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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Meteorological Office
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(also known as the Met. Office) Organization with its headquarters at Bracknell in Berkshire. It was founded in 1854 as a department within the Board of Trade, with Captain Fitzroy (previously *Darwin's captain in HMS Beagle as its first director. Its brief was to provide information on weather conditions and currents (the *shipping forecast remains a central responsibility). The information behind the weather forecasts is collected from nearly 300 stations around Britain, from balloons and satellites, and from a voluntary international fleet of some 7000 ships and rigs; it is combined with data from previous records before being processed by computer.
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