Our weather is complicated. There are lots of things which when all put together describe the weather on any day. Weather Scientists, known as Meteorologists, have weather stations all over the world which are used to measure the weather in each location. The main things a weather station measures are given below:

1. Wind speed How fast is the wind blowing? This is measured using an Anemometer or the Beaufort Scale

TO FIND OUT HOW TO MEASURE THE WIND SPEED AT HOME CLICK HERE

2. Wind direction From which direction is it blowing? A Wind Vane show the direction the wind is blowing in.

TO FIND OUT HOW MAKE YOUR OWN WIND VANE CLICK HERE

3. Precipitation Is it raining or snowing and how much? Rain is measured using a Rain Gauge.

TO FIND OUT HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN RAIN GAUGE CLICK HERE 

4. Pressure Is there high air pressure or low pressure today? This is measured using a Barometer

TO FIND OUT HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BAROMETER CLICK HERE

5. Temperature How hot or cold is it today? This is measured using two thermometers. One to measure the maximum temperature one to measure the minimum temperature.

6. Sunshine How many hours of sunshine have there been today? This was originally measured using a clever device called a Campbell Stokes Recorder. Nowadays there are electronic versions.

7. Visibility Is it foggy, misty or clear?

8. Cloud What types of cloud are about today or is it perfectly clear? To find out more about cloud types check out the BBC link in the weblinks section.

9. Humidity This is how much moisture is in the air? This is measured using a Hygrometer.