Yellow rubber duck revealed by Wimbledon as secret weapon to predict tournament weather

Wimbledon has spent millions of pounds on one of the most accurate weather kits in the world.

But despite the cutting edge technology, that can even predict downpours on individual courts its most valued tool is a bucket and rubber duck, called John QuackEnroe.

The paddling pool sits on the roof at SW19 and has an infrared camera on it so the team can watch QuackEnroe day and night to determine the type of rain.

It is the ‘low tech’ companion to the Club’s cutting edge radar that fires into rain clouds every 20 seconds to see the exact time and location of each downpour.

Paul Abeille, manager of the station, said of the bucket: ‘My radar is quite expensive, but this is a few pounds,’ adding: ‘That is very important for us, because you can see when drops are falling in the water whether they are big drops or small drops and you can imagine what is falling on the court.’ 

Paul Abeille, manager of the station, said of the bucket: ‘My radar is quite expensive, but this is a few pounds’

The radar system is so advanced that it often instructs umpires to carry on play if it starts raining as it knows it will stop in a few minutes.

Forecasters share the information with the main office which beams it to a panel on the oustide of Centre Court that is visible to spotters on all outer courts.

This broadcasts a number from one to eight, which have differing instructions from ‘court covering teams to be ready’, ‘stop play at umpires discretion’, and ‘cover the courts immediately’, to ‘deflate the covers’ and ‘dress the courts’.

But despite the accuracy of the station and the expertise of the meterologists it does not stop officials suggesting they know better.

Abby Smith, senior operational meteorologist, said: ‘Sometimes the umpire will come in and be like, “I’m not sure about that cloud”.’ 

BBC tennis pundit and former men’s world number one player John McEnroe, pictured with  former women’s world number three Sue Barker

Ground staff shelter from the rain as rain suspends play on the outdoor courts during day nine of The Championships Wimbledon 2023

In an embarassment for the Met Office, they are only responsible for forecasting up to a mile radius of the Club – at which point Mr Abeille’s team at Meteo France take over for a ‘hyper accurate’ picture.

The Frenchman uses his technology at events all over the world, but says Wimbledon is ‘the most fun’ because of the unpredictable weather.

‘It’s more fun here than Bahrain,’ he joked. ‘I love to forecast here because it changes all the time.’