Standard terms and conditions

"Conditions" means these terms and conditions.

"Data" means meteorological, environmental, hydrological or oceanographic (whether historical or otherwise) information and/or graphs, graphics, drawings, documents, trade marks, know-how or any other material provided as part of the Services.

"Fees" means the sums payable by you to us including taxes and duties at the rate prevailing at the date the Services are provided.

"Intellectual Property Rights" means any intellectual property right including but not limited to copyright, moral right, database right, patent, trade mark, domain name, trade secret or design right (whether registered or unregistered) or where relevant any application for any such rights in any jurisdiction.

"Order" means your request for us to deliver the Services whether verbally or in writing and whether electronically or otherwise.

"Permitted Use" means the purpose for which the Data and/or Services may be used.

"Services" means the weather forecasting services or solely for the provision of Data that we provide to you pursuant to an Order (in whatever medium) solely for the Permitted Use.

"Term" means in respect of the Services, either the period during which we agree to supply you with the Services or, if the Service is a one-off service, each separate occasion on which you purchase the Service.

"We" "us" "our" means the Met Office, a Trading Fund of the Ministry of Defence, whose address is at FitzRoy Road, Exeter, Devon EX1 3PB.

"You" means the person, firm or company to whom we provide the Services

2.1. In consideration of your paying us the Fees we will provide you with the Services for the Term. You will use the Data solely for the Permitted Use and as permitted by these Conditions.

2.2. A contract for the provision of Services will come into force either when we accept an Order in writing or when we first make available or deliver the Services to you, whichever occurs first.

2.3. In respect to forecasting, you acknowledge that despite our professional endeavours meteorology is an inexact science and you agree that the Services may not be relied upon as though it were a statement of fact.

2.4. We reserve the right at any time, subject to reasonable notice, to suspend the Services in the event of any actual or suspected breach by you of these Conditions.

3.1. Unless otherwise agreed between us, we will not be obliged to supply you with any Services or Data until you have paid us the Fees in full.

3.2. We may, in our absolute discretion, allow you to pay for Services by invoice. In such circumstances, you must pay the Fees within 30 days from the date of invoice unless otherwise agreed in writing. If you fail to pay the Fees or any part of the Fees in accordance with the payment then, without prejudice to our other rights and remedies, we may suspend any Services and charge interest on the amount outstanding in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (as amended) from the date of the invoice until we receive full payment in cleared funds both before and after any judgment).

3.3. We reserve the right to require you to make advance payments on account of the Fees before we provide any Services.

4.1. We cannot accept any liability for any losses incurred by you or any third party as a result of your or their reliance on Data and or any other information supplied to you as part of the Services.

4.2. We do not represent or warrant that you will have uninterrupted access to the Services nor that errors in the Data will or can be rectified.

4.3. We exclude all other warranties, Conditions, terms, undertakings and obligations whether express or implied by statute or otherwise to the fullest extent permitted by law.

4.4. You warrant to us that you will not use the Services, or the Data, or products derived from the Data, in ways which are knowingly or potentially libellous or slanderous of individuals, companies or organisations.

5.1. We grant to you a worldwide non-exclusive licence. Where not expressly specified you may view, print, copy for internal use, distribute internally and archive the Data subject to the limitation specified in clause 9.5.

5.2. Any and all proprietary rights in the Data and/or the Services are subject to Crown copyright protection. You will not acquire nor will you attempt to register any Intellectual Property Rights in the Data and/or Services.

5.3. "Met Office" and its logo(s) are registered trade marks of the Met Office. You do not have the right to use or reproduce our logo(s) or other trade marks without our prior written authorisation.

5.4. Where the Permitted Use provides for the reproduction or publication of Data, such reproduction or publication must contain a Crown copyright acknowledgement in the form:

© Crown copyright year Published by the Met Office

In cases where you want to reproduce or publish Data that has been superseded you must make it clear that a more up-to-date version is available.

5.5. Data supplied to you including that Data supplied as part of a Service may be held for a maximum period of five years following the expiry of the Term. Nothing in this Condition will allow you to retain Data in the event of termination following your breach of any Condition.

5.6. Nothing in these Conditions transfers to you the copyright or any other Intellectual Property Rights in the Data, Services, or any software, software tools, design concepts, know-how, techniques or methodologies which we use in producing Data, or providing the Services, the ownership of which remains absolutely with us (on behalf of the Crown).

