Banks blow warm on meteorologists

Markets may be in crisis but meteorologists don't care. They're cashing in as banks hire them to help predict the effects of global warming.

"There are a number of banks that now employ meteorologists," says Ravi Chawda, a consultant at headhunters DNA Search. "Over the past year and a half we have seen an increased appetite by banks, trading houses and hedge funds for experienced meteorologists to join the analytics function within their commodity trading businesses"

Meteorological anoraks who turn to the City can expect to bring home a fair amount of extra cash. In deepest Exeter (where the Met Office is based), Chawda says an experienced consultant can expect to earn anything from 27k to 40k.

By comparison, banks' salaries for weather forecasters are anything from 55k to 80k and bonuses can be multiples of this - particularly when their forecasts help traders make a mint out of the likes of rising oil prices following a hurricane.

Not all meteorologists are prepared to follow the money. "I know of some very respected climate scientists who've gone to work in the City," says Dr. Matt Huddlestone, principal consultant at the Met Office. "You can get lots of money - but on the other hand, you can become quite isolated. They're not going to employ a lot of scientists doing real research and you can easily lose your scientific edge."

But meteorologists are at least likely to remain a hot ticket as long as global warming continues to loom large. The same can't necessarily be said for other jobs in the City.