CIBSE Updates Weather Data Set

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22 July 2025

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers has launched its latest weather data set to assist building services professionals in adapting their operations to a warming climate.

The tool uses the latest climate data, reflecting Met Office observations from 1994–2023, replacing the previous 1984–2013 baseline.

Whilst the new CIBSE weather files are not mandatory for regulatory compliance, CIBSE recommends using the 2025 release of weather data for building performance analysis during the design stage. 

Following England’s warmest June on record, the Met Office has warned that extreme heat events will become more commonplace due to human-caused climate change. The building services industry will be a key stakeholder in decarbonisation across the built environment, mitigating overheating risk, managing rising energy demand, and delivering affordable and comfortable climate-adapted buildings.

28 New Climate Zones

The new release contains data from 28 climate zones across the UK, providing more regional insight than ever before. Users can identify the appropriate climate zone for their project by entering a postcode or geographic coordinates into a new digital platform.

The dataset contains detailed analyses of future weather patterns, basing the 2030s files on a high emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5) scenario. The 2050s will include an additional medium emissions scenario (RCP 4.5), and the 2080s will provide low (RCP 2.6), medium and high emissions scenarios. 

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Weather Data Set is the result of a two-and-a-half-year development and testing programme, led through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Exeter and reviewed by Loughborough University, Arup, Inkling LLP and other supporting volunteers. 

Picture: a graphic showing a 3D image of a raincloud with the sun behind it, and a thunderbolt in front of it. Image Credit: Unsplash

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 22 July 2025

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