MET Norway Frost API / Open Weather Data

Overview

The Frost API is an open data service provided by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Meteorologisk institutt, MET Norway), the national meteorological service of Norway. The Frost API offers free programmatic access to MET Norway's archive of historical weather and climate observation data. All data and products distributed through Frost are licensed under the Norwegian License for Open Data 2.0 (NLOD) and Creative Commons 4.0 (CC BY 4.0), permitting free use, distribution, and adaptation with attribution.

Collections and Data Holdings

The Frost API provides access to quality-controlled daily, monthly, and yearly measurements of temperature, precipitation, wind speed, and other meteorological variables from weather stations across Norway and, in some cases, beyond. Data includes historical time series extending back many decades, enabling climate research, environmental analysis, and historical comparison. Metadata about individual weather stations is also accessible through the API. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute maintains one of the most comprehensive national meteorological observation archives in Europe, with systematic records dating to the 19th century.

Technical Access and Usage

Access to the Frost API requires free registration to obtain a client ID. The API is RESTful and returns data in standard formats suitable for ingestion by research and data analysis tools. Client libraries and integrations exist for popular programming environments including R (the frostr package) and Python. The API is one component of MET Norway's broader open data ecosystem, which also includes the Yr weather forecast service (operated in collaboration with NRK), radar composites, lightning data, ocean forecasts, and satellite imagery. Documentation and API reference are available at frost.met.no.