How to read a synoptic weather chart

Find out what the lines, arrows and letters mean on synoptic weather charts.

The word 'synoptic' simply means a summary of the current situation. In weather terms this means the pressure pattern, fronts, wind direction and speed and how they will change and evolve over the coming few days. Temperature, pressure and winds are all in balance and the atmosphere is constantly changing to preserve this balance.

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We are the Met Office, the UK’s national weather service, and every day of the week we bring you a morning weather forecast and an afternoon weather forecast so that wherever you are in the UK we have you covered. Forecasts and any weather warnings are accurate at time of recording.

To ensure you have the most up to date weather information, check the hourly forecast and live warnings on the Met Office website or app.