Between aviation and the this time on Weather World we are in Northern Ireland, airside at Belfast International airport. We are going behind the scenes to find out what it takes to keep these planes flying and you and i safe, whatever the weather. Also on Weather World, devastation and deadly floods in south america. But some dramatic escapes too, after months of Heavy Rain Leave towns under water and mud as landslides kill hundreds. Weather bomb the storms so strong they hold a unique place in Weather Science and have taken california from drought to deluge, with the ground giving way. And extreme heat, wildfires as parts of australia endure their hottest summer. Plus, you have some history there. Taking the temperature, i will be opening the archives of one of the worlds longest running Weather Observations and watching how it is still being done today. And i will be taking a trip back to my own Family History and aviations past to see how some of todays technology was born. Welcome to Weather World at Belfast International airport. 13 Miles North West of the city of belfast this site was first established as a Military Base in the first world war. Since then, its grown to become the Busiest Airport in Northern Ireland with over 5 million passengers travelling through it last year. The airport serves other uk and european destinations, plus there are flights to the usa. Weather and airports, so much can go wrong, cant it . Its an interesting relationship, thunder storms, fog, wind, snow, someone that knows all about those Weather Challenge is michael, the general manager of air Traffic Control here. Hello, michael. Hi. Is there a day when you are not thinking about the weather . No, every day, every day controllers come into work theyre obviously thinking about the weather. The surface wind is very important in terms of deciding whats the direction of runway for take off and landing. Interested in the cloud, the type of precipitation. We are interested in knowing all we need to. There is something specific about the airport here at belfast which is about the weather and increases your flexibility. Yeah, we are one of the only remaining uk airports that still operates a cross runway. It faces east west. We have a cross runway, runway 1735, which sits at right angles, from the main runway. Its orientated more or less north south. During the autumn when we get low pressures coming across the conflict during the autumn when we get low pressures coming across the atlantic we get strong southerly gales and a pilots preference is is to land into wind, when the cross wind gets roughly around 30 knots, the pilots will opt to take the other runway for a safer approach and take off. Weather is so important, and sarahs in the control tower now to take a look at how they get the very latest Weather Information here. This is the main Weather System used here in the air Traffic Control centre. All the numbers and figures on the Screen Correspondent to to to continuous weather data thats collected. We record things like Wind Direction and speed, visibility, any significant weather around as well as importantly cloud amounts and heights too. Every half an hour a report is issued. That will help pilots make operational decisions about whether it is safe to land or whether they might need to divert to another airport. When the weather gets rough, the landings get tough. This plane struggles to maintain a steady approach to Manchester Airport in february, in the uks fourth named storm of the season. Winds of up to 100mph Hit The Uk as storm doris blows in. As you see the foam hitting me from the sea that it definitely has materialised, gusts here are so powerful i cant even face in the direction of the wind is coming from. As reporters tried to remain upright, some trees failed. A lucky escape here for a driving instructor. But the storm did claim the life of a woman hit by Falling Debris and it wasntjust the wind doing the damage. There was heavy snow too here in scotland. Storm doris was an area of low pressure that underwent explosive genesis so strengthening quickly. Storms like this have become known as Weather Bombs. Life threatening storm. This was another. A major snow storm hits the North East Usa In March bringing to an abrupt end what had been a mild start to the year. And for the first time in 33 years in new york, march was colder than february. There is cold and there is frozen solid. This house became encased in ice after strong winds blew water from lake ontario over it that froze. Amazingly when the ice melted these pictures show the house emerging virtually unscathed. Europes coldest winter month was january. With the unusual sight of snow on greek island beaches. But the bitterly cold weather brought fresh misery for migrants at camps such as these in the balkans. Then disaster in italy. A Mountain Hotel buried by an avalanche, 29 people are killed but amazingly, some survive, rescued more than two days later. Oh my god Tornado Season in the usa peaks in spring but this is february in louisiana. And new orleans is hit with its strongest tornado on record but worst came even earlier. A january outbreak of tornado sweeps through South Eastern States leaving total devastation and 20 dead. More than died in tornados in the usa in the whole of last year. Its a Beautiful Day here at Belfast International airport today but visibility is not always this good. In fact, the airport can be prone to seeing dense fog. Michael is going tojoin me now and can you explain just how do you land a plane when you cant see the runway . Certainly. We have an Instrument Landing System at the airport, part of is system is the glide path and it sends a signal to the pilot and tells him if he is too high or too low as he makes the approach. We have another signal at the other end of the runway, the localiser, and it tells the pilot if he is left or right of centre line. The combination of the two, left right, up, down, safely guides the aircraft to land. Wonderful. We have had a look at what it looks like from the ground, i would love to see is how this Instrument Landing System works from up in the skies. Shall we take a look . Absolutely, lets go. Michael, we are up in the air. Can you explain to us a little about how this Instrument Landing System, the ils works from the pilots perspective up here . Absolutely. You can see the pilot gets the distance from touchdown. Its displayed at all times in the cockpit. So he knows how far he is from touchdown. You can see from the ils signal at the moment the needle is to the left. That means the aircraft needs to fly left to get on track. I suppose in Poor Visibility conditions, in thick fog or blowing snow the pilot would rely upon this instrument . Absolutely. And the system at allows the aircraft to auto land in those sort of conditions. We took to the skies thanks to air ambulance Northern Ireland, but every commercial airline has an Instrument Landing System on board, so, no matter where in the world you make your landing, the guidance given to your pilot will be exactly the same. It takes an awful lot of power to power the ils, all this kit, and also an entire airport but you might be surprised to hear where that power comes from. Lets head down to nick on the ground to explain more. Infact, sarah, Belfast International airport requires 1. 8 megawatts of electricity every day. And they get it right here, right next to the airport from Tens Of Thousands of solar panels and on a sunny day this gives the airport all the power it needs. Over here if you listen carefully, that whiny sound is the power being made, because even though its cloudy there is still solar energy coming through converted through this inverter. Alan whiteside is the Operations Manager here at the airport. How important is this solar farm, and has it become to the airport . Its been a Great Success for us. The first nine months it produced 27 of the energy that we use on airport. It still is producing on a day like this, on a really good day absolutely everything on airport from radars to Instrument Landing Systems, security systems, baggage systems, everything on airport is running on it. It is Still Producing excess for the grid. We can see what its been doing for the airport today through this display unit here. The sun has come out occasionally today. Yes, this shows the last 2a hours of production with it. Last night around sundown it was Still Producing, then it dropped off through the night period. From dawn, its gone up. We had a rainy period here this morning. It still is producing 250, 500 kilowatts. At peak time when the sun has come out its producing 1500. So its working very well. Even for Northern Ireland. I wish you many more blue sky days. Thank you very much. Bbc weather watchers know cloudy days have their pluses too. And theyjust got a whole lot more interesting thanks to the release in march of an updated Cloud At Lass thanks to the release in march of an updated cloud atlas from the World Meteorological organisation. It features newly classified Cloud Formations such as these as seen in dorset. And these dramatic Undulating Espiritus Clouds pictured here in the peak district. Still to come on Weather World michael, you have some history there. Temperature tradition more than 200 years of weather observing in ireland. I will go back to the beginning and see how it is still being done today. We have had a look at modern aviation here at Belfast International airport. But now i am stepping back in time to learn a little bit more about the history and the relationship between aviation and the weather. I have a personal reason for being here today. We will look at that later on. For now, lets head inside and meet our guide ernie from the ulster aviation society. Hi there, ernie. Hi, sarah, its a pleasure to welcome you. Before the introduction of satellite and radar data, aircraft played a vital role in forecasting. Can you tell us more about that. Yes, indeed, what it involved was the aircraft of the Weather Flights going out over the atlantic primarily from where most of our Weather Systems come, and taking a range of observations and different altitudes, observations of temperature, humidity, pressure and so on. It would have involved in some cases flights of up to eight or nine hours in length. Every so often the data that was being collected would be signalled back to aldergrove. And from aldergrove it would be sent to the fraing office. And from aldergrove it would be sent to the forecasting office. Why dont i interviews you to malcolm, a colleague who was a met observer on the Weather Squadron at aldergrove in the post war period. That would be fantastic. Malcolm, you were a met 0bserver on those Weather Flights. What was it like . A very interesting period in my life doing National Service in the airforce. We initially had very old aircraft, the halifax, we used to be directed by the weather forecasts, we would fly for a day into weather worst weather wasnt find out what was really happening. Worst weather was to find out what was really happening. As we tended to fly the majority of the flights fairly low down it could be very bumpy, very wet at the front because the aircraft used to leak a bit, being old. You could have lightning and it was a very difficult exercise for pilots and navigators to get there and back. With the poor radio waves and everything we would often be a bit off track. It was arduous for the whole crew. Ernie, i mentioned earlier that i had a personal link to this place. My