Weather Widget

As the UK’s national meteorological service, the Met Office provides accurate and reliable weather forecasts on TV, radio and online. Now webmasters are able to include Met Office weather forecasts on their web site for their visitors.

• About the Weather Widget
• Information for users
• Information for webmasters

About the Weather Widget

Key features

• Up to date weather forecasts from the Met Office
• Customise the content which is displayed
• Quick and simple to insert into websites
• Free to use for both webmasters and visitors

What information is available?

The information can be displayed on the Weather Widget.

Standard content

• Daily forecasts
• Weather
• Temperature
• Welsh or English language options
• Weather warnings

Optional content

The following content is customisable by the webmaster:

• 1 to 5 day forecasts
• Ability to allow users to select their choice of location from 5,000 locations
• Choice of units for temperature and wind speed
• Feels like temperature
• Forecast temperature map
• Forecast pressure map
• Forecast rainfall map
• Selectable fixed widget sizes (Location widget) NEW
• Wind speed and direction
• UV

Information for users

The Weather Widget provides the latest weather information from the Met Office. The information below provides a guide to the elements, validity times and options on the Weather Widget.

Guide to Features

Changing the forecast location

If the webmaster has allowed it, you can change the forecast location displayed to another of your choice. To do this, click on the options link at the bottom of the Weather Widget and you will be presented with a box into which you can enter a location name or partial postcode. Select the desired location from the list provided and then from the list of available forecast locations. Click OK and you will be presented with the forecast you requested.

If you do not see the enter location box, the webmaster has not allowed this option and the forecast is restricted to the location shown.

Changing the language

Currently the Weather Widget is available in English and Welsh. We hope to add additional languages in the future. If you wish to view the Widget in an alternative language, click on the Options link at the bottom of the Widget and select your preferred language from the options. Click on OK and the Widget will be displayed in your alternative language.

Guide to Content

Weather Symbols

These are representative for midday or midnight depending on when the Weather Widget is displayed. A description of each symbol is available by hovering the mouse over them or see the key to weather symbols.

Temperature

These are representative values for day or night, depending on when the widget is viewed. These may be displayed in either °C or °F, depending on the choice made by the webmaster.

Warnings

A message will appear in the top right of the Weather Widget to show whether any weather warnings are in place within the UK. Clicking on the link will take you to the main warnings page on the Met Office website where you can view any warnings which have been issued.

Wind speed and direction

These are representative values for day or night, depending on when the Weather Widget is viewed. These may be displayed in either mph, km/h or knots, depending on the choice made by the webmaster. Wind speed is an optional display and you will not see this if the webmaster has chosen to exclude it.

Feels like temperature

This is representative for midday or midnight depending on when the Weather Widget is displayed. It takes into account wind speed to give a more representative indication of how the temperature will feel. For example if the temperature is 0 °C it will much colder with a wind speed of 25 mph than with a wind speed of 10 mph. This is an optional display and you will not see this if the webmaster choice to exclude it.

UV

This is representative for midday or midnight depending on when the Weather Widget is displayed. Hovering the mouse over the symbol will give a description. These descriptions refer only to the UV levels and should be considered along with the other elements e.g. UV of 1 may be ‘safe to stay outside’, but temperatures may not make this safe to do. This is an optional display and you will not see this if the webmaster has chosen to exclude it.

Forecast Temperature Maps

This displays the forecast temperature map for the local area and is representative for midday or midnight depending on when the Weather Widget is displayed. A key to the colours used is provided below.

Temperature in degrees Celsius

Forecast Rainfall Map

This displays the forecast rainfall map for the local area for the next available forecast period. The forecast is valid for the time shown. A key to the colours used is provided below.

Rainfall in millimetres per hour

Forecast Pressure Map

This displays the forecasts pressure chart for the local area for the next available forecast period. The forecast is valid for the time shown.

Information for webmasters

Benefits for webmasters include:

• Met Office authority weather forecasts for your website
• Simple to implement, step-by-step guide for webmasters
• Provide a service to your users by keeping them informed of weather and weather warnings

Adding the Weather Widget to your website

Adding the Weather Widget to your website is a quick and simple process. Follow our step by step set up guide to select the content you want to display and the options you want to allow your users. Then simply add the script to your HTML page.

Selectable Fixed Widget Sizes NEW

The Weather Widget now allows webmasters more customisation over the Location widget size. Webmasters are presented with the option to select the original dynamic widget or choose a smaller fixed size. (The Mountain widget is not available with fixed sizes). For legacy users who want to use the original dynamic Weather Widget please choose the default option 'Dynamic with content' on step 2. See below for current available sizes (px).

• Dynamic with content - The original Weather Widget
• 250 x 250 †
• 300 x 250
• 310 x 380

Please Note: Not all content is available to smaller widget sizes, you will be advised when creating the widget what content is available.

† We are currently experiencing issues with displaying the 250 x 250 size widget in Internet Explorer 9 and hope to resolve these soon.

Step by step set-up

Guide to Features

During the set-up stage you can select whether to display a number of optional elements for your preferred location  including:

• Feels like temperature
• Forecast temperature map
• Forecast pressure map
• Forecast rainfall map
• UV
• Wind speed and direction

You can also set the following preferences for how the Weather Widget is displayed on your website, including:

• Ability to allow users to select their choice of location
• Default language (English or Welsh)
• Choice of units for temperature and wind speed
• Default location
• Number of forecast days displayed (1 to 5)
• Selectable fixed widget sizes (Location widget) NEW

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it possible to resize the Weather Widget to make it smaller?

Resizing the Weather Widget varies depending on what Widget you are using. The Original Weather Widget dynamically resizes itself depending on the amount of content you choose to include. If you need to make it smaller to fit on your webpage you will need to reduce the number of elements or forecast days that are displayed. Or when creating a new Locations Weather Widget you can select a fixed size, and then choose what content to include on it. Please note that smaller widgets will include less content. You will be notified in the step by step guide if content is unavailable for a certain size.

Can I change the colour of the Weather Widget, it doesn’t fit the style of my web page?

Only the border colour of the Weather Widget can be changed, the rest should remain in our branded colours.

Contact Us

We are keen to hear where the Weather Widget is being used and to update existing users when we make further updates. To ensure you keep up to date with the latest developments on the Weather Widget, please email us including your website link and email address. We will then contact you when there are any updates to the Widget which you may like to add to your website. We will only use your email address to notify you of changes to the Weather Widget.