The future of weather forecasting: UK-first trial will see mobile phone masts used as an early warning system for rain
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There's nothing more frustrating than being caught in the rain without an umbrella after the weather forecast predicted clear skies.
But now, the days of unexpected showers could be coming to an end as Britain becomes home to the future of weather forecasting.
In a UK-first trial, Vodafone will use its network of mobile phone masts as an early warning system for extreme weather.
By measuring slight disturbances in the connection between towers, this system can measure the rain more accurately than radar or weather stations.
That information will be used to spot early signs of flooding along the Severn River, one of the UK's most flood-prone regions.
Each year £230 million is spent in this area to mitigate flood damage, with a further £16 million allocated by the government last week.
This network could give residents a more accurate early warning, helping authorities save money and protecting the homes of the 600,000 people at risk of flooding.
If this trial is successful, Vodafone says its entire network could be converted into a weather monitoring system spanning the UK and Europe.
Vodafone's 'Network as a Sensor' technology works by carefully monitoring the interference caused by falling rain.
When you make a call or send a message from your mobile, the signal travels from your device to a nearby mobile mast.
That message is then passed from mast to mast along the network to the device of the person you are trying to contact in the form of an electromagnetic wave.
However, when raindrops fall through the air between two towers, they create small disturbances that affect the quality of the connection.
During storms or especially heavy rainfall, these disturbances can be strong enough to disrupt network connections.
But this feature of our communications network also has a surprising benefit.
Certain frequencies of electromagnetic signal, such as microwaves, are so sensitive to water that they can be used to measure rainfall.
Vodafone already monitors microwave connections between towers every 15 minutes to help the network compensate for any signal disruption caused by rain.
Using the same approach, the entire network can be converted into a huge rain gauge, more accurate than ground-based weather stations or satellite measurements.
Last year, parts of the River Severn were battered by flooding after Storm Darragh brought heavy rain to many parts of the country.
Vodafone has joined with the River Severn Partnership to provide weather 'nowcasting' as part of a flood early warning system.
Unlike forecasting, nowcasting predicts the weather within the coming minutes and hours to a high degree of accuracy.
Combined with ground observations, this should allow the River Severn Partnership to spot the signs of a flood before it is too late.
Nick Gliddon, Director of Vodafone Business UK, says: 'Storms and extreme weather are becoming increasingly more frequent and destructive.
'Working with River Severn Partnership, we can use our cutting-edge technology to provide greater insight on weather forecasting and help mitigate the impact of extreme events.'
This comes after the Met Office was slammed for its 'confusing' and delayed flood warnings ahead of Storm Bert.
Welsh politicians strongly criticised the Met Office for not issuing a red warning in areas where up to 300 properties were flooded.
Councillor Andrew Morgan, leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council, said he was 'amazed' that only a yellow weather warning had been issued.
Mr Morgan also says that residents were not given a flood warning as early as they could have been.
He claims that the environment body Natural Resources Wales (NRW) had data on high river levels for more than an hour before residents were alerted.
More accurate insights into precipitation could help environmental agencies avoid these kinds of mistakes in the future.
Matt Smith, programme manager for the River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Region (RSPAWIR), says: 'By improving weather forecasting, we can better mitigate against flooding, improve resilience, and protect the health and livelihoods of the communities and businesses in our region.'
If the trial is a success, Vodafone says it could use its entire UK network as an early warning system for extreme weather.
In the future the company hopes to eventually use their entire European network as a giant weather gauge.
In Spain, the company is already trialling how to detect dryness of the air in order to predict wildfires.
By combining rain data with information like wind speed, Vodafone says this system will be able to 'detect' wildfires before they get out of control.
Marika Auramo, CEO of Vodafone Business, says: 'We are turning data collected on the performance of a connection into a giant weather gauge across our pan-European network.
'This data can be used by local authorities, governments and industry bodies to alert communities of flooding, wildfires, as well as man-made disasters.'
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