Refreshed weather graphics for Met Office

7 Feb 2022 04:02 PM

Eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted that we’ve made a few changes to our weather forecast graphics, so we wanted to share what and why some things have changed as we’ve continued to evolve our forecasts.

Evolution, not revolution

It’s been six years since the Met Office presented weather forecasts have undergone a redesign, but it was important that the new designs didn’t detract from any of the clarity we’ve been providing weather forecasts with. Indeed, over 150 years have gone in to making our forecasts communicate the weather clearly, so the latest design is very much an evolution of a theme rather than a revolution.

Small-scale redesigns have taken place on the display for clocks, headlines, tables, temperatures and maps. However, what has been a key consideration for the redesign, which took input from a team of designers, meteorologists and presenters, has been a shift in some layout options to allow for better use of forecasts on social media.

Clocks and lower-third graphics have shifted away from where the ‘play’ bar often is online, annotations and temperature icons have been designed to display clearer on mobile phones, keeping the Met Office forecast as useful as possible, no matter where, or how, people choose to watch.

Met Office Meteorologist and Presenter Aidan McGivern said:

“We didn’t just make changes for the sake of it. A lot of consideration was put into how people use our forecasts, online, on the app and on social media so that we can communicate the weather more clearly, and with greater consistency.”

Accessibility

The weather affects us all, that’s why forecasts need to be accessible to as many people as possible. We’ve made some changes to the colour scales we use to make forecasts easier to view for more people and will continue this work in the coming months.

Another change, spurred on by feedback, has been to change how the UK itself is displayed. By viewing the UK from directly above, instead of at an angle, those in northern areas now have a clearer view of the weather.

Going forward

As usual, the forecasts will evolve in the coming weeks and months, reacting to continued feedback to make sure they’re as useful as possible. Upcoming changes in the pipeline include improving colour scales more to improve accessibility, improved weather graphics software and displaying more of the UK’s towns and cities in forecasts.

Aidan continued, “We’re looking forward to showing off further improvements to our forecast this year. Keep the feedback coming, we’ll keep listening and we’ll keep evolving.”