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US cable television channel The Weather Channel (www.weather.com)

has signed its first UK portal distribution deal with MSN, prior to the

launch of Weather.co.uk this week. It has also signed an agreement with

Yahoo! to become its weather provider on a global basis from January

2002.

Weather.co.uk will feature weather information tailored to the UK

market, including a postcode search covering 2,899 UK postcodes.

The site will offer temperatures, wind speeds, visibility information,

10-day forecasts and climate statistics. Pollen information is under

development.

"Not only does this new partnership enable weather.co.uk to provide

valuable new content to a huge internet audience, it supports our

business model by providing an additional revenue stream," said Matt

Whittingham, business marketing manager at MSN UK.

The site will include vertical channels, such as leisure, work and

sports.

"For example, there will be a sports section where you can find out the

forecast for your local team," said Eduardo Ruiz, president at

weather.co.uk.

Weather.co.uk will work with Weather Services International (WSI) which,

like the Weather Channel, is owned by media company Landmark

Communications. All WSI's products will be rebranded weather.co.uk.

Landmark Communications' travel network (www.travelchannel.co.uk) is

also based in London and broadcasts throughout the UK, Eastern Europe

and Africa.

"We are working on several other deals with major UK portals, and plan

to run cross-promotional campaigns with the Travel Channel following our

launch," said Ruiz.