diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/.validate b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/.validate
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..2ea8bbb7bd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/.validate
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# THIS FILE IS PART OF THE CYLC WORKFLOW ENGINE.
+# Copyright (C) NIWA & British Crown (Met Office) & Contributors.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+set -eux
+
+ID="$(< /dev/urandom tr -dc A-Za-z | head -c6)"
+
+# run the workflow
+cylc vip --check-circular --no-run-name --no-detach --workflow-name "$ID"
+
+# check the station:ID mapping came out as expected
+grep 'fetch data for heathrow, WMO ID: 03772' "${HOME}/cylc-run/${ID}/log/job/20000101T0000Z/fetch_heathrow/NN/job.out"
+
+# lint
+cylc lint "$ID"
+
+# clean up
+cylc clean "$ID"
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/flow.cylc b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/flow.cylc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..232448935d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/flow.cylc
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#!Jinja2
+
+[meta]
+    title = Weather Station Workflow
+    description = """
+        This workflow demonstrates how to read in a data file for use in
+        defining your workflow.
+
+        We have a file called "stations.json" which contains a list of weather
+        stations with some data for each. This workflow reads the
+        "stations.json" file and creates a family for each weather station
+        with an environment variable for each data field.
+
+        You can load data in other formats too. Try changing "load_json" to
+        "load_csv" and "stations.json" to "stations.csv" for a CSV example.
+    """
+
+
+{# Import a Python function to load our data. #}
+{% from "load_data" import load_json %}
+
+{# Load data from the specified file. #}
+{% set stations = load_json('stations.json') %}
+
+{# Extract a list of station names from the data file. #}
+{% set station_names = stations | map(attribute="name") | list %}
+
+
+{# Provide Cylc with a list of weather stations. #}
+[task parameters]
+    station = {{ station_names | join(', ') }}
+
+
+[scheduling]
+    initial cycle point = 2000-01-01
+    final cycle point = 2000-01-02
+    [[graph]]
+        P1D = fetch<station> => process<station> => collate
+
+
+[runtime]
+{# Define a family for each weather station #}
+{% for station in stations %}
+    [[STATION<station={{ station["name"] }}>]]
+        [[[environment]]]
+            {# Turn the <station> parameter into an environment variable #}
+            {# NB: Just to show how, we could also have used `station["name"]`. #}
+            name = %(station)s
+            {# Turn the data for this station into environment variables. #}
+            wmo = {{ station["wmo"] }}
+            alt = {{ station["alt"] }}
+            lat = {{ station["lat"] }}
+            lon = {{ station["lon"] }}
+{% endfor %}
+
+    # a task that gets data
+    [[fetch<station>]]
+        inherit = STATION<station>
+        script = echo "fetch data for $name, WMO ID: $wmo"
+
+    [[process<station>]]
+        inherit = STATION<station>
+        script = echo "process data for $name, location: $lat,$lon"
+
+    [[collate]]
+        script = "echo collate data for stations: {{ station_names }}"
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/index.rst b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e68b34cfc50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+Using Data To Define Your Workflow
+==================================
+
+.. admonition:: Get a copy of this example
+   :class: hint
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      $ cylc get-resources examples/external-data-files
+
+We often want to read in a dataset for use in defining our workflow.
+
+The :ref:`Cylc tutorial <tutorial-cylc-consolidating-configuration>` is an
+example of this where we want one ``get_observations`` task for each of a list
+of weather stations. Each weather station has a name (e.g. "heathrow") and an
+ID (e.g. 3772).
+
+.. code-block:: cylc
+
+   [runtime]
+       [[get_observations_heathrow]]
+           script = get-observations
+           [[[environment]]]
+               SITE_ID = 3772
+       [[get_observations_camborne]]
+           script = get-observations
+           [[[environment]]]
+               SITE_ID = 3808
+       [[get_observations_shetland]]
+           script = get-observations
+           [[[environment]]]
+               SITE_ID = 3005
+       [[get_observations_aldergrove]]
+           script = get-observations
+           [[[environment]]]
+               SITE_ID = 3917
+
+It can be inconvenient to write out the name and ID of each station in your
+workflow like this, however, you may already have this information in a more
+convenient format (i.e. a data file of some form).
