Nowcast: The data fuelling our weather radars

Did you know that you can see lightning strikes as soon as 20 seconds after they occur in Europe on our LightningRadar thanks to Nowcast technology?

Launched in 2022, the LightningRadar visualises shocking lightning strikes as they happen in near-real-time. Perfect for those stormy nights to watch systems as they approach you.

It is, in part, thanks to Nowcast technology, which we have utilised for almost 14 years elsewhere in the app. Including on the WeatherRadar where it plays a vital role in providing accurate, precise data from weather stations to feed our radar.

Nowcast also enables users to enjoy super-precise radars for the immediate future, opening the possibility for 5-minute intervals when scrubbing through the WeatherRadar.

Perfect for gauging what to wear for a quick walk, or to track incoming storm systems that may influence the way you travel.

With Nowcast and the LightningRadar, Weather & Radar can comfortably cover every detail you need to know for the immediate weather situation, with detailed forecasts available for up to 14 days into the future.

This also explains the gap you may have spotted on our radars between 'Now' and 'Today'. The ‘Today’ section of our WeatherRadar is based on two main weather models: the Global Forecasting System (GFS) run by NOAA and the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) run by ECMWF.

This model information is also used in the WeatherRadar for the coming days including ‘Today’, ‘Tomorrow’ and the two days that follow.

Forecasts for the next 90 minutes in five or 15 minute intervals is known as the “nowcast” period. Current weather patterns are being analysed and a much finer-scale trend is then calculated mathematically in a slightly different way than the longer-range model forecasts.