Hi Wim,
I understand this had to be a tough decision to make, but I completely understand you.
On one hand I have to say, that with the exception of the Swedish SMHI, NOAA and US NWS has the best data - in terms of what is available for free, its format etc.
On the other hand, even though the format is very easy to use and lot of things to work with, it changes very often and only in the last one and half yrs Meteotemplate has been available, I had to update almost all the U.S. blocks not just once...