Appendix 1
United Kingdom
To be included if visibility or runway visual range < 1 500 m; for up to a maximum of four runways. | ||||||||
Heavy used to indicate tornado or waterspout; moderate (no qualifier) to indicate funnel cloud not reaching the ground. | ||||||||
Template for METAR Key: M inclusion mandatory, part of every message; inclusion conditional, dependent on meteorological conditions or method of observation; inclusion optional. Note 1: The ranges and resolutions for the numerical elements included in METAR are shown below this template. Note 2: The explanations for the abbreviations can be found in Procedures for Air Navigation Services — ICAO Abbreviations and Codes (PANS-ABC, Doc 8400). | ||||||||
| Element | Detailed content | Template(s) | Examples | |||||
| Identification of the type of report (M) | Type of report (M) | METAR, METAR COR, | METAR METAR COR | |||||
| Location indicator (M) | ICAO location indicator (M) | Nnnn | YUDO | |||||
| Time of the observation (M) | Day and actual time of the observation in UTC (M) | nnnnnnZ | 221630Z | |||||
| Identification of an automated or missing report (C) | Automated or missing report identifier (C) | AUTO or NIL | AUTO NIL | |||||
| END OF METAR IF THE REPORT IS MISSING. | ||||||||
| Surface wind (M) | Wind direction (M) | Nnn | VRB | 24004MPS (24008KT) VRB01MPS (VRB02KT) 19006MPS (19012KT) 00000MPS (00000KT) 140P149MPS (140P99KT) | ||||
| Wind speed (M) | [P]nn[n] | |||||||
| Significant speed variations (C) | G[P]nn[n] | 12003G09MPS (12006G18KT) 24008G14MPS (24016G28KT) | ||||||
| Units of measurement (M) | MPS (or KT) | |||||||
| Significant directional variations (C) | nnnVnnn | — | 02005MPS 350V070 (02010KT 350V070) | |||||
| Visibility (M) | Prevailing or minimum visibility (M) | Nnnn | CAVOK | 0350 CAVOK 7000 9999 0800 | ||||
| Minimum visibility and direction of the minimum visibility (C) | nnnn[N] or nnnn[NE] or nnnn[E] or nnnn[SE] or nnnn[S] or nnnn[SW] or nnnn[W] or nnnn[NW] | 2000 1200NW 6000 2800E 6000 2800 | ||||||
| Runway visual range (C)f1 | Name of the element (M) | R | R32/0400 R12R/1700 R10/M0050 R14L/P2000 | |||||
| Runway (M) | nn[L]/or nn[C]/or nn[R]/ | |||||||
| Runway visual range (M) | [P or M]nnnn | R16L/0650 R16C/0500 R16R/0450 R17L/0450 | ||||||
| Runway visual range past tendency (C) | U, D or N | R12/1100U R26/0550N R20/0800D R12/0700 | ||||||
| Present weather (C) | Intensity or proximity of present weather (C) | – or + | — | VC | ||||
| Characteristics and type of present weather (M) | DZ or RA or SN or SG or PL or DS or SS or FZDZ or FZRA or FZUP or FCf2 or SHGR or SHGS or SHRA or SHSN or SHUP or TSGR or TSGS or TSRA or TSSN or TSUP or UP | FG or BR or SA or DU or HZ or FU or VA or SQ or PO or TS or BCFG or BLDU or BLSA or BLSN or DRDU or DRSA or DRSN or FZFG or MIFG or PRFG or // | FG or PO or FC or DS or SS or TS or SH or BLSN or BLSA or BLDU or VA | RA HZ VCFG +TSRA FG VCSH +DZ VA VCTS –SN MIFG VCBLSA +TSRASN –SNRA DZ FG +SHSN BLSN UP FZUP TSUP FZUP // | ||||
| Cloud (M) | Cloud amount and height of cloud base or vertical visibility (M) | FEWnnn or SCTnnn or BKNnnn or OVCnnn or FEW/// or SCT/// or BKN/// or OVC/// or ///nnn or ////// | VVnnn or VV/// | NSC or NCD | FEW015 VV005 OVC030 VV/// NSC SCT010 OVC020 BKN/// ///015 | |||
| Cloud type (C) | CB or TCU or /// | — | BKN009TCU NCD SCT008 BKN025CB BKN025/// //////CB | |||||
| Air and dew-point temperature (M) | Air and dew-point temperature (M) | [M]nn/[M]nn | 17/10 02/M08 M01/M10 | |||||
| Pressure values (M) | Name of the element (M) | Q | Q0995 Q1009 Q1022 Q0987 | |||||
| QNH (M) | Nnnn | |||||||
