Youngsters at a Weymouth school got to work making a rain detecting machine.

25 years ago on January 14, 1995, pupils of All Saints School in Wyke Regis were enlisted to help solve a problem for the Royal Navy.

The problem was this: housed in a glazed control tower at Portland’s Naval Air Station, meteorologists found it difficult at night to see whether or not it was raining.

After an appeal for help, several students, taking a non-examination electronics course, began designing and building a machine to detect even the slightest shower.

Teacher Chris Henderson was reported as saying: “This is a real problem and the pupils have to find a real solution. But it also allows us to give something back to the navy base as they have done a lot for us in the past.”

Most of the 17 students working on the project were girls, and Mr Henderson was said to be "delighted" with how quickly they took to the task.

The Echo reported that having designed a machine, which sets off an audio and visual alarm when it gets wet, the pupils were beginning to build a prototype.

The finished product was intended to be ready by Easter and was set to be installed in the weather forecasting station.