17 May 2021
Following a successful tender process, a contract has been awarded to Ambledale Workshop Ltd for the construction of a new Meteorological Operations Building at Bottom Woods.
Since April 2019 meteorological operations have continued in an ‘Expandacom’ Portakabin style building, following the demolition of the purpose-built building which had exceeded its life span of 25 years.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between St Helena Government and the Met Office (the UK’s National Weather Service) has recently been updated to include these building works. The MOU which originally commenced in 2011 – when SHG assumed responsibility for management of meteorological operations – focusses on the collection of important weather and climate observations, with funding from the UK Public Weather Service (PWS) managed by the Met Office. The updated MOU was signed by His Excellency the Governor on 31 March 2021.
Meteorological Station Manager, Lorimar Bennett, commented:
“The updated MOU affirms the Met Office’s long term commitment and its strong relationship with St Helena and our continued support to provide assistance to the Public Weather Service. We are excited to be able to be part of this process and look forward to the new building for meteorological operations to continue into the future.”
Construction Works by Ambledale Workshop Ltd have commenced and are expected to take approximately 18 weeks. The public is advised that during the construction phase, the Meteorological Site at Bottom Woods will be closed to the public. Further information will be provided once works are complete.
Construction Works currently underway 
Temporary Expandacom Building
#StHelena #MetOffice #AltogetherGreener
SHG
17 May 2021