Office Scientists, this online course is designed for consultants, analysts, or those in similar roles, who wish to be able to confidently use climate data, particularly UK Climate Projections (UKCP18), to carry out climate change risk assessments either in-house or on behalf of other customers. 

Upcoming dates: 8, 15, 16 and 18 June 2026 

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