Up it goes! New radar will mean more accurate weather forecasts for Sunderland

The giant dish, located at High Moorsley, is part of a major upgrade of the Met Office radar network providing more accurate, detailed data essential for successful forecasts and crucial for issuing warnings of heavy rainfall events.

The Met Office say the radar gives an accurate live picture of rain, hail and snow.

Richard Bennett, Senior Project Manager said; “Scientific advances mean we can now capture the size and shape of raindrops as well as their composition (ice, water, snow), which will lead to improvements in accuracy of rainfall measurements, particularly during high impact weather events. The new radar network has also begun to capture wind speed measurements.”

The High Moorsley radar is the oldest in the north east and is part of the Met Office 30 year old Radar Network. The site was first opened in July 2009.

The new dish will be put in place using heavy lifting gear.