FAQs

Have a question about our weather app? Check here first.

Contents

Installing and updating the app

Using the app

Advertising

Installing and updating the app

Is the Met Office Weather Forecast app free?

Yes the Met Office Weather Forecast app is free to download from both the App Store and Google Play Store. The Met Office does not charge you to use the app but you may be charged by your operator for the amount of data you use. You need to check the tariff you are on with your mobile operator.

What Operating System version do I need?

Decision tree

Probably unsupported

  • Less than 1% of app users; or

  • Operating system is not actively supported by the manufacturer; or

  • upgrade has been available for more than 3 years and less than 2% of users; or

  • significantly behind standards or adds significantly to development time and less than 2.5% of users; or

  • new operating system and less than 5% of site users.

Probably partially supported

  • Less than 2% of app users; or

  • upgrade has been available for more than 3 years and less than 4% of users; or

  • significantly behind standards or adds significantly to development time and less than 5% of users.

Probably supported

  • All of the above statements are not true; or

  • strategically supported operating system; or

  • new operating system and more than 5% of app users.

iOS: 16 and above supported. iOS 15 partially supported.

Android: 9 and above supported. Android 8 partially supported.

How do I download the app?

The app can be downloaded by searching for 'Met Office weather' from the App Store or Google Play store.

Why can't I download the app from the App Store / Google Play?

First, make sure you're connected to the internet. If you still can't download the app from the App Store or Google Play, check that you have a supported device and you're running the correct Operating System version. If you continue to experience problems downloading the app, it may be a problem related to your App Store or Google Play account.

How do I know when you have released a new update to the app?

If you have automatic updates turned on, your app will update automatically when we release a new version. If you do not have automatic updates turned on, and you use an iphone, you will be informed about updates to any apps via a flag on your App store icon. If you see this flag click into the app store and it will tell you which apps have updates that you can download. If the Met Office have released a new version, Met Office Weather Forecast will be listed.

If you do not have automatic updates turned on, and you use an Android, you will be informed about updates to any apps via a flag on your Google Play store icon. If you see this flag click into the app store and it will tell you which apps have updates that you can download. If the Met Office have released a new version, Met Office Weather Forecast will be listed.

Why isn’t the old Met Office app working?

The old Met Office app expired on 31 March 2017, and no longer receives weather data. The old app had to be retired despite its popularity, as it had reached the end of its technical lifecycle and could no longer be updated to meet user needs.

Why am I having difficulty receiving notifications?

Following the release of IOS 1.46.0 and Android 1.49.0, the Met Office Weather App has changed to a new push notifications provider. This will allow us to bring more advanced notification features in future versions. Older versions of the app may no longer receive push notifications (pollen and National Severe Weather Warnings). In order to receive notifications, please update to the latest version.

Read more about our app updates

Using the app

How do I save my favourite locations?

Saving favourite locations on iPhone

Tap the '+' at the top of the snapshots screen to search for a location. Type the name of the location you are looking for in the search bar and then select it from the drop down list. This will take you to the forecast details page for that location. In the top right corner you have the option to 'save'. Selecting this will add the location to your snapshots screen. You can save an unlimited number of locations on your app.

To re-order your locations - on the snapshots screen there is an icon in the top left corner which shows an arrow and some horizontal lines. Tapping this will then allow you to reorder the list of saved locations, by holding your finger on a location and dragging it to where you want it in the list. You can also delete locations from your saved list and turn your 'current location' (GPS) on and off in this view.

Saving favourite locations on Android

Tap the search icon (magnifying glass) on the top bar to search for a location. Type the name of the location you are looking for in the search bar and then select it from the drop down list. This will take you to the forecast details page for that location. In the top right corner you have the option to 'save'. Selecting this will add the location to your snapshots screen. You can save an unlimited number of locations on your app.

To re-order your locations - on the snapshots screen there is an icon in the top right corner which shows an arrow and some horizontal lines. Tapping this will then allow you to reorder the list of saved locations, by holding your finger on a location and dragging it to where you want it in the list. You can also delete locations from your saved list and turn your 'current location' (GPS) on and off in this view.

What if I don't want my location services on?

The Met Office app uses your location information to give you the most accurate and localised weather forecast possible. We also use this information with select advertising partners so that we can serve you the most relevant advertising information possible.

You can turn off location settings at any time and your location information will not be collected. Select ‘Settings’ on your device, then the Met Office App, then disable location. To get a local forecast you will need to search and save locations within the app.

For more information on how we use any personal information we collect about you, please see our Privacy policy and Cookie policy.

This app also allows you to remove all advertising on the app, for £2.99, by selecting ‘Remove ads’ on the Settings screen of the app.

How do I access the widget?

On your homescreen, touch and hold an empty space. Tap 'Widgets', then touch and hold a widget. This will show images of your Home screens. Slide the widget to where you'd like it, then lift your finger to add it.

What is the weather on the first screen showing me?

The ‘landing’ screen provides a forecast snapshot for your current and saved locations, to provide an at-a-glance view of the weather. You can choose whether this summary displays a daily forecast for the next seven days, or an hourly forecast for the next 15 hours, by visiting the ‘Customise your view’ page in Settings, and choosing between ‘hourly’ and ‘daily’ on the toggle.

The hourly snapshot view shows current temperature and weather type for the next 15 hours in each location you have saved to the device. It will also inform you of any warnings that are valid for those locations for the next 2 days.

The daily snapshot view shows weather type, highest maximum temperature (0900 to 2100 on the date shown) and lowest minimum temperature (2100 on the previous day to 0900 on the date shown). It will also inform you of any warnings that are valid for those locations for the next 2 days.

How do I view a more detailed breakdown of the weather for a particular day?

On the snapshot view, tap a location 'card' to view the seven day forecast for that location. The details screen shows hourly forecasts the first two days, and three hourly for days three-seven. It includes the following detail:

  • The time at which the forecast was issued
  • Highest temperature during the day for that location
  • Lowest temperature during the night for that location
  • Day time text summary of the weather, with night time text summary between sunset and midnight
  • Weather icons
  • Probability of precipitation
  • UV
  • Pressure
  • Humidity
  • Temperature
  • Wind speed
  • Wind direction
  • Wind gusts
  • Feels like temperature
  • Visibility
  • Sunrise and sunset times

How do I view warnings?

Snapshots

When a weather warning is in force for one of your saved locations, a banner will appear along the bottom of that snapshot location card, detailing the colour and type of warning. If multiple warningsare in force, the colour of the banner will reflect the most severe warning and the banner will say ‘weather warnings’ rather than the warning type. If the warning affects the saved location, then the banner will be in full colour. If the warning affects the unitary authority, but not that specific location, then the banner will say ‘Weather warnings nearby’ and the banner will be slightly faded. Where there is both a warning directly affecting the saved location, and a warning ‘nearby’ (affecting the unitary authority but not the saved location directly) then the warning directly affecting the location will always take priority. For example, if there is a yellow warning affecting that location directly AND an amber warning affecting the unitary authority (but not the location directly) then the yellow banner and text in full colour will be shown.

UK maps

When a user selects the maps from either the UK National Weather section, the default view is the rainfall map, but this can be changed by using the map selector. When selecting the warnings map, the user will see all warnings issued for the UK on the map for today and the next six days. When selecting a specific warning on the map, the user is taken to the warning page with the details of the warning selected. When a user selects the maps from the detail screen, the default view is the rainfall map, but this can be changed by using the map selector. When selecting the warnings map, the user will see a zoomed in map for the location the forecast details screen is referring to and any warnings that may apply for that area.

Warning detail

Clicking on the warning banner in the app will reveal a more detailed description of the type and severity of the warning, a textual explanation of the warning, when it is valid from and to, when it was issued or last updated and any other saved locations affected by the same warning. It now also includes a warnings map, showing the warning polygon. Clicking the arrows symbol on the map opens an expanded, interactive view. Tapping ‘Where am I now?’ centres the screen on both the GPS location and warning. If permission has not been granted for the GPS location, then there is a prompt which the user can accept or decline. If the map is viewed after sunset (and prior to sunrise), then the map is shown in ‘night mode’.

Detailed forecast page

On the detailed forecast screen, you will also see any warnings that are in force for the location you are looking at for the next seven days. If the warning affects the saved location, then it will be flagged up with a triangle exclamation mark icon at the top of the screen, on the different day tabs and by a banner at the bottom of the screen. Again you can tap on the banner to open more detailed information about the warning. If the warning affects the unitary authority, but not that specific location, then the banner will say ‘Weather warnings nearby’ and will be slightly faded. In this scenario, the triangle on the relevant days is not shown. If you want to view information about a UK National Severe Weather Warning that doesn’t cover a location you have currently saved on your app, you can visit the UK warnings map by visiting the UK rainfall map and changing to the UK warnings map on the layer selector. You can also stay informed about any UK National Severe Weather Warnings that may affect you through our push notification service. If you allow push notifications in our app (Met Office Weather), you will receive push notifications for any locations you save on the app, whenever a National Severe Weather Warning is issued, updated or cancelled. Tapping on these push notifications will open more detailed warnings information.

How do warning notifications work?

You can stay informed about any UK National Severe Weather Warnings that may affect you through our push notification service. If you allow push notifications in our app (Met Office Weather Forecast), you will receive push notifications for any UK locations you save on the app, whenever a National Severe Weather Warning is issued, updated or cancelled. Clicking through on the push notifications will take you to the detailed warnings information. This is except for cancelled warning push notifications, as clicking through a cancelled warning push notification will take users to the snapshot screen.

Push notification request alerts will only be displayed after the first UK location is saved and the user returns to the snapshot screen.

You will only be able to receive notifications on Android devices if you are using operating system Android 6 or above.

What is feels like temperature and where can I find it on the app?

Feels like temperature takes into account wind speed and humidity, giving a more representative indication of how the temperature will feel. You can view the feels like temperature on the forecast details screen of the app. From the front screen tap on your current or saved location to see a detailed forecast. Scroll along the detailed timeline to view the forecasted feels like temperature across the next 7 days.

Where are the sunrise and sunset times?

You can view the sunrise and sunset times for your chosen location on the forecast details screen of the app. From the front screen tap on your current or saved location to see a detailed forecast. Scroll down below the detailed timeline to view the sunrise and sunset times.

What is probability of precipitation?

This provides you with the percentage chance of precipitation (rain/snow/drizzle etc.) during the given period. You can view the probability of precipitation for the next 7 days on the details screen.

Where are the maps on the Met Office Weather Forecast app?

The app includes our UK rainfall interactive map for the last six hours of observations and the forecast for the next 24 hours. There is also an  interactive National Severe Weather Warnings map which displays any weather warnings in force across the UK, as well as a new UK surface pressure map.

Maps can be accessed from the UK National Weather section on the home screen, as well as the forecast details screen. If you cannot see the UK National Weather section on the homepage, please check you have not removed this section by selecting the list icon at the top of the home screen. You should see UK National Weather with a toggle next to it, tap on the toggle to switch between enabled and disabled state.

Why are there no warnings displayed for international sites?

The Met Office only creates weather warnings for the UK. Whilst other national Met services may provide warnings for other countries no warnings are displayed in the app for any international locations shown.

What times are international sites displaying?

All international sites are shown in local time, meaning the times are adjusted to reflect the time zone of each location. This includes any changes in daylight saving.

Will the app work with my Apple Watch?

We recommend you switch on notifications to you Apple Watch so you receive Met Office UK severe weather warnings straight to your watch. To do this, open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Notifications, tap Met Office, then choose Mirror my iPhone. Or, to choose different notification settings than those on iPhone, choose Custom instead.

How do I share the forecast?

When you are on a forecast page you have an option to click on the ‘Share’ button at the top of the screen. This uses your mobile phone's native sharing function and will allow you to share the forecast through text, email, or any other compatible apps you have installed (e.g. Messenger or WhatsApp).

The forecast you share will be a screenshot of the forecast along with text in the format:

Weather forecast for [location name, county] from the Met Office weather app. Available to download on Android [link] or iOS [link].

Advertising

Why does the Met Office Weather Forecast app have advertising

The Met Office is a UK Government Trading Fund and in addition to providing a range of free at the point of use warning and forecast services, is tasked with developing commercial revenue. To support this we use advertising on our mobile app and we try to make this advertising as relevant as possible.

I’ve already paid to remove advertising on your old app. Am I entitled to a refund?

Since releasing the app we have happily offered full refunds to customers who had paid to remove advertising if they were able to provide a valid receipt showing proof of purchase on the old app. However as of February 2018, Google Play no longer supports refunds that are more than a year old - therefore we are no longer able to provide refunds for purchases made on the old app.

If you are an iOS customer you will need to contact the App store directly, we are sorry we are unable to process these directly but the App Store holds your payment details needed to process the refund.

As we have an app if you would like to remove advertising you would need to pay for the ad removal version. Alternatively if you don’t wish to pay, we hope you enjoy the app and that the advertising doesn’t affect your experience. The app has been through solid user testing and has been designed for the ads to have minimal impact on the user experience.

How can you process my application for a refund?

If you are an iOS customer:

Please contact the Apple Store directly and they will process your application, you can do this via your iphone or online. Refunds will be made at Apple's discretion, and in accordance with their refund policy.

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