New Met Office Aviation Access

[Maoraigh1]

When I went to my Aviation Met link this afternoon, I was asked to sign-in to a new service. The old service will be discontinued in October. Will the free information remain free? I was warned my subscription would expire in July and encouraged to sign-up for premium services.
I'm not sure the new metar and taf system is more user-friendly for getting a quick picture of the area weather.

[wrecker]

Like you I signed up to the new system today.
When you sign up you get a months free trial of the subscription services, I had a quick look around the new website and my initial reaction was that it not as functional as the old. I basically want the F214/215 and TAFs and METARS for a variety of stations around the UK and near europe forecast surface charts and current surface analysis Anything else Tfi grams sat pics and rainfall radar I can get free from other sites. I really don't see why I have to pay again for something I pay for with my taxes.

[ABZ777]

A complete redesign of the Met Office GA briefing service has been long overdue. It seems unclear what will be provided free of charge as standard and what is provided as part of the subscription, hopefully the same services will continue to be free - but I quite like some of the new features, sunrise/sunset times, regional QNH, airfield elevation, etc.

[Cusco]

ABZ777: If you study the new site there is a clear table showing what will continue as free service and what is provided in Premium service.

For me far too much clicking on multiple links:

I've already paid for a very good service for the last 20 years and this new Met site doesn't encourage me to change anytime soon.

Cusco

[Maoraigh1]

There is also the sharing of the information you provide for marketing purposes. The "opt-out" link opens an email address, with blank email. I've refused permission to share my information for marketing purposes.
I couldn't find the "clear table" Cusco refers to, but the FAQ does say the previously free services will remain free.

[rans6andrew]

yet another website screwing about to make "mobile access better". Why are they all doing this? Even Pprune keeps defaulting to a mobile friendly format when accessed from my Android devices meaning I have to scroll down to the foot of the page to hit the button to reset it to normal. It's pants. There has never been more phones and tablets in circulation which can do a good job of accessing normal websites and suddenly everyone wants to have a special format for phones. Usually they reduce the content and miss off something vital. A car dealership I went to recently failed to have it's address on the mobile friendly site!!!

I would prefer that the same site appears on my mobile devices as on my desktop machine, one where I know how to navigate quickly and easily to the stuff I want to see, one that looks the way I know and love, familiar and comfortable.

If it aint broke don't screw around with it, please.

Rans6......

[Shoestring Flyer]

The new Met Ofice website is just diabolical and IMHO virtually unusable. Information is scattered all over the place and most importantly you can no longer get full regional TAFS/METARS all listed on one page.:mad:
I have exchanged emails with the Met Offfice on this 'new site' fiasco but we all need to voice our thoughts in order to get it changed before the existing Met office site is dismantled in October.
Please register your thoughts and concerns by email to:- [email protected]
They say they will respond within 6hours.

[Art E. Fischler-Reisen]

I re-registered last night, using a new username and password. What I saw of the site last night, I echo previous comments here. Not anywhere near as user friendly as it was before with regard to a list of UK METARs and TAFs.

But no matter, because today the new password wont allow me in. I tried to use the old login....same problem, it won't let me log in..

I'll use alternative websites.

[Heston]

So, you run an organisation that has two mutually incompatible requirements:
1. you have to provide free access to the GA community to aviation weather data
2. you have to sell your services so that the organisation can stand on its own feet commercially.


What do you do? You do 1. because you have to do it, but you make it so useless that your customers will buy the premium service instead.


As you are an ex-civil service organisation you do not have the commercial smarts that you really need, and cannot see that this is actually a really stupid thing to do when there are alternative suppliers out there.

[BoeingBoy]

I haven't used the old service so don't know what went before, but with the exception of the area forecasts everything they offer is easily found on other sites for free, including up to date rainfall radar.

Two in particular are:

allmetsat (http://en.allmetsat.com/index.html)



rain-alarm (http://www.rain-alarm.com/)

[TheEnthusiast]

Also tried it and sent my feedback to Met Office. They confirmed that, as of yet, there is no way to see all TAFs for a given region on screen at the same time on the new system, and therefore no easy way to print off a list of TAFs relevant to a flight. I would really miss this feature. :{

BUT Met Office did reply promptly and sounded like they understand this is a big problem and are working on things. Hopefully it will be fixed, but if other people also want this feature to be there then perhaps you could also send them some feedback? They do seem responsive :ok:

Looking on the bright side, they have obviously built a new system which allows per-user preferences to be stored. At the moment this is only noticeable in the 'Recent Locations' feature - not very helpful in itself. However if they could be persuaded to extend this to allow us to configure customised lists of airfields for common routes we each use then it would actually be really useful. Combined with the ability to show multiple TAFs on screen this would mean I could quickly see a page with all TAFs relevant to me; rather than having to see all of the TAFs over a much larger region than the one I'm flying in, like we currently do in the old system. If anyone else thinks that sounds good then maybe you could also tell them? :)

[Keef]

I wrote a considered response, telling them what I thought of the new format. I got a stock reply telling me that they'd reviewed it with some private pilots, who liked it. The inference was that not a lot would be changing.

They did say that there had been a number of comments about the lack of TAF and METAR tables.

I'll stick with my old habits - download 214/215 from there, get the rest from the sites on my iPad.

[fireflybob]

I got a stock reply telling me that they'd reviewed it with some private pilots, who liked it.

That could cover a multitude of sins! How experienced were these pilots? Did they ask any instructors or examiners?

[Keef]

Quite so.
Extra words to please the counter.

[Pete O'Tewbe]

Snotogram sent to Met Office

[Captain Jock]

I am reminded of the old maxim, if it aint broke don't fix it.

[Art E. Fischler-Reisen]

Further to my earlier comment about not being able to log in; this is now resolved (must have been a temporary glitch).

However, from a usage point of view, the lack of a listing of TAFs /METARs remains a major issue.

I note the comment about asking "private pilots" who liked the new format - all very well, but "private pilots" aren't the only users of the information and in general they tend to fly to just one destination.

However, if you need to fly from one end of the country to the other, on an ongoing daily basis, having to trawl to and fro through the website piecemeal, as one has to do now to find route information, is a major backward step.

[Captain Jock]

It may be my lack of computer skills but this site is a nightmare. Looking up the METAR for Edinburgh the first choices offered for "nearby" are Inverness, Kinloss and Lossiemouth. A geography lesson for someone?

[newaviator]

"If it isn't broken don't fix it " Met Office please note


Went through the rigmarole of logging onto this new site today as prompted , well happy with the old site , the new one is far to confusing and time consuming..... absolutely no need for a change :ugh:

[fireflybob]

Maybe we need to may representations at a higher level to get the met office to go back to the old platform which is far better.

I believe it is Grants Schapps (Chairman of the Tory Party) who has been tasked to make "bureaucracy" better for general aviation.

[robin]

I think Grant Schapps has another job since his demotion

[fireflybob]

I think Grant Schapps has another job since his demotion

Am always a bit behind on political appointments - much of a muchness

[Maoraigh1]

"Nearest" seems to work on your GPS location, not the airport you have most recently chosen. No GPS location - no "nearest" result. My device GPS is normally off to conserve the battery.

[Captain Jock]

Point taken Maoraigh1 but I was within 15nm of Edinburgh at the time!

[Manc]

Looking up the METAR for Edinburgh the first choices offered for "nearby" are Inverness, Kinloss and Lossiemouth.

At least they exist! Anyone fancy a trip to Woodford? :}

http://i59.tinypic.com/vihci9.jpg

[TheEnthusiast]

Yeah I'm thinking that the location summaries are pretty nice...if they could replace the useless 'Nearby Locations'/'Recent locations' with some ability for me to configure my own lists of locations this would be a helpful improvement over the old system...BUT only if they can show TAFs in a similar way too.

(And yes I realise you can't express a TAF in exactly the same format as it could have any number of TEMPO / BECMG parts to it. They could show it in its raw encoded form or to show decoded they could extend the box with extra decoded lines for each TEMPO / BECMG bit).

