Building a modern weather station involves state-of-the-art electronics and computing as well as the more traditional craft skills of carpentry and metal working. Recent developments in embedded microcontrollers, environmental sensors and the ‘Internet of Things’ have revolutionised what is possible and reduced the costs involved in monitoring many aspects of the environment. Building a weather station, especially one connected to the internet is an excellent way to learn new skills and to refresh old ones.

There is much more to building a professional quality weather station than simply connecting together a few sensors. Careful planning and research are essential steps in the process. Siting of the sensors is very important if errors are to be minimised, and the whole system must be reliable so that high quality data can be provided over many months or years. Data from a well-maintained DIY weather station can be of scientific importance because in most countries the network of ‘official’ weather stations is very sparse. This makes it difficult to record and understand localised weather events which may be important consequences of climate change.