| Supplementary information (C) | Recent weather (C) | REFZDZ or REFZRA or REDZ or RE[SH]RA or RERASN or RE[SH]SN or RESG or RESHGR or RESHGS or REBLSN or RESS or REDS or RETSRA or RETSSN or RETSGR or RETSGS or RETS or REFC or REVA or REPL or REUP or REFZUP or RETSUP or RESHUP | REFZRA RETSRA | |||||
| Wind shear (C) | WS Rnn[L] or WS Rnn[C] or WS Rnn[R] or WS ALL RWY | WS R03 WS ALL RWY WS R18C | ||||||
| Sea–surface temperature and state of the sea or significant wave height (C) | W[M]nn/Sn or W[M]nn/Hn[n][n] | W15/S2 W12/H75 | ||||||
| State of the runway (C) | Runway designator (M) | R nn[L]/ or Rnn[C]/ or Rnn[R]/ | R/SNOCLO | R99/421594 R/SNOCLO R14L/CLRD// | ||||
| Runway deposits (M) | n or / | CLRD// | ||||||
| Extent of runway contamination (M) | n or / | |||||||
| Depth of deposit (M) | nn or // | |||||||
| Friction coefficient or braking action (M) | nn or // | |||||||
| Trend forecast (O) | Change indicator (M) | NOSIG | BECMG or TEMPO | NOSIG BECMG FEW020 TEMPO 25018G25MPS (TEMPO 25036G50KT) BECMG FM1030 TL1130 CAVOK BECMG TL1700 0800 FG BECMG AT1800 9000 NSW BECMG FM1900 0500 +SNRA BECMG FM1100 SN TEMPO FM1130 BLSN TEMPO FM0330 TL0430 FZRA | ||||
| Period of change (C) | FMnnnn and/or TLnnnn or ATnnnn | |||||||
| Wind (C) | nnn[P]nn[n][G[P]nn[n]]MPS (or nnn[P]nn[G[P]nn]KT) | |||||||
| Prevailing visibility (C) | nnnn | CAVOK | ||||||
| Weather phenomenon: intensity (C) | – or + | — | NSW | |||||
| Weather phenomenon: characteristics and type (C) | DZ or RA or SN or SG or PL or DS or SS or FZDZ or FZRA or SHGR or SHGS or SHRA or SHSN or TSGR or TSGS or TSRA or TSSN | FG or BR or SA or DU or HZ or FU or VA or SQ or PO or FC or TS or BCFG or BLDU or BLSA or BLSN or DRDU or DRSA or DRSN or FZFG or MIFG or PRFG | ||||||
| Cloud amount and height of cloud base or vertical visibility (C) | FEWnnn or SCTnnn or BKNnnn or OVCnnn | VVnnn or VV/// | NSC | TEMPO TL1200 0600 BECMG AT1200 8000 NSW NSC BECMG AT1130 OVC010 | ||||
| Cloud type (C) | CB or TCU | — | TEMPO TL1530 +SHRA BKN012CB | |||||
| * There is no aeronautical requirement to report surface wind speeds of 100 kt (50 m/s) or more; however, provision has been made for reporting wind speeds up to 199 kt (99 m/s) for non-aeronautical purposes, as necessary. | ||||
| Ranges and resolutions for the numerical elements included in METAR | ||||
| Element | Range | Resolution | ||
| Runway: | (no units) | 01–36 | 1 | |
| Wind direction: | °true | 000–360 | 10 | |
| Wind speed: | MPS | 00–99 | 1 | |
| KT | 00–199 | 1 | ||
| Visibility: | M | 0000–0750 | 50 | |
| M | 0800–4 900 | 100 | ||
| M | 5 000–9 000 | 1 000 | ||
| M | 10 000– | 0 (fixed value: 9 999) | ||
| Runway visual range: | M | 0000–0375 | 25 | |
| M | 0400–0750 | 50 | ||
| M | 0800–2 000 | 100 | ||
| Vertical visibility: | 30's M (100's FT) | 000–020 | 1 | |
| Clouds: height of cloud base: | 30's M (100's FT) | 000–100 | 1 | |
| Air temperature; | – 80 - +60 | 1 | ||
| Dew-point temperature: | °C | |||
| QNH: | hPa | 0850–1 100 | 1 | |
| Sea–surface temperature: | °C | – 10 - +40 | 1 | |
| State of the sea: | (no units) | 0–9 | 1 | |
| Significant wave height | M | 0–999 | 0,1 | |
| State of the runway | Runway designator: | (no units) | 01–36; 88; 99 | 1 |
| Runway deposits: | (no units) | 0–9 | 1 | |
| Extent of runway contamination: | (no units) | 1; 2; 5; 9 | — | |
| Depth of deposit: | (no units) | 00–90; 92–99 | 1 | |
| Friction coefficient/braking action: | (no units) | 00–95; 99 | 1 | |
Annotations
Footnotes
- f1
To be included if visibility or runway visual range < 1 500 m; for up to a maximum of four runways.
- f2
Heavy used to indicate tornado or waterspout; moderate (no qualifier) to indicate funnel cloud not reaching the ground.