As you might have noticed, BBC Weather has been revamped with new modern 3D graphics. All of the old weather graphics have been given a makeover, creating new ways to see old favourites.

Along with the familiar features however, BBC Weather have also introduced new graphics to give a clearer, more detailed interpretation of weather. All the graphics run using real time data, so one significant change will be that BBC Weather will present you with the most up-to-date weather forecasts.

The graphics are produced using advanced computer graphics and fast processing power, which means a more diverse range of imagery to display the data instantly.

What has actually changed?
The old graphics were created by displaying symbols and a variety of short animated sequences (such as showing wind arrows and rainfall on 2D maps). Certainly, the amount of diversity in which to present a forecast was very limited.

The new graphics have a fresh new look and style, so text, symbols and indices are clearer and bolder. Larger scale maps means that more locations are covered by our weather forecasts.

One major change for television is that the forecasts will use 3D maps, which show detailed relief and topography of the land. Forecasters can use 3D maps to take you on a tour of the weather, around the UK or even the world.

Another addition to the new graphics is the development of virtual falling rain. This helps to show the intensity of rainfall over the 3-dimensional map, making for a more realistic-looking forecast. When presenting a forecast therefore, BBC Broadcast Meteorologists can move quickly and effectively from one weather story to another, giving the audience the full global weather picture.

BBC Weather has updated the look of weather products for TV and online, such as wind arrows and symbols.

Charts showing rainfall, cloud and temperature are much clearer because of the larger scale maps. Rainfall charts still use more accurate blue graphics to indicate places of rainfall, it can also display snow. Forecast cloud is represented by shadows over the cloud .

On our website, pressure charts now display weather fronts for five days, giving the audience a better indication of the weather ahead.

New Features on the Web
There are new weather features to give the audience a complete forecast. Cloud and rain can now be viewed on the same forecast charts.

To make our data more easy to understand, our indices have been made easier to interpret. Instead of the previous 1-10 scale, we now use a more straight forward low/moderate/high scale.

We now offer the facility to view observed forecast cloud and rain charts in a sequence, so you can watch the weather story unfold with each forecast update.