The Met Office: Taking TikTok by storm

The Met Office has a remit to communicate with all citizens of the UK, providing them with weather information to stay safe and thrive. This considerable task requires the team to be innovative in its approach and consider all possible channels. While weather is a national obsession for many, reaching younger audiences has historically been difficult for the Met Office. With a strong track record of success on more traditional social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the Met Office spotted an opportunity in 2020 to leverage a new, developing channel: TikTok. This fast-growing platform could not be ignored as a key channel to reach that much sought-after younger audience. This paper outlines the journey the Met Office has taken towards building an award-winning TikTok channel. From tentative experimentation to finally realising a shared purpose with learning content, the channel has grown from less than 100 followers to nearly 280,000 in three years, received over 2.6 million likes, partnered with other brands, and mastered the live format. A recent video on climate change received 7.2 million video views. The Met Office’s work has been recognised by awards from The Drum, The Chartered Institute of Public Relations and The UK Social Media Awards, to name but a few. This paper also includes a case study on how TikTok played a pivotal role in communicating rare, red weather warnings in 2022, how the Met Office overcame security challenges posed by the platform, and hints and tips for success.