5.7. You will give us any assistance we may require to enable us to obtain, defend and enforce the proprietary and Intellectual Property Rights in the Data and the Services.

5.8. You will effect and maintain adequate security measures to safeguard the Data and the Services from access or use by any unauthorised person. You will notify us immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of the Services by anyone or of any actual or potential infringement of our Intellectual Property Rights in the Data or Services. You will permit us at any time to check that the use of the Data and the Services is in accordance with these Conditions.

5.9. You will permit us upon reasonable notice to check that you have complied with Condition 9.5.

6.1. Notwithstanding anything else contained in these Conditions, we may, at our option, suspend or terminate the Services or Consultancy Services immediately on giving notice to you if:

6.2. Any suspension of the Services on our part will not prejudice our right to terminate the Services later, for the same or a different reason.

6.3. Should we terminate the Services under Condition 6.1, you will remain liable to pay us any portion of the Fees which remains unpaid in respect of the Services for the remainder of the Term together with any expenses we have incurred or have agreed to incur in connection with any work done or to be done for you.

6.4. The termination or expiry of the Services for any reason:

6.5. You do not have a right of early termination or cancellation of the Services unless we agree to your request in writing and upon such terms as we may agree and in this event we may, but shall not be obliged to make a partial refund of the Fees you have paid, entirely at our discretion.

7.1. We will not be liable for any delay in performing or failure to perform the Services caused by circumstances beyond our control and we will be granted a reasonable extension of time for the performance of the Services.

8.1. We will not be liable to you for loss of actual or anticipated profits or savings, loss of business, loss of opportunity, loss or spoiling of data, loss of contracts, or for any indirect or consequential loss, whether arising from negligence, or breach of contract, or in any other way, even if we were advised of, or knew of the likelihood of, that loss or type of loss arising.

8.2. Without prejudice to Condition 4.1 and 8.1, our liability for direct loss whether in contract, or tort (including negligence) or arising in any other way, will not exceed 200% of the amount you have paid to us or is payable for that part of the Services from which your claim for loss arises.

8.3. You acknowledge that the above exclusions and limitations have been drawn to your attention and is a fair apportionment of risk bearing in mind the amount of the Fees, the nature of the Data and Services, and the circumstances outlined in Conditions 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.2 and 6.1.

8.4. You will keep us fully and effectually indemnified against all actions, claims, proceedings, costs and/or damages together with all legal costs or expenses that we incur as a result of contracting with you (including any claims made by third parties against you or us paid by you to compromise or settle any claim made by a third party based on your use of the Data.

9.1. We have obligations under law including the Freedom of Information Act to disclose information including confidential information held by us. We will always endeavour to consult with you before making a decision to disclose confidential information held by us as a consequence of providing you with the Service

9.2. No failure or delay by us to exercise any right, power or remedy will operate as a waiver of it nor will any partial exercise preclude any further exercise of the same or some other right, power or remedy.

9.3. These Conditions supersede all prior agreements, arrangements and understandings between you and us and constitute the entire agreement between you and us relating to the Services. The Conditions shall prevail over any terms or Conditions that you seek to introduce that are not expressly contained within these Conditions. We may vary these Conditions at any time for whatever reason provided we publish such varied Conditions on the Website or otherwise notify you of such change.

9.4. You may not assign, transfer, sub-contract or sub-license your rights or obligations under these Conditions or sell-on or share any Data, whether in whole or in part, without first obtaining our written consent.

9.5. You will delete or destroy the Data supplied to you following termination under Condition 6 or after five years calculated from expiry of the Term.

9.6. All notices to be given must be in writing and be sent to us at our address set out at Condition 1 or be sent to you at your registered office or principal place of business or any contact e-mail address you give us from time to time.

9.7. The headings to these Conditions are for ease of reference only, and do not affect the interpretation or construction of these Conditions.

9.8. Time will not be of the essence in respect of the Services provided subject to these Conditions.

9.9. If any of these Conditions are, for any reason, held to be unenforceable, illegal or invalid, that unenforceability, illegality or invalidity will not affect any other provisions which will continue in full force and effect.

9.10. These Conditions expressly exclude any rights granted to any third party under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

9.11. These Conditions shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. The English Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any dispute that arises out of or in connection with these Conditions where you are resident in England or Wales. In the case of those that are resident in Scotland each party shall submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts.