How to report severe weather - safely and usefully

Community weather reports are the heart of WeatherZ. A good report is ground truth that radar and models can't provide: what size the hail actually was, which road is actually flooded, whether that's sleet or proper snow. Here's how to make yours genuinely useful - and the safety rules that always come before any report.

Published 13 July 2026 · WeatherZ Guides

Safety first, always

• Never drive through floodwater. Thirty centimetres of moving water can float a car, and the road surface underneath may be gone. No report is worth it.
• Don't stand exposed in a thunderstorm to get a photo - see our thunderstorm safety guide.
• Never photograph while driving. Stop somewhere safe or let a passenger do it.
• Stay clear of damaged structures, downed lines and coastal overtopping. Waves take people off promenades in every named storm.

What makes a report useful

Three things turn "wow, mad weather!" into evidence: where, when and how much.

• Where: the nearest town or village and rough position ("north edge of Stroud") is plenty. WeatherZ deliberately blurs report locations for privacy - never post your exact home address.
• When: report promptly, or say when it happened ("hail at about 14:20"). A photo from two hours ago presented as "now" actively misleads people making decisions.
• How much: measured or compared beats guessed - see below.

Estimating hail honestly

Compare to coins, not fruit: 5p (18 mm), 10p (24 mm), £2 (28 mm), golf ball (43 mm - extremely rare in the UK). Photograph hailstones next to a coin or ruler, quickly, on a cold surface.

Estimating wind without an anemometer

Use what the wind is doing: large branches moving = around 40 mph gusts; whole trees swaying and walking is hard = 50+; structural damage, tiles off, healthy trees down = 60–70+. Say what you saw ("wheelie bins across the road, a fence panel out") rather than guessing a number.

Measuring snow properly

Measure on a flat, exposed surface like a garden table or lawn away from walls - not against a wall or in a drift, and note whether it's still falling. "7 cm on the patio table at 08:00, still snowing" is a perfect report.

Flooding

Name the road or landmark, say whether the water is standing or flowing, and whether it's passable on foot or by car (from a safe vantage point - not by testing it). River, surface-water and coastal flooding are different beasts; say which it looks like if you can.

Photo and video tips

• Include context - a street, horizon or object for scale beats a close-up of wet tarmac.
• Shoot landscape for video where possible; keep clips short.
• Only submit your own photos, taken today, of the event you're reporting. Recycled or borrowed images get reports rejected and accounts flagged - WeatherZ moderates and verifies reports precisely so people can act on them.
• Be aware photos can contain location metadata. WeatherZ strips precise coordinates from published reports; you should still avoid photographing anything that identifies your own home.

What not to report

Second-hand rumours ("apparently the M5 is shut"), screenshots of other people's forecasts, exaggerated severity for attention, and anything that impersonates an official warning. WeatherZ never issues warnings - we add ground truth to the official picture from the Met Office and flood authorities.

Start reporting

Community reports - with moderation, verification labels and privacy-safe locations - are live on the Weather Reports page. Create a free account and put your first observation on the map.