Regional cooperation: (From left) Macau Meteorological & Geophysical Bureau Deputy Director Antonio Viseu, Guangdong Meteorological Bureau Director Yu Yong, and Hong Kong Observatory Director Lam Chiu-ying formally open the seminar.

Meteorologists from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau met at a seminar the Hong Kong Observatory hosted to discuss strengthening co-operation, and to share research results.

Director of the Hong Kong Observatory Lam Chiu-ying said co-operation between meteorological authorities of these three places has enhanced weather services to the public in the Pearl River Estuary area.

He said they would work more closely in a number of areas in the coming year, to optimise lightning location information, upgrade communication links and study the  relationship between weather, climate and health. 

Through their cooperation, the three have accomplished significant achievements over the years.

An example is the setting up of six automatic weather stations on offshore islands. These serve as frontier posts to monitor inclement weather moving in from the South China Sea and contributed significantly to the weather warning services in the region.

A new station was set up in Guangdong last year to expand the joint lightning location network over the Pearl River Estuary. This will enable the coverage of a larger area in the region and a higher accuracy in lightning detection. This, in turn, will better safeguard the public against lightning damage.