Met Office chief executive steps down

The head of the Met Office has stepped down, the national weather agency has announced.

The Met Office said its work was "wholly unaffected" by Rob Varley stepping down from his role as chief executive.

The current deputy chief executive and chief finance officer Nick Jobling has become interim chief executive with immediate effect, pending the appointment of a new permanent chief executive.

"This will ensure continued leadership of our world-class National Meteorological Service.

"Met Office operations and services are wholly unaffected by this decision," the agency said.

The Met Office was not able to give any further details surrounding the announcement.

But the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) which oversees the government agency, said it related to "governance arrangements and management controls".

Mr Varley had been chief executive since 2014, having joined the Met Office executive team in 2007, and previously worked in a variety of roles including as a weather forecaster and in training.

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