We issue warnings for rain, snow, wind, fog and ice. These warnings are given a colour depending on a combination of both the likelihood of the event happening and the impact the conditions may have.

• How warnings are displayed on our website 
• Learn more about our warnings service 
• Additional information 

Warnings on our website

Warnings information is displayed throughout our website ensuring you keep up to date with the latest information wherever you are on our site, including:

• Homepage ticker banner when warnings are in force 
• Quick overview symbols on every page 
• Warnings overview tab
• Warnings detail tab

Homepage banner

When a warning is in force there will be a ticker on the homepage. This will provide information on the colour of the warning and the regions affected. Click on a region to view the detail of the warning.

Symbol overview

The symbol overview is displayed in the header of every page. The five warning type symbols are coloured depending on the highest level warning of that type in force in the UK. Click on a symbol to view the detail of the warning.

 Warnings overview tab

We issue warnings for rain, snow, wind, fog and ice. These warnings will be given a colour depending on a combination of both the likelihood of the event happening and the impact the conditions may have. Learn more about our warnings. 

The warnings overview tab provides a visual display of warnings which are in force across the UK each day. The thumbnails provide a quick overview of warnings for a particular day. Click on the appropriate thumbnail to see more detail of the warnings for that day.

The UK map show warnings which are in force for the selected day, click on a warning to see validity times for each warning. The list on the right of the screen shows the regions for which we issue warnings. Clicking on a region will take you to the warnings details tab which shows the details of the warning.

You can pan and zoom around the map using the controls in the top left of the map or by using your mouse to click and drag the map and the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. The coloured areas show where the warning is valid ranging from yellow (least severe) to red (most severe). The symbols identify the type of warning shown in the key below.

Warning details tab

The details tab provides further details about each of the warnings plus the Chief Forecasters Assessment.

The centre panel of the page is where you will find the detail about the warning you have selected. This will include the type and colour of warning, issue, start and end times and the text of the warning.

You view the chief forecaster's assessment and the impact matrix which shows why the warning was assigned its colour.

If you have selected a region from the list and more than one warning is in force for that area, then these will all be listed in order of severity. You can expand and contract the different warnings by clicking on the + and - symbol.

The local authorities affected are listed underneath the table.

Learn about our warnings service

This section introduces the basic concepts of our warnings service including:

• timescales
• types of warnings
• weather types
• warning levels
• colour of warnings
• Chief Forecaster's assessment
• useful information

Timescales

Warnings are issued out to five days ahead for the UK.

Types of warnings

There are two types of warning:

• warnings - issued up to 24 hours ahead
• alerts - issued more than 24 hours ahead.

Weather types

Warnings are issued for:

• rain
• snow
• wind
• fog
• ice

Warning level

Warnings are based on a combination of:

• likelihood - How likely the event is to occur
• impact - The potential impact the expected conditions may have

Colour of warnings (Impact Matrix)

Warnings are given a colour depending on a combination of both the likelihood of the event happening and the impact the conditions may have.

• red
• amber
• yellow

An example of the matrix used to decide the warning colour is shown below. In this case, an event with a high impact and medium likelihood would result in an amber warning.

The matrix information showing how a warning was assigned its colour will be available for all warnings via the 'Detail' tab on the warnings page. However, you don't need to view this level of detail if you don't want to. You can simply use the following guidance for each colour:

Chief forecaster's assessment

The Chief Forecaster's Assessment explains why the warning has been given the colour it has, as well as indicating where any uncertainties lie and any additional information. Again, you don't need view this level of detail unless you want to.

Additional information

The following pages provide additional information about the warnings service and what to do during severe weather:

• Severe weather advice - what to do before, during and after severe weather 
• Severe weather impact links - Links to other organisations dealing with severe weather
• Warnings case studies - Case studies of weather events for each warning colour and type