+
+With Cylc, we can use :ref:`Jinja2 <Jinja>` to read in a data file and use that data to
+define your workflow.
+
+
+The Approach
+------------
+
+This example has three components:
+
+1. A JSON file containing a list of weather stations along with all the data
+   associated with them.
+
+   .. literalinclude:: stations.json
+      :language: json
+      :caption: stations.json
+
+2. A Python function that reads the JSON file.
+
+   .. code-block:: python
+      :caption: lib/python/load_data.py
+   
+      import json
+      
+      
+      def load_json(filename):
+          with open(filename, 'r') as json_file:
+              return json.load(json_file)
+
+   We put this Python code in the workflow's ``lib/python`` directory which
+   allows us to import it from within our workflow.
+
+3. A ``flow.cylc`` file that uses the Python function to load the
+   data file.
+
+   We can import Python functions with Jinja2 using the following syntax:
+
+   .. code-block::
+
+      {% from "load_data" import load_json %}
+
+   For more information, see :ref:`jinja2.importing_python_modules`.
+
+
+
+The Workflow
+------------
+
+The three files are arranged like so:
+
+.. code-block:: none
+   :caption: File Structure
+
+   |-- flow.cylc
+   |-- lib
+   |   `-- python
+   |       `-- load_data.py
+   `-- stations.json
+
+The ``flow.cylc`` file:
+
+* Imports the Python function.
+* Uses it to load the data.
+* Then uses the data to define the workflow.
+
+.. literalinclude:: flow.cylc
+   :language: ini
+   :caption: flow.cylc
+
+
+Data Types
+----------
+
+We can load other types of data file too. This example also includes the same
+data in CSV format along with a Python function to load CSV data. To try it
+out, open the ``flow.cylc`` file and replace ``stations.json`` with
+``stations.csv`` and ``load_json`` with ``load_csv``.
+
+Any Python code that you import using Jinja2 will be executed using the Python
+environment that Cylc is running in. So if you want to import Python code that
+isn't in the standard library, you may need to get your system administrator to
+install this dependency into the Cylc environment for you.
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/lib/python/load_data.py b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/lib/python/load_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7f9dd822884
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/lib/python/load_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import csv
+import json
+
+
+def load_csv(filename):
+    with open(filename, 'r') as csv_file:
+        return list(csv.DictReader(csv_file))
+
+
+def load_json(filename):
+    with open(filename, 'r') as json_file:
+        return json.load(json_file)
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/stations.csv b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/stations.csv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..81c13a53ad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/stations.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+name,wmo,alt,lat,lon
+camborne,03808,87,50.21841,-5.32753
+heathrow,03772,25,51.47922.-0.45061
+lerwick,03005,82,60.13893,-1.18491,
+aldergrove,03917,63,54.66365,-6.22534,
+exeter,03844,27,50.73717,-3.40579,
+middle_wallop,03749,90,51.14987,-1.56994
diff --git a/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/stations.json b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/stations.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..213d4282eb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cylc/flow/etc/examples/external-data-files/stations.json
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+[
+    {
+        "name": "camborne",
+        "wmo": "03808",
+        "alt": 87,
+        "lat": 50.21841,
+        "lon": -5.32753
+    },
+    {
+        "name": "heathrow",
+        "wmo": "03772",
+        "alt": 25,
+        "lat": 51.47922,
+        "lon": -0.45061
+    },
+    {
+        "name": "lerwick",
+        "wmo": "03005",
+        "alt": 82,
+        "lat": 60.13893,
+        "lon": -1.18491
+    },
+    {
+        "name": "aldergrove",
+        "wmo": "03917",
+        "alt": 63,
+        "lat": 54.66365,
+        "lon": -6.22534
+    },
+    {
+        "name": "exeter",
+        "wmo": "03844",
+        "alt": 27,
+        "lat": 50.73717,
+        "lon": -3.40579
+    },
+    {
+        "name": "middle_wallop",
+        "wmo": "03749",
+        "alt": 90,
+        "lat": 51.14987,
+        "lon": -1.56994
+    }
+]