Artificial intelligence has helped to make a breakthrough in accurate long-range weather and climate predictions, according to research that promises advances in both forecasting and the wider use of machine learning.

Using a hybrid of machine learning and existing forecasting tools, a model led by Google called NeuralGCM successfully harnessed AI to conventional atmospheric physics models to track decades-long climate trends and extreme weather events such as cyclones, a team of scientists found.

This combination of machine learning with established techniques could provide a template for refining the use of AI in other fields from materials discovery to engineering design, the researchers suggest. NeuralGCM was much faster than traditional weather and climate forecasting and better than AI-only models at longer-term predictions, they said.