And we need it to look nice when printed out.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it"....well true but there's nothing wrong with adding new features that are helpful...that's a good thing...I think the problem is they've also thrown away features we need!!

[Gertrude the Wombat]

there's nothing wrong with adding new features that are helpful
Have they added any new features?

I looked for the old features, that I need in order to make safe decisions, and couldn't find them, and didn't look any further.

[ericferret]

Perhaps I wasn't on my guard, since you don't expect the Met Office would try and con you: when I obediently signed up for the new service I was unaware that it's month's free trial of a premium service. Surely that's not allowed?

AND it's unusable as far as I am concerned. Can't find a working link to TAFs and METARS ("aerodrome Speific Forecasts" looks like METARs but it doesn't work), let alone the TAFs and METARs by region, which I use all the time.

I complained, a week ago, but no reply.

Hot tip: don't delete the old address from your Favourites, it still seems to be working.

[Captain Jock]

Good advice ericferret. I will be continuing to use the "old" format as long as possible.

[robin]

Just seen the changed header on the Met Office Briefing site

Please note: This product has now changed and we have launched a new mobile accessible GA briefing service.

YOU CAN CONTINUE TO USE THIS PRODUCT AND IT WILL BE SUPPORTED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Well that's a start :ok:

[VictorGolf]

Like you "ferret" I use the area list of METARS and TAFS for my planning and can't find them on the new service. I therefore used their comments link to complain but unlike you got a very speedy response (55 minutes) to say the Aviation managers are reviewing my comments along with all the others so there may be some hope.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

got a very speedy response (55 minutes) to say the Aviation managers are reviewing my comments along with all the others
I got something similar, on a Sunday.


It also seemed to say that many other people had made the same points as me.

[Captain Jock]

Still not enamoured of the new site but I have overcome some computer problems and it is not quite as bad as I first thought. Prefer the "old" one.

[piperboy84]

I used to subscribe to the MET GA but don't bother now, For VFR flights in the UK I use OGIMET for simplicity see example of a flight from Aberdeen to Newcastle at 3000

Display GRAMET (http://www.ogimet.com/display_gramet.php?lang=en&icao=egpd_egnt&hini=2&tref=1436795307&hfin=4&fl=30&submit=submit)

or newcastle to Inverness at 5k

http://www.ogimet.com/display_gramet.php?lang=en&icao=egnt_egpe&hini=2&tref=1436795307&hfin=4&fl=50&submit=submit

[Maoraigh1]

F215 0200 - 1100 is available updated on the old site, but not on the new one, which also lacks the small map with the next prognosis. Looking at EGPI metar, the new product has in red, below it, the message that the TAF has failed to load, and to refresh your browser. The old product TAFs has "no TAF available", which is much more helpful.
Situation at 20.25 local on 14/07/2015.

[Broadlands]

I have just had a reply from the Met Ofgicer to say TAFs and METAR bulletins will be added back.

"We are planning on adding this functionality back into the new product in light of the feedback, and you can expect to see this in October"

A good result from all the complaints they must have had.

[robin]

I hope they don't think that will fix all the issues

So much wrong with that site........

[Maoraigh1]

I can get Lossiemouth Metars and Tafs on the old site, but they are not now available on the new site. I think they were originally.

[Maoraigh1]

The old site is to be removed at the New Year. I tried entering all my local airports, (whose METARs and TAFs I glance at to check after F215,) into the new product. I think only a max of 5 came up under the "Recent" button.
The new product seemed clunky and liable to go back too far for easy use.

[Maoraigh1]

On Oct 20 at 09:34 I was emailed:
"New GA features launched today.Thank you for subscribing to our new General Aviation Briefing Service. We hope that you are enjoying using this new mobile and tablet friendly product.
We wanted to let you know about some of the latest content and feature updates released today:
TAFs and METARs bulletins – regional listings and function to print."


I still haven’t found them. Has anyone found them on the new site?

[Mustapha Cuppa]

If you have a look under AREAS - TAFs and METARs, is that what you're looking for?

[Maoraigh1]

Thanks. That's it. I can live with the site with that.

[robin]

Not sure the site we are visiting will be the free one on offer.

