MySky

However detailed and accurate the weather forecast is, for most people it all comes down to a single symbol.
We assume these symbols make sense, but does everyone interpret them in the same way?In the Met Office Informatics Lab we have been building an app called MySky to find out.
Users can report the weather as they see it, by choosing an icon representing the sky above them.
From this, we hope to learn more about how people interpret our forecasts, and to start experimenting with weather information tailored to a particular user.
The observations you send by using the app could be useful in various ways:
Delivering personalised weather forecastsIt should be possible to learn a person’s preferences, and use present forecasts in accordance with these.
If someone consistently reported heavy rain as drizzle, that’s what it would report to them.
Testing out different sets of symbolsThis could be alternative sets of weather symbols, or more esoteric things like colours or emojis.
More information means better predictionsWe know how well our forecasts perform at official observation sites, but it's hard to get information down to the level of every street - on an hourly basis.
With enough people contributing their observations, this could be possible.