9 April 2026, Alofi – Niue has welcomed enhanced connectivity to support its weather monitoring and forecasting operations after the Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme handed over three new Starlink satellite internet units to the Niue Meteorological Service.
The timing is particularly significant.
Alofi, Niue – In a small island nation where a single passing storm can affect every household, the ability to communicate timely and clear weather information is more than a technical challenge: it is a matter of community safety. On 24-25 March 2026, representatives from Niue Meteorological Services, government sectors, the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), communications companies, women’s groups, community elders, and local media came together for a two-day training facilitated by the Weather Ready Pacific
The Pacific’s ability to protect lives, livelihoods, and economies from increasingly frequent and severe weather hazards has taken another important step forward through the Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme. The programme is the brainchild of the Pacific Meteorological Council and is being implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Building on previous regional training workshops on PICASO, this workshop shifts focus from system familiarization toward operational strengthening of seasonal forecasting practices and applied climate services.
The workshop will support National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in:
25 March 2026, Nuku’alofa – The Kingdom of Tonga will host the eighth sitting of the Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting (PMC-8) and the fourth convening of the Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-4) from 21 – 25 September this year. This was confirmed by the Cabinet of Ministers decision on the 6th March 2026.
23 March, 2026 – Today Niue marked World Meteorological Day with the official launch of the Vagahau Niue translated booklet series titled, ‘COPE: Be ready for disasters!’ The series aims to support national efforts to strengthen weather and climate services and information through community engagement.
23 March 2026, Apia - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), through the Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac), recently hosted a two-day training for three staff members from the Tokelau National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS), aimed at improving their national climate services.
Every morning for six months, Viva Malia Veikoso would prepare herself and walk to the Fiji Meteorological Service office in Namaka, Nadi. She was four months pregnant when the Basic Instructor for Public Weather Services Training began in May 2025, Viva faced a reality that would have deterred many: intensive technical training, monthly exams requiring 70% pass rates, assignments, projects, and the physical demands of pregnancy, all while thousands of miles from her young children and family in Tonga.