Personally I'll be looking elsewhere for the Met in future.

[Maoraigh1]

Sometimes the bar with "Areas" does not appear, both when using a 6.1 Nexus and a 5.0 Android. It isn't possible to scroll up to it. At other times it's available.

[Maoraigh1]

No "Areas" bar at top just now - so old site to get tafs and metars for Scotland. 07.20 16/12/2015

[John R81]

"Areas" has never appeared as an option on my iPhone :sad:

[Maoraigh1]

Today, about 06.40, the bar at the top with "Areas" allowed me to get TAF and METAR data. At 23.35, the is no bar at the top. Scroll movement just re-loads. No access to TAF and METAR for regions.

[Maoraigh1]

09.18 on 19/12/2015 there is no bar with "Areas", so regional TAF and METARs are not available. And site took much longer to load than the old site which I had to use.

[Prop swinger]

It's a known bug that the Areas menu option isn't available on smaller screens. If you view the website full screen on a desktop you see the horizontal menu across the top, with the Areas link. If you resize the browser window, when it's narrow enough the layout switches to the mobile device layout with the menu accessed from the hamburger icon at the top left. For some reason the Areas option has been left out.

[John R81]

I put I "feedback" about "Areas". The response I received says that the option will not display on mobile devices smaller than a tablet computer, though they are thinking about this for later update.


Answer is, it seems, use a large computer if you want to see "Areas", not your iPhone or Android phone.

[Maoraigh1]

So the new optimised site is not available on my 5" phone, but is on my 7" Nexus, both Android. The email sent out was effectually a lie.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Answer is, it seems, use a large computer if you want to see "Areas", not your iPhone or Android phone.
That is most confusing. I thought the whole motivation for the new site was to improve matters for people with tiny screens (at the expense of those who use proper computers)?

[Maoraigh1]

Old site now available until 31 March 2016.

[BigEndBob]

Why is it that when things change we are familiar with, most people seem to hate the change.

The new site takes longer to get into, 20 seconds to get to taf's new site, 10 seconds old site.
The lapform page typeset I hate.
It just seems hard to read and the dates need the day as well, helps a lot if it said the day of week, then date, then time frame.

And that map covered in balloons and triangles.

Nice to know the old site will keep going a bit longer.

[BEagle]

Your password must be at least 9 characters and contain at least one digit, one uppercase, one lowercase, and one special character.

FFS, why on earth should checking the weather need quite such bolleaux?

Have the weather-guessers finally gone completely mad?

[Broadlands]

What's the betting that whoever managed the creation is a balloonist? Why so much emphasis on a very small community?

[Mach Jump]

I fail to see why we have to 'login' to weather sites at all. Just one more obstacle between pilots and safety.


MJ:ok:

[BigEndBob]

The only reason I see to log in is when the weather forecast turns out to be wrong with a lot of "AMD" appearing as of today, when someone flies into the side of a mountain the AAIB can see if you logged in.

[Maoraigh1]

I've just logged in to the old site, which was turned off yesterday, and got current METARS.

[MrAverage]

Me too, but will it work after midday?

[Whopity]

when someone flies into the side of a mountain the AAIB can see if you logged in. That rather supposes that you logged into the Met Office site rather than one of the others with easier access!

After a lengthy session with the Met Office following numerous complaints, it became very apparent that they had no idea who their customer base is, how to find them or what they want or even do with the information. Despite giving them a list of RFs and ATOs and suggesting they canvas their opinions, it was a case of, that's too difficult because we have made up our minds. Change creates the illusion of progress to the instigators of change. They did however acknowledge that some of their creations were of little use and that others were not as required by the majority of users. Hopefully they are making the necessary changes.

[MrAverage]

.......actually I read somewhere that the old site should still work until the end of April.


Here's hoping.

[MrAverage]

...and It's still working now, past midday!

[mrmum]

We've got another couple of months

General Aviation services old briefing service - please note - this product has now changed.
You can continue to use this product the end of May 2016 when it will be retired. You will not be able to renew your subscription or register for this old product. We therefore encourage you to re-register (see above) to start using the upgraded GA service.

