Agencia Estatal de Meteorología

Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET) is Spain’s national meteorological agency, responsible for producing weather forecasts, climate analyses and meteorological warnings for the entire territory. It provides observational data, numerical model outputs and specialised services to aviation, maritime, agricultural, energy and emergency management sectors, as well as to the general public through its website and mobile applications. The agency also maintains a meteoglossary that standardises meteorological terminology and runs the SINOBAS platform, which collects citizen reports of rare or unusual weather phenomena for scientific study. In addition to its domestic duties, AEMET supports Spain’s scientific presence in Antarctica by operating and maintaining weather stations that contribute to international climate monitoring programmes.

The agency’s reach extends across the Spanish mainland, the Balearic and Canary Islands and its overseas research bases, giving it a nationwide observational network that includes surface stations, weather radars, lightning detection systems and upper‑air sounding sites. Its Antarctic weather station operations, referenced in the 2023 cyber‑incident, illustrate its commitment to providing meteorological support beyond Iberian borders. AEMET’s infrastructure is backed by high‑performance computing resources that run numerical weather prediction models on a routine basis, enabling it to issue short‑range and medium‑range forecasts with a high degree of reliability. The agency also participates in European and global meteorological collaborations, contributing data to the World Meteorological Organization and the European Centre for Medium‑Range Weather Forecasts.

As the official meteorological authority of Spain, AEMET holds a regulatory mandate to issue official weather alerts and warnings that trigger civil protection responses, a role that distinguishes it from private weather service providers. Its specialisation in both operational forecasting and climate research allows it to develop long‑term climate datasets and to advise on adaptation strategies for sectors vulnerable to weather variability. The SINOBAS project exemplifies its innovative approach to crowdsourcing meteorological observations, enhancing the detection of rare events such as tornadoes, hailstorms or unusual cloud formations. These competencies are reinforced by a workforce of meteorologists, climatologists, engineers and IT specialists who maintain the agency’s observation networks and modelling systems.

Structurally, AEMET is a public entity under the Spanish General State Administration, functionally attached to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. It receives its funding and strategic direction from the national government, without private shareholders or parent‑company ownership, and operates as an autonomous agency tasked with fulfilling Spain’s meteorological obligations under national law and international agreements. This institutional positioning ensures that its services remain universally accessible and aligned with public safety objectives.