Top Weather Apps for Travellers

Yahoo! Weather (Android & iOS)

Yahoo! Weather has got everybody excited. It uses the time of day and weather conditions of your current location to provide you with a stunning image of the city. You no longer have to look at a boring old weather app background, you can see what the weather looks like outside without even getting out of bed. Bear in mind, if it's a cloudy, overcast day, the gloomy image that pops up may make you want to stay in that bed. It also displays the current conditions on your home screen with a widget and offers a detailed daily forecast, 10-day forecast, wind maps, air pressure and humidity information, UV index and information on sunrise and sunset.

AccuWeather (Android & iOS)

This app provides you with weather alerts for worldwide locations. The home screen widget displays forecasts with severe weather warnings for your GPS location. It also includes lifestyle forecasts, which comes in very handy for travellers. Fancy some outdoor fitness? Maybe you're concerned about your respiratory health? The lifestyle forecasts help you to decide what kind of activities you can do based on the current weather conditions. And since the weather changes so often, the app is updated every 15 minutes, so you get the most accurate conditions. It also shows current information on humidity, wind speed, and of course sunrise and sunset times.

WeatherBug (Android & iOS)

WeatherBug has been around for a long time, and it remains one of the best weather apps available. This application has access to the world’s largest network of real-time weather and lightning sensors, offering accurate forecasts and reliable prior warnings for severe weather conditions. The interface is easy to use and the weather forecast updates automatically every hour, but can be manually updated more often.

WeatherPRO (Android & iOS)

There is no free version available for this app, but it is also one of the most advanced and detailed applications available. It offers excellent coverage, since you can receive reports for more than 2 million locations worldwide. It is very accurate, includes high-resolution weather maps and radar images, and has information on just about anything you would want to know when it comes to weather patterns. You can even view your forecast in graph form. If, however, you want something simple and you don’t see yourself as a budding meteorologist this may not be the app for you.

Swackett (Android and iOS)

This fun app cuts through the complexity by taking the usual weather information and offering users a simple visual weather report. Its most striking feature is the animated characters or “peeps” who dress appropriately according to the weather. When it rains they have umbrellas and in winter they appear snuggled up in hats and coats. When the sun is out they wear shorts and sunglasses. They are also quite sensible; they will remind you to pack sunblock and stay hydrated. The latest edition also comes with a handy Dog Walking Index. This is an app that will be loved by people of all ages - and pets too!

These apps should have you covered no matter which new place you are heading to or what weather conditions you may face. So play around with them and see which interface suits you best. And if you aren’t very fussed with detailed maps and want something minimalistic and elegant instead you can also check out Eye in Sky for Android and Haze and Solar respectively for iOS.

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