grandfather was an Aeronautical Engineer in Northern Ireland for many years. Can you tell me more about that . I really wanted to show you this aircraft, the short sp4 sherpa, a unique aircraft. It was built in 1953 to test the properties of a novel type of wing your grandfather designed. The revolutionary new aircraft goes for its trials. The chief designer, david keith lucas, planned the sherpa on his Drawing Board and now the Test Pilot Looks set to continue. We are delighted it is part of the ulster aviation collection because it is a unique Research Aircraft and your grandfather was responsible for that. Thank you so much for showing me this little bit of my Family History. For now we will be leaving these historic aircraft, later were heading back to Belfast International airport for more on modern day aviation. Now to events in Southern Hemisphere summer and this from peru. If ever you need proof of the force of flood water it is here. Look how the driver of this truck manages to get outjust it is swept away. And again as this Hotel Collapses into a flooded river. Dozens of people had died in peru since the start of the year. Here is another lucky escape as a mudslide churns up the debris of what was once someones home, a woman emerges. Slowly she is able to find her feet and step to safety. The rain has been blamed on an unusually warm sea water off the coast of peru, but notjust peru has suffered. Disaster in colombia, torrential rains is a mudslide into town, submerging homes, businesses and people. The death toll reaches into the hundreds. Some in the area have blamed Climate Change for the extreme rain, others say deforestation means are more likely. Further south in chile in january, drought, he took, strong winds and then fire. This town was destroyed by wildfires said to be the worst in the modern history of the country. Thousands of homes are burned to the ground. Summer fires also broke out in australia, nearly 100 at one stage in february in New South Wales as record high temperatures produce catastrophic fire danger. In march the weather took a dramatic turn as Cyclone Debbie Hit Queens Land and then New South Wales. Floods follow and after its hottest summer, sydney has its wettest margin 20 years. Viewed from helicopter, something quite astonishing is unfolding california in february. Car swallowing sinkholes are appearing. There goes another. It is notjust cars disappearing, the ground is literally giving way as the state undergoes a remarkable transformation from drought with a succession of storms and Weather Bombs bringing flooding rain. There is so much water that the overflow from this town is needed for the first time in 50 years but it fails, leading to evacuation with fears of unrestrained floodwater being sent downstream. In a world of changing climate and weather, some things change very little. Like this Weather Ritual which has been happening for over 200 years. At 9am every day, shane kelly takes Weather Observations at the Armagh 0bservatory a0 Miles South West of belfast. His work and that of those before him has made this one of the longest Running Series of manual Weather Observations in the world. Shane, you have been doing this for 18 years and the Temperature Record goes back over 200 years. Do you feel the weight of responsibility of keeping this going . It has been unbroken for 200 years, i dont want to be the one who breaks that are bad becomes infamous. It is a unique empirical record, it is a very useful record in research, schools, education for the general public. Lots of Weather Stations are automated, what is the benefit of having you doing this every day . We had an automatic Weather Stations several years back, and experimental one. It broke down, sometimes you lost records. We did not lose any on the manual side. 0n The Automatic station you were sometimes recording wind speeds of a17 mph, you can see how an automatic station can get it wrong. Do you think of the day when this might become automatic and you will not be required to do this any more . I think it will become automatic but i think the manual station will run side by side as long as there is a will for people to get up in the morning and take readings and do it every morning and keep the unbroken record. These are those first records, safely stored at the observatory. Its director Michael Burton is about to show me how it all began. You have some history . I certainly have, these are the First Reading software that the Armagh 0bservatory. Lets look at that first one. We have the logbook and we have this page at the top, these were the very first measurements made. It has held up quite well . Indeed. What is it telling us . The date, the first measurement is the 27th Of December 17 94. We are measuring the temperature inside and outside, two thermometers, one inside the observatory and one outside in the grounds, and the barometer, the air pressure. Things get more detailed over time . Notes are made about significant weather event. If we can call the 19th century the more recent past, what happened there . 1839, the time of bromley robertson, the director here for 59 years. He is recording notes, the comment says a tremendous gale in the night. There was a fantastic storm that night, it got robertson thinking about how one quantifies the strength of the wind and a few years later he came up with the design of what we call the anemometer, which is now use the world over to measure the wind speed. One of his first models this year . 0n the roof of the observatory building, you can go and see it. I have an amateur Weather Station on my back garden and it has this on it, and to think it all started here in armagh . This is the cap anemometer, it comes from 1870 but the very basic design is how we measure wind speed the world over. It says something about design that it has lasted the test of time . A simple design, four Club Spinning in the wind, you can measure the wind speed and that is how we know wind speeds around the world. It has been fascinating seeing the weather history at the Armagh 0bservatory, thank you for showing us around. We are back at Belfast International airport, so far we have looks at how weather is pivotal to operations here and had seen some of the systems in place to deal with changeable weather conditions. I will put some about into practice and with the help of michael we will use the Traffic Control simulator to try to safely land a plane. Imagine it is a foggy day at belfast, we have two inbound easyjets, one to the north and one to the south, we will factor them and establish them at ten miles, once they are safely established under the Instrument Landing System we can pretend we are transferring them to the tower. Vector. Easy for 64, descent altitude 3000 feet. We record the level on the strip and we watch the radar. You can see the aircraft is starting to descend. 464. It looks like this aircraft has safely intercepted the Instrument Landing System and it is on the approach to the runway . The aircraft is now approaching two miles from touchdown, he has been safely established. It is probably on a full auto land because it would be in fog and the pilots will be letting the aircraft land. That was really well done as a first attempt at vectoring and aircraft. It descended at nine miles, that is what we expected. Well done, a very good first attempt. My first aircraft, safely landed. Fantastic. Now from our busy skies to roads, and these Iconic London cabs are far from where you would normally expect to see them. This is the arctic circle, where they are being tested as they get a 21st century makeover with a virtually silent electric engine cutting emissions. It has been a while since london has seen snow like this but the manufacturers hope to sell the cabs in other polluted cities like moscow, which gets a bit colder in winter. Finally, we have had automobiles, planes and now trains. This is what happens when you are waiting at a station after a snowstorm but the first train is nonstop. In march, new york commuters get a second helping of snow, but this one was not in the forecast that is it for Weather World this time from Northern Ireland. We will be back later in the year. Until then, keep checking the forecast. Lets look at that First Reading. Where did i put it . we have lost the First Reading from 1794. From now onwards the First Readings will be from 1795. What is going on with my hair . What is it doing . She is so polite, isnt she . hello. Ra nkle rankle some of us on good friday. All very few of us on saturday. It isnt easter weekend of up and downs. It is cool throughout. There is sunny days. Saturday will be one. There are wetter days. Some of us, the rain will come back on easter and into easter monday. We will start with saturday. A cloudy start across parts of Southern England. It will brighten up. Sunny spells from the word go elsewhere. A blustery day across the northern half of the uk. Some girls across parts of northern scotland. The showers will be most frequent coming to northern scotland. Snow on the high hills. There will be a few showers in Northern Ireland and into Northern England as well. I breezy, so there will move through quite quickly. For the rest of england and for wales, we will see very few showers. Just one or two for the mist majority stay dry. Not quite as windy in the south. It will become cooler and fresher wherever you are, especially in the breeze. Through the day, the showers will come into scotland, most frequently to the north. Wintry on the hills. 0ne scotland, most frequently to the north. Wintry on the hills. One of two per Northern Ireland, england, but very few for the rest of england and wales. It will be largely dry. Those temperatures down to bed with good friday. 40 degrees possible in london, but 19 glasgow. Good friday. 40 degrees possible in london, but19 glasgow. For good friday. 40 degrees possible in london, but 19 glasgow. For most of us london, but 19 glasgow. For most of us nine or 12 degrees, of the wind make you feel cooler. Better to mind heading into the scottish hills and mountains. Wenger will be a factor. There will be some snow showers as well. Some wintry conditions, so be prepared. Going to saturday evening, it will be chilly. Many of the showers we are cloud will start to fade away. Mainly dry saturday evening, but watching a Weather System coming in from the atlantic for part two of the weekend. That is isa for part two of the weekend. That is is a day for sunday. Easter day. There is a risk of some snow into the scottish highlands, and into the pennines, too, as the wet weather pushes across east anger, the midlands, and wales, leaving Southern England dry. Some uncertainty about the position and timing of this Weather System. So keep watching the forecast during saturday. Those temperatures around nine to 15 celsius. For easter monday, showers, most recently down the east of the uk, will be windy. There will be sunny spells. 0nce the east of the uk, will be windy. There will be sunny spells. Once a clear away on monday night, it will look frosty, and there will be some chilly nights for this time of year coming up next week. Hello and welcome to bbc news. Our top stories. North korea on parade top stories. North korea on parade to commemorate its founding father but as tensions grow, will there be an act of defiance against the us . A simple tactical decision or a Straw Strength to the world . We decision or a Straw Strength to the world . 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