Aerodrome Weather Warnings

What are aerodrome weather warnings? 

Aerodrome Weather Warnings are part of the Met Office services in the UK, delivered on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). For over ten years, these warnings have provided essential alerts for specific aviation hazards affecting UK aerodromes. They offer concise information on meteorological conditions that could adversely affect aircraft on the ground, including parked aircraft, and the aerodrome facilities and services.

Who is it for?

 Aerodrome Weather Warnings are available to a wide range of aviation users, including:

• Airport operators
• Air traffic control units
• General aviation pilots

What does it include? 

Warnings cover various weather conditions:

• Strong Wind: Mean 20kt or more and/or gusts of 28kt
• Gale: Mean 34kt or more and/or gusts of 43kt
• Frost: Ground Frost, Air Frost, Ground and Air Frost
• Snow
• Fog: Including Freezing Fog
• Thunderstorm: Including Thunderstorm & Hail, Thunderstorm & Squall, Squall, Thunderstorm & Hail & Squall
• Hail
• Freezing Precipitation: Liquid precipitation freezing in contact with hard surfaces
• Temperature Inversion: An increase in air temperature of 10°C or more in the lowest 1000ft

When and how is it issued? 

Warnings are issued every six hours, four times per day at the following times (UTC):

• 0530-45: Validity 1200-1800
• 1130-45: Validity 1800-0000
• 1730-45: Validity 0000-0600
• 2330-45: Validity 0600-1200

These set times allow the Met Office to provide appropriate lead times, assisting aerodromes and pilots in planning responses to these hazards. All warnings have at least a six-hour lead time, except for thunderstorm warnings, which have a lead time of one hour. This service integrates with the Public Weather Service National Severe Weather Warning Service.

Click here to find out more about making the best of aerodrome warnings and how they differ from TAFs.

How can I view the Aerodrome Weather Warnings? 

Aerodrome Weather Warnings are now accessed through the Met Office Aeronautical Visualisation Service (MAVIS®). For details on how to sign up, please visit the MAVIS webpage. 

Registered users of MAVIS can view warnings on a map-based view, indicated by an exclamation mark, or by looking at the details of an individual aerodrome. Users can also now sign up to receive aerodrome warning email alerts via MAVIS. This feature is available from the settings page with users being able to request up to 5 aerodromes. 

Note that it is the registered user's responsibility to ensure their ability to receive email alerts. The Met Office does not guarantee delivery to individual endpoints.