In message , Paul Crabtree
writes

I understood these instruments to belong to the County Council to record the
weather details, there will be probes etc built into the road at the same
point to measure the road surface temp which helps them assist when to salt
the road etc - all the data is fed to a central computer at each county
council office to give them live readings - just a shame the info isn't
available for all



I've noticed these instruments in a wide variety of odd locations, not
just alongside motorways...most recently on a single track road between
Tarbert and Grosebay on the Isle of Harris! Then again I guess the
Western Isles council will be particularly interested in the weather.

Conventional climatalogical stations are not as easy to spot. The only
ones that I have come across so far include the highly visible Swanage
station, one on the Isle of Skye, near Broadford I think and one on the
campus of University College Northampton. Rainfall stations, although
clearly marked on some OS maps, appear to be disappearing fast or are
highly camouflaged. I guess the ever present threat of vandalism places
these sites in discrete locations.

--

Mike Lewis