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How the advice works
Weather Buddy's advice comes from clear rules applied to the forecast, not guesswork. Here they are, with the numbers. You'll see the same rules quoted, with that day's figures, in the Why this advice sheet.
Where the forecast comes from
Forecasts are from Open-Meteo, fetched through the Owl Media API. They come in hourly steps, which is why rain times are given as "around 3pm".
The Now card
The window it covers
The Now card plans for right now plus the next 3 hours. It uses the feels-like temperature (which takes in wind and humidity) at the coldest point of that window.
Layers
| Coldest it feels in the next 3 hours | Tile | How important |
|---|---|---|
| Below 5° | Warm coat | Essential |
| 5° to 10° | Coat | Essential |
| 11° to 15° | Jacket | Essential |
| 16° to 19° | Light layer | Worth considering |
| 20° or more | Nothing |
Hat and gloves are suggested (worth considering) when it feels below 3°.
Cold now, warm later
If you need a coat or jacket now, but later today it feels 16° or more and at least 8° warmer than the coldest point, the coat tile gets an end time (Until midday) and you'll see Wear layers. It feels 19° by midday.
Rain
An hour counts as wet when any of these is true:
- the chance of rain is 50% or more,
- 0.2 mm of rain or more is forecast,
- the forecast weather is rain, showers, drizzle, freezing rain or thunder.
A chance of 30% to 49% counts as possible rain.
| What the forecast shows | Tile | How important |
|---|---|---|
| Rain now, or starting within the next 3 hours | Umbrella | Essential, with a time such as From 9am, 9–11am or Until 11am |
| Rain later today, after the next 3 hours | Umbrella | Worth considering, After 3pm |
| Only possible rain in the next 3 hours | Umbrella | Worth considering, Just in case |
Umbrella or waterproof?
If gusts reach 31 mph (50 km/h) or more while it's raining, an umbrella would turn inside out, so the tile becomes Waterproof instead.
Sun
The UV index runs from 0 upwards: low below 3, moderate 3 to 5, high 6 to 7, very high 8 to 10, extreme 11 and above.
| Highest UV | Tile | How important |
|---|---|---|
| 6 or more in the next 3 hours | Sun cream | Essential |
| 3 to 5 in the next 3 hours | Sun cream | Worth considering |
| 3 or more later today, in daylight | Sun cream | Worth considering, After time |
Sunglasses are optional, whenever it's daylight with 40% cloud or less now or in the next 3 hours.
Heads-ups
Heads-ups look at the rest of the day, not just the next 3 hours. The most serious comes first.
| Forecast | Heads-up |
|---|---|
| Thunderstorm | Thunder likely time. Avoid open ground. |
| Gusts of 40 mph (65 km/h) or more | Very windy time: gusts up to n mph. |
| Gusts of 56 mph (90 km/h) or more | Dangerous gusts up to n mph until time. Take care out. |
The rain strip
In daylight the strip runs from now until sunset; after dark, for the next 12 hours. It uses the same "wet hour" rule as the Umbrella tile.
Laundry
The drying score
Every daylight hour left today, up to an hour before sunset, gets a score out of 100:
| Factor | Points |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 12° or more: 25 · 8° to 11°: 12 · below 8°: 0 |
| Wind (steady wind) | 5 to 17 mph (8–28 km/h): 25 · a little lighter or stronger: 12 · calm or blustery: 0 · gusts over 31 mph: 0 |
| Humidity | 70% or less: 25 · up to 85%: 12 · over 85%: 0 |
| Cloud | 60% or less: 15 · up to 85%: 7 · over 85%: 0 |
| No rain risk | 10 |
Laundry is stricter about rain than the Now card: an hour has rain risk at a chance over 30%, more than 0.1 mm, or a rainy forecast. A shower on dry washing undoes the whole morning.
The day's score is the average of those hours. The best window is the longest stretch of hours without rain risk.
The verdict
| Verdict | Needs |
|---|---|
| Good | A score of 70 or more, a best window of 4 hours or more, and no more than one hour of rain risk |
| Worth a try | A score of 50 or more and a best window of 2 hours or more |
| Not worth it | Anything less |
If a day would be good but has more than one hour of rain risk, it's marked Worth a try instead.
Things to watch out for
The Why sheet lists hours that count against drying: Rain risk, High humidity (over 85%), Low temperature (below 8°), Too little wind, Strong wind, Strong gusts (over 31 mph) and Heavy cloud (over 85%).
The bring-in time
When your washing's out, the bring-in time is the start of the first rain in the next 18 hours, if that comes before drying stops. Otherwise it's when drying stops, an hour before sunset. The alert arrives 30 minutes before rain, or at the cut-off.
Getting outside
Each hour is rated Great, Okay or Poor.
Poor if any of these:
- it's raining, or rain is likely (50% or more),
- gusts are 31 mph or more,
- it feels more than 6° above the comfortable maximum,
- for a run: it's 0° or below (ice).
Okay if any of these:
- rain is possible (30–49%),
- it feels warmer than the comfortable maximum,
- it's dark (walks and runs only, not dog walks),
- the UV index is 6 or more in daylight.
Otherwise it's Great.
The comfortable maximum is 24° for a walk or dog walk and 18° for a run. Cold never counts against you: the Now card covers what to wear.
If now isn't great, the card looks up to 6 hours ahead for at least an hour that's better.
Outdoor jobs
Every job needs at least 2 hours of dry daylight. Then:
| Job | Also needs |
|---|---|
| Gardening | Feels between 6° and 26°, gusts under 31 mph |
| Washing the car | No rain for 24 hours afterwards |
| Mowing | 6 hours without rain beforehand, so the grass is dry |
| BBQ | A dry evening window between 5pm and 9pm, at least 14°, gusts under 25 mph |
Tomorrow
Tomorrow's headline comes from a score out of 100 made up of:
- sunshine hours (40%),
- daytime cloud (30%),
- total rain (20%),
- the highest temperature (10%).
| Score | Headline (Calm) |
|---|---|
| 85 or more | A bright day tomorrow. |
| 70 to 84 | Mostly sunny tomorrow. |
| 50 to 69 | A decent day tomorrow. |
| 30 to 49 | A grey day tomorrow. |
| Below 30 | A wet, dull day tomorrow. |
The "Tomorrow morning" gear line uses the Now card's rules for 8am tomorrow.
Tonight
| Cloud | Headline |
|---|---|
| 30% or less, full moon | Clear sky and a full moon. |
| 30% or less | Clear sky tonight. |
| 31% to 70% | Some cloud tonight. |
| Over 70% | Cloudy tonight. |
Times and places
- Days, quiet hours and the daily alert limit follow UK time.
- Times on screen follow your iPhone's time zone.
- Laundry and outdoor jobs use your Home if you have one; everything else uses where you are.