[Maoraigh1]

I'm now happy with the new site on my Nexus7, if held sideways. New option of both TAFs and METARs together for each airfield in region. Simpler initial menu. However I can't login with my 5" Sony at all. I noted my password, but my username I thought was the same. I've tried variations. If it works on the phone I'll be happy.

[Maoraigh1]

Got in with Sony phone. Accessed TAFs and METARs. New site is useable. Menu could be more user-friendly though.

[BEagle]

No doubt the Met Office will be only too happy to answer questions about their wonderful new GA 'product' at their Duxford Safety Day presentation this coming Saturday (April 9th)....

[Maoraigh1]

Just 9 hour 47 minutes drive one-way according to Google Maps.

[crablab]

I rather liked the new Met Office GA site; works great on mobile devices too!

[Maoraigh1]

The F215 on the old site gives a Prognosis map, for 6 hours ahead of main map, but the new site gives a situation map, at this moment for 12 hours behind the main map.
Oban and Dundee are on the old site TAF/Metars list, but not the new site.
And it's still much slower to get the information - less suited to a mobile phone than the old site.
Add, 9 hours later: Now Dundee and Oban are back in the Tafs/Metars.

[MrAverage]

Old site TAFS haven't updated all day ??


Had to go to American site to get latest.........

[pulse1]

Today, Wednesday, hardly any TAFs available on the old site. All normal on the new site. It looks like they have stopped updating the old site.

[robin]

Bl**dy new system. It doesn't retain the user name and logon details unlike the old one.

Still can't work out what the need to change was.

[JOE-FBS]

As a serial complainer to the Met office about this new site, a couple of months ago they invited me to spend an hour plus on the telephone with one of their app developers. In answer to the question above, he said that the system change was necessary to interface with their other systems. He had no explanation as to why the old display format that worked very well on all platforms, including mobile telephones on poor connections, has to be replaced with a prettier but less functional display format which requires as far as I can see a better connection to work. He was it seemed to me bemused by the idea that one is not always viewing this data on 4G or at home. When I explained that they didn't need by default to supply the decodes because we are all trained to read the abbreviated form he was clearly surprised. It seemed he had the idea that the system was for viewing by the general public. So full marks to Met Office for taking an interest in my feedback but zero for how they briefed the developer. Anyway for what it is worth I think the new system is still unfit.

[GBEBZ]

https://s3.amazonaws.com/f.cl.ly/items/0y3I093y470h0S2b1b1d/Screen%20Shot%202016-04-20%20at%2014.09.19.png?v=f155b5c0

LMAO

[robin]

Had a note from Met Office saying there is a problem with the old site that they are dealing with and hope to fix soon.

[Maoraigh1]

The old site F215 has a valuable Prognosis chart for 6 hours ahead. The new site seems to vary between an isobars/etc chart for the same time, or for some time in the past.

[Maoraigh1]

Isobar chart on new site is for 12.00 yesterday. F215 is OK. Old site TAFs and METARs are OK but F215s are for yesterday. So no Prognosis chart on site. I'll use the public site for that.

[jimf671]

I thought I was going to have to fly to another planet for guidance on how to make the new met office site work! But it's OK. Now I have found where the F215s should be ... except that there is a fault and there are no F215.

What was wrong with the old way that worked?

[A le Ron]

I thought I was going to have to fly to another planet for guidance on how to make the new met office site work! But it's OK. Now I have found where the F215s should be ... except that there is a fault and there are no F215.

What was wrong with the old way that worked?

Seems to be working perfectly on my iPad

[oggers]

Whether it is working correctly or not it is useless by comparison with the met information available to US GA pilots.

[Maoraigh1]

I'm reasonably happy with the new site. I get the information I want for flying in the Highlands.
It's still much slower to load, and the accompanying isobar map is seldom (though I think it has sometimes been) , for 12 hours ahead of the main map. But I can get that by clicking the other charts link.
It's some time since I've had logon problems.

[Maoraigh1]

Apart from slow loading, I'm now very happy with new site. The predicted weather and isobar chart for the same time is good, with the 12 hour ahead available on the adjacent charts button.