Meeting of the RA VI Working Group on Services and Applications- Highlights

RA VI Working Group on Weather, Climate, Hydrological, Marine and Related Environmental Services and Applications held its first meeting of the year on 25 February 2026, bringing together group members and invited experts from the region and beyond, including representatives from the WMO Expert Team on Data Development and Stewardship and the WMO Information System team. 

Participants highlighted the importance of strengthening connections between regional initiatives in RA VI and global WMO data and service frameworks, particularly in relation to climate data stewardship and digital infrastructure.

Recent discussions of the RA VI Management Group were summarized, including planning for the 2026–2030 period, the group’s structure, and ongoing deliverables.

A key highlight of the meeting was the presentation of a Climate Data Stewardship Dashboard developed to assess how countries in the region are implementing the WMO Unified Data Policy.

The preliminary assessment, covering 43 of 50 RA VI countries, evaluates national climate data portals across four categories:

• Data access, Data portability, Documentation, and Quality control.

Initial findings show encouraging progress across the region:

• 53% of countries provide dedicated open data portals
• 83% of portals offer English-language access
• 70% of countries provide sub-daily or hourly data availability
• All portals assessed use machine-readable standard formats
• Quality control documentation remains the most significant gap

Overall, 48% of countries were found to be strongly aligned with the WMO Unified Data Policy, while further improvements are needed in quality assurance transparency and documentation.

Participants welcomed the dashboard as an innovative tool to support evidence-based improvements in climate data availability and stewardship across Europe. Future work will include validation with national services and closer alignment with global WMO initiatives.

Participants discussed plans for future expert exchanges on climate and hydrological data, including smaller technical consultations and larger regional meetings involving partner organizations.

Upcoming events highlighted during the meeting included:

• The Homogenization Seminar and Interpolation Conference hosted by the Hungarian Meteorological Service in May 2026
• The release of the European State of the Climate Report coordinated through the WMO Regional Office for Europe, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and the Copernicus Climate Change Service

Updates were also provided on the development of climate services for health, coordinated through the joint WMO–WHO office. Member States have been invited to nominate national focal points, who will participate in consultations and mapping of existing climate–health services, with a focus on heatwaves and climate-related health risks.

In the area of agricultural climate services, work is underway to review and validate available drought monitoring tools, building on resources from the Integrated Drought Management Programme. Experts will work with Member States to confirm the relevance and usability of these tools.

The Working Group will continue advancing its activities in preparation for Phase II of the Regional Association VI nineteenth session, including discussion of a draft policy instrument related to services and data coordination.

The next meeting of the Working Group is scheduled for 27 May 2026.