The short version
Kevin Sene is a scientist and writer whose publications include award-winning books on natural spectacles such as mountain clouds and the Northern Lights, and on hydrometeorology, covering topics such as floods and droughts.
He is a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Meteorological Society, a Chartered Civil Engineer and was a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at Lancaster University from 2022 to 2025.
Kevin has worked in more than twenty countries and his fascination with the weather and the natural world arises partly from enjoying time spent in the great outdoors, including hiking, flying and sailing. His latest popular science books on the weather and floods are available for preorder for early 2027.
The longer version
Hello. I’m a scientist and writer interested in the weather, natural phenomena and the links between climate, floods and droughts.
I’ve been fortunate to have worked in more than twenty countries in Europe, Africa and Asia along with the UK and the USA and have contributed to more than sixty scientific and conference papers on topics such as climatology, flood forecasting, hydraulic modelling, hydrometry, and water resources.
Throughout, one strand has been good practice in flow forecasting and I’ve written three technical books on this topic for use by practitioners, researchers and university students, including an award-winning book on hydrometeorology.
More recently, I’ve written a more general interest book on understanding, managing and reducing the risks from flooding, which is due out in 2027.
This provides a concise non-mathematical introduction to the subject, with examples from around the world. Topic include flood mapping, flood forecasting and warning, flood insurance, floodplain regulation, and structural measures, such as levees, dams and washlands. It also discusses nature-based and community based solutions, such as rain gardens, river restoration, floodproofing and local flood warning systems.
Popular science books
In recent years I’ve also branched out into writing popular science books.
For example, I’ve long been interested in the weather and natural phenomena such as the Northern Lights, tidal bores and bird migration. Days out hillwalking, flying and sailing have provided an extra dimension, particularly in how to go about interpreting weather forecasts and the clouds and winds you experience around you..
The Weather Bible – due out next year – is likely to be of interest both to armchair readers and those who spend time in the great outdoors. It has been fascinating to research, including bringing in ideas from hillwalking, climbing and sailing experts. Photographing some of the phenomena was also an interesting challenge, including thunderstorms, spectacular mountain clouds, and the changes in weather as a warm or cold front approaches.
Spectacular Britain, also published by Bloomsbury, brought more of those interests together, featuring over 20 weather, space, tidal and wildlife spectacles, including practical tips on how to spot each phenomenon. Although mainly using UK examples, many of these tips apply elsewhere, particularly for phenomena such as the Northern Lights, meteor showers, and mountain clouds and thunderstorms.
The book includes a chapter on a particular interest of mine, namely tidal bores, such as the Severn Bore in Gloucestershire, well known to surfers worldwide. These are spectacular waves that travel upstream in some estuaries on the highest tides and over the years I’ve had many great trips out trying to spot them along with coastal walks, boat trips, and wildlife photography.
In Tidal Bores of England, Scotland and Wales I describe why they occur and how to improve your chances of seeing one. This features ten tidal bores around the coastline of England, Scotland and Wales along with places to visit nearby, such as tourist destinations, nature reserves and locations with a maritime theme.
Travel guides
Over the years, I’ve bought many travel guides to help plan work or holiday trips away and find them a great way to get to know an area, and in some ways much better than browsing through websites.
In another strand, I’ve published two travel guides to help with planning trips to two parts of the UK I know well from cycling and walking trips, including the length of the Cumbrian coastline. These were called The Cumbria and Lake District and The Mersey Estuary: A Travel Guide.
In addition to the usual tourist attractions, they describe many less well-known hidden gems along with the wildlife and maritime histories of each area.
Other information
I also publish a free monthly popular science newsletter, and recent topics have included the Northern Lights, mountain waves and how geese make use of the weather during migration.
And in case you are wondering why the website is called www.meteowriter.com, it’s a name that reflects my meteorological, climate and weather interests!
