Durham University Observatory

{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Durham Observatory

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| image = Durham Observatory.jpg

| caption = Observatory front view

| map_type = United Kingdom Durham

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| building_type = Observatory

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| location = Potters Bank, Durham

| owner = Durham University

| coordinates = {{coord|54.768|-1.586|display=inline}}

| start_date = 1839

| completion_date = 1841

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| architect = Anthony Salvin

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| website = {{url|https://durhamweather.webspace.durham.ac.uk}}

}}

The Durham University Observatory is a weather observatory owned and operated by the University of Durham. It is a Grade II listed building{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1322869&resourceID=5|title=Durham Observatory|publisher=Heritage Gateway|access-date=3 October 2009}} located at Potters Bank, Durham and was founded in 1839 initially as an astronomical and meteorological observatory (owing to the need to calculate refraction from the air temperature) by Temple Chevallier, until 1937 when the observatory moved purely to meteorological recording.[http://www.aip.org/history/newsletter/spr98/doc-98a.htm Documentation Preserved – Spr. 1998] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012070117/http://www.aip.org/history/newsletter/spr98/doc-98a.htm |date=12 October 2008 }}

The observatory's current director is Professor Tim Burt of the Geography Department, who is also Master of Hatfield College.

After the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford (from 1772) and the Armagh Observatory (from 1795), Durham has the third longest unbroken meteorological record in the UK, with records dating back to 23 July 1843,{{cite web|url=https://durhamweather.webspace.durham.ac.uk/overview-and-brief-history/|title= Overview and brief history |website=Durham Weather|access-date=17 June 2024}} principally due to the work of Gordon Manley in creating a temperature record that would be comparable to Oxford's.{{cite web |url=http://www.geography.dur.ac.uk/projects/weather/TheHistory/tabid/2212/Default.aspx |title=The History |access-date=11 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108231332/http://www.geography.dur.ac.uk/projects/weather/TheHistory/tabid/2212/Default.aspx |archive-date=8 November 2009 }} The Observatory's History In 2022, Oxford University Press published Durham Weather and Climate since 1841, analysing the observatory's weather records and giving a history of the observations, as a sister volume to their Oxford Weather and Climate since 1767 (2019).{{cite web|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/durham-weather-and-climate-since-1841-9780198870517?q=burt&lang=en&cc=gb#|title=Durham Weather and Climate since 1841|website=Oxford University Press|access-date=17 June 2024}} Observations were made manually until 1999, since when a Met Office automatic weather station has been used.

The observatory is a World Meteorological Organization Centennial Observing Station.{{cite web|url=https://wmo.int/centennial-observing-stations|title=Centennial Observing Stations|website=World Meteorological Organization|access-date=17 June 2024}}