The local TV forecast or simply looking out of the window may well suffice for a brief flight round your local area, but for those planning more distant trips, detailed weather forecasts are essential. We aim to give links here to all those services we find useful in touring around Europe. Few of us now fly without a tablet and a smart phone, which should be able to access these sites. Many of us also subscribe to SkyDemon which offers a comprehensive weather service, with pictorial depiction of weather conditions and full access to decoded local TAFs and Metars and GAFORs for Alpine routes. This is in addition to its admirable qualities as a flight planning and navigation tool and we highly recommend it for anyone contemplating foreign touring.
Windy
Windy has become a very comprehensive weather site, 'reaching parts that other sites fail to reach. In particular it gives predictions of cloudbase and visibility as well as rain, wind pressure and a host of other factors. Clicking on any point on the map gives you a value for that place and the down arrow next to that value opens up a forecast for that place. You can move the timing of the map with the bar at its base.
The most commonly used tool on The Europa Club trips Windy
TAFs & METARs Current Weather and Short Term Forecasts
XC Weather
Decoded Metars + forecasts for most of Europe. Brilliant!
Orbifly
Decoded TAFs & Metars + VFR/IFR mapping. Brilliant!
UK Metoffice Suface pressure charts x 4 days. For forms
214, 215, 414, 415, TAFs & Metars. Registration necessary.
Skyvector
Metars & TAFs coded for IMC/VMC on background of good charts, worldwide.
Subscription service gives colour coded indicators of metrological conditions on route charts and easy access to dedicated TAFs and METARs
has excellent depictions of current weather if you select the appropriate display
Rainfall Radar
Meteox
Excellent Rain Radar for all Europe + 3/7 predictions.
Raintoday
Detailed Rain Radar for UK & Channel.
Met Office
Choose rainfall site. current rainfall and 2 day prediction.
Lightning
Blitzortung
Excellent lightning display for whole world
Meteox
Lightning combined with satellite cloud cover.
Has Cloud Top heights and lightning for Europe
Satellite Pictures
Black & White Europe + other charts
Good visible and infrared satellite views of W.Europe
Icing
Sadly the free accress to Jepperson icing forecasts previously available on several sites seem to have been withdrawn and we cannot find an alternative.
Cloudbase
Windyty gives most comprehensive predictions worldwide
Predictions for next week + other information
Visibility
Windyty gives comprehensive 10 day predictions
Sea Temp
Seatemp Europe and individual countries
Global sea temperatures
Graphical En Route Weather
Gramet
Great new site with cloud base and depth, winds ,precipitation and lots more on your chosen route. Click Gramet Aero on left.
Longer Term Weather
Passage Weather
Excellent 7 day wind forecasts worldwide.
MagicSeaweed
7 day synoptic & rain forecast UK, Europe and world.
Wetterzentrale
9 day European Synoptic forecast.
PS Meteostar
16 day forecasts for european airfield.
Windyty
Excellent new site giving 10/7 wind , rain, cloud base, cloud tops and visibility predictions for whole world.
Bob Hitchcock
Retired 2016 after decades working for a European company with major plants in; Nantes, Remscheid and Belper. Logistics, Credit Management, e-commerce and Business Continuity Management.
Since 2016: Secretary of the Europa Club .
Flying
Mostly European touring. PPL, EASA Instrument Rating (Restricted), Night. SLMG. Early training on the usual Cessnas, Pipers and half a dozen other types. Then share in a Monowheel Falke, followed by a share in a Tri-gear 80HP Europa. Initiated into longer range European touring by the Europa Club in 2006 and then never looked back. In 2008 acquired outright Sadie, (G-BYSA) a 100HP Europa XS Monowheel with VP prop. Eight wonderful years of pure flying joy until her tragic loss to the sea in August 2016. Now with Megg, (G-MEGG) another beautiful Europa XS Monowheel, retractable undercarriage, 912ULS Rotax 100 HP engine. Woodcomp 3000N VP propeller. Funke Mode S & ADSB out, PAW, Funke 8:33 coms. SmartASS3 voice guide, dual Xtreme EMS/EFIS, Kanadia Horis c/w UPS, Garmin Aera 660 autopilot control, Pilotaware: ADSBsquitter, Pilotaware SkyGRID&iGRID (IGRID Dongle:This secondary Wi-Fi connection allows for increased levels of server-enhanced traffic, a pseudo weather map, and the ability to rebroadcast real-time server-enhanced traffic through SkyGRID.)
Acknowledgements
Builder of G-BYSA; The late Bryan Allsop.
Builder of G-MEGG; The late Martin Mavers
Contact: secretary@theeuropaclub.org
