The weather affects much more than how we decide to dress each day, it affects livelihoods, the way that we live in our homes and how our families survive. Its power is deeply respected in the Cook Islands where the nation faced the trial of five cyclones in just over a month in 2005. The extreme importance of disaster risk management was understood 'loud and clear' after that memorable cyclone season.

Armed with this understanding, the Cook Islands will be hosting the twelfth Regional Meteorological Services Directors (12RMSD) meeting during the first week of July. A major topic for discussion is the role of the Met Services when it comes to disasters of any kind, including tsunamis.

Present at the meeting will be the Director from your national Met Service to discuss the current issues of flood forecasting, seasonal climate outlooks with regards to rainfall or drought as well as disaster risk management. Yet one major theme throughout the meeting will be to encourage Pacific citizens to view their own Met Service as more than just an office you turn to when you want to know if it is going to rain or not.

The annual meetings of Directors began in 1993; since then the role of Met Services has grown and with it the responsibility it has to our people. New scientific possibilities mean the Met Services are able to forecast whole seasons to give people an indication of rainfall or drought patterns.

Following the tsunami in April in the Solomon Islands, Pacific nations have grown to understand that tsunamis in the Pacific are a reality and their Met Service has an important role in providing people with an early warning.

As the climate patterns change throughout the region, Met Services come to be more appreciated. The 12RMSD will look at ways to lift their profile within each island nation as a better understanding of their role also means stronger policy and human and fiscal resources.

The US Global Climate Observing System, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, the World Meteorological Organization, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and AusAID support the meeting, which is organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. It will be held at the Edgewater Resort Hotel in Rarotonga from July 2-6, 2007. SPREP, 27/06/07.