Met Office springs onto iPhone

 

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By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 1 Feb 2010 at 13:19

The Met Office has joined the iPhone bandwagon with the launch of an application that brings official forecasts and weather alerts to Apple handsets.

The Met Office says users will be able to access up-to-date weather forecasts quickly from the UK’s national meteorological service whilst on the move, and get detailed data for their location.

The weather app was put together in conjunction with mobile service provider Gorillabox, and the company says the software is available immediately.

Met Office forecasts are already accessible to mobile phone users, but Gorillabox says the application makes use of the iPhone's interactive features.

“Probably the biggest difference that the app offers is the integration with GPS,” Mark Wakefield, founder and COO of Gorillabox, told PC Pro. “As soon as you fire the application up, it knows where you are so it shows you local weather and alerts, and with the touchscreen it's really easy to navigate around the weather maps."

Users can save multiple locations in the app, and receive alerts regarding upcoming weather conditions for those saved areas.

“Because this data comes from the Met Office it can be accurate to within a few miles, but it also includes the important early alerts that mean you can change plans in advance,” says Wakefield.

The application is free, although Gorillabox says the service will ultimately be funded by advertising.