Agencia Estatal de Meteorología

Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET) is Spain’s national meteorological agency, responsible for producing weather forecasts, climate monitoring and the issuance of meteorological warnings for the entire territory. It provides a wide range of products and services that include short‑range and medium‑range weather predictions, seasonal climate outlooks, marine and aviation meteorology, air quality assessments and specialised alerts for phenomena such as storms, floods, heatwaves and snowfall. These outputs are delivered to the general public, emergency management authorities, transport sectors, energy companies, agricultural stakeholders and scientific institutions, supporting decision‑making across multiple societal domains.

The agency operates under the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, giving it a clear regulatory mandate as the official source of meteorological information in Spain. AEMET maintains an extensive observation network composed of surface stations, weather radars, lightning detection systems and upper‑air sounding sites, which feeds data into its numerical weather prediction models and climate archives. Its expertise extends to climate change research, where it contributes to national and international assessments, and it participates in global programmes such as the World Meteorological Organization’s Global Observing System. A notable competency is the management of the SINOBAS public science project, a platform that collects citizen reports of rare meteorological events, demonstrating the agency’s commitment to engaging society in scientific observation.

As a public entity, AEMET is wholly owned by the Spanish State and does not have private shareholders or a parent corporation; its governance is defined by national legislation that establishes its duties, funding and accountability. The agency’s headquarters are located in Madrid, from where it coordinates its central forecasting offices and regional centres distributed throughout the country. In May 2023, AEMET experienced a cyberattack that led to the temporary suspension of the SINOBAS service and affected other systems such as the meteoglossary and Antarctic weather station operations, prompting a preventive shutdown while the agency worked to restore services once user safety was assured. This incident highlighted the importance of cybersecurity resilience for critical infrastructure providing essential environmental information.