Rain, hail or snow, NI's newest weather station will be at work

Castle Espie in County Down is the location for Northern Ireland's newest weather station.

It was installed by the Met Office at the end of summer 2025 and after several tests is now live.

Castle Espie, managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), on the shores of Strangford Lough, just outside Comber, is a beautiful spot and will be favoured for sunshine and a mild climate.

The new weather station will provide live, accurate temperature and rainfall data which will then feed into the Met Office's data bank.

It is one of approximately 100 weather stations scattered around Northern Ireland, though some consist of nothing more than a simple rain gauge.

The climate data will provide important information for the welfare of the wildlife and bird migration.

Donald Ferguson, from the UK Met Office, says there are three main functions.

Firstly, to create a forecast, the starting conditions need to be as accurate and as detailed as possible.

Weather stations from all around the world feed into a network of weather observations along with other real-time data, such as satellite information and rainfall radar.

Sophisticated computer systems from various weather bureaus around the globe will perform hundreds of calculations and produce a forecast which can then be interpreted and made fit for purpose.

And thirdly to monitor the changing climate.

Paul Stewart, from the WWT, is excited as wetlands are one of the most biodiverse habitats on Earth as well as one of the most threatened. And now he has the opportunity to work with the Met Office and contribute to the collection of climate data.

You may have heard the BBC NI weather team mention, for example, Castlederg in west Tyrone or Katesbridge in County Down in our weather reports.

When we have a hot or cold spell of weather we love finding out where the hottest or coldest place has been.

Castlederg in west Tyrone has recorded both the highest and lowest official temperatures ever in Northern Ireland.

It is important that the thermometers are housed in what is known as a Stevenson Screen which is designed so that the readings are not influenced by direct sunlight and record a shade temperature as air flows through vents at the front of the screen.

The thermometer is solely measuring the warmth of the air, and this standardisation is replicated by all official temperature readings, whereas car sensors will not undergo these specifications and are therefore not reliable.

Paul Stewart used to manually empty the old rain gauge at Castle Espie on a regular basis, but the weather station now has a fancy new tipping rain gauge which measures rainfall on an hourly basis taking into account how much rain has fallen and how heavy it is.

It doesn't need to be manually emptied as the water simply drains away.

The last weather station to be installed in Northern Ireland was Thomastown in County Fermanagh and that was nearly 15 years ago.

If you are visiting the wetlands, you can see where the new weather situation is situated but you will not be allowed into the enclosure as this could affect the thermometers.

When we were filming, we were always downwind of the sensors and didn't cast any unnatural shadows on the thermometers, in the screen or on the ground.

Listen out for Castle Espie getting a mention on your BBC News NI forecast.