UK to Join EU Ocean Monitoring Scheme to Build 'Real-Time' Model of World's Oceans

The United Kingdom is set to join a major EU-led ocean science programme aimed at building a "real-time" model of the world's oceans to help forecast extreme weather and climate events, with the country's environment secretary expected to make the announcement in New York.

The programme, known as OceanEye, seeks to improve scientists' ability to monitor ocean conditions as they change, offering more timely data that could feed into weather and climate forecasting models. Better real-time ocean data is seen as increasingly valuable given the role oceans play in driving global weather patterns.

The announcement, expected Wednesday, comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government continues efforts to rebuild the UK's relationship with the European Union in specific policy areas, even as the broader post-Brexit relationship remains a subject of continuing negotiation. Joining an EU-led scientific initiative represents a targeted area of cooperation distinct from more politically contentious aspects of UK-EU relations.

The move follows warnings from climate scientists that this year's unusually large El Niño pattern, tracked in the Pacific Ocean, is expected to fuel more extreme weather events globally. Improved ocean monitoring of the kind OceanEye aims to deliver could help governments better anticipate and prepare for such events.

Details on the scale of the UK's financial or technical contribution to OceanEye, and the timeline for the real-time ocean model becoming operational, have not yet been made public.