Veteran Maidenhead meteorologist to retire this summer

A veteran Maidenhead meteorologist is set to retire this summer but has vowed to stay involved in all things weather-related once he has called time on his career.

Roger Brugge, from Wootton Way, has worked at the University of Reading for 30 years, with his most recent role there being as a senior support scientist.

He has also set up his very own weather station in his Maidenhead back garden to monitor the conditions, and has temperature records going back to 1953.

During the recent heatwave in the UK, Roger’s set-up enabled him to confirm that the 38.5 degrees Celsius recorded at Boyn Hill was the highest temperature in the area since his records began.

Roger explained how his curiosity in the weather began: “It all started when I was a teenager and I was interested in the weather, in geography, and my father set up a weather station in our back garden.

“I started off learning about how thunderstorms worked and modelling the airflow – why is it they persist for hours and in other cases it is a quick flash bang bit of rain?”

Roger graduated with a degree in physics at university and spent some time working at the Imperial College London before taking on the University of Reading role.

There, he offers scientific support and observational data for staff in the Department of Meteorology, teaching support and carries out outreach activities in places such as schools.

Roger is also in the process of writing a book about the weather in Maidenhead, which is set to keep him busy in retirement.

He also plans to keep on monitoring the weather from his station and help out at the university when needed.

Roger told the Advertiser that he enjoys the uncertainty that comes with a job in meteorology, adding the role has changed considerably over the years due to climate change.

“All of this stuff about climate change was just not thought of,” Roger said.

“Nowadays it is more of the application of weather and you need some idea of what the weather is going to be like, whereas 50 years ago that was a non-starter.

“It is one of those subjects that has evolved and I would never have dreamed that these options would be available.

“It is that uncertainty – you look outside and the atmosphere is a bit like an experiment, there is a lot you can’t control because the wind might change direction or the ground heats up.

“I used to live in Furze Platt and wake up in the fields and there was a lot of fog, but in the town centre you do not get that because of the buildings. Your locality is always different to someone else’s.”

On how he would sum up his career, Roger said: “I am very lucky to have been through a period of change, and it is nice to have been at the forefront of that.”