Live weather radar: rain and storms
Where it is raining right now, where the storms are heading and how heavy it is. Weather radar from the USA, Canada, Europe and Japan, refreshed every few minutes, and NASA satellite rainfall where there is no radar.
EUMETNET OPERA (CC BY 4.0) · NOAA/NWS MRMS · ECCC · 出典：気象庁ホームページ · NASA GPM IMERG / GIBS · NOAA GOES GLM · EUMETSAT MTG LI (CC BY 4.0) · OpenFreeMap © OpenStreetMap
Weather radar by city
United States10
Ireland1
Italy1
Switzerland1
France1
Portugal1
Japan1
Netherlands1
Belgium1
Sweden1
South Korea1
Hungary1
Austria1
Czechia1
Denmark1
Latvia1
Greece1
Estonia1
Iceland1
What the radar shows
The map shows radar echo: how strongly raindrops, snowflakes and hail reflect the radar beam. The warmer the colour, the heavier the precipitation. Light blue is drizzle and light rain, green and yellow are steady rain, and orange, red and purple are downpours and thunderstorm cells that may contain hail.
In the USA, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam, we show the NOAA MRMS mosaic built from the NEXRAD radar network, updated every 2 minutes. Canada comes from the radars of Environment and Climate Change Canada, Europe from more than 150 radars in over 20 countries merged by EUMETNET OPERA, and Japan from the Japan Meteorological Agency. Where no open radar data exists, the map switches to NASA GPM IMERG satellite rainfall: a 30-minute average that arrives a few hours after the fact.
How to read the storm radar
A thunderstorm shows up as a small, very intense blob: a red or purple core surrounded by yellow and green. Wide areas of pale blue and green are usually steady rain from a weather front.
To judge whether a storm will reach you, play the animation and watch the direction of movement. Storm cells usually travel at 20-60 km/h (12-37 mph), so the last hour shows roughly how far they will move in the next hour.
Radar does not see everything: far from a radar the beam runs high and can miss light rain near the ground, and mountains block parts of the view. Some countries, such as Italy, Austria or Greece, do not share data with the European composite, so there the map shows satellite rainfall. Satellite rainfall is coarser and a few hours old, so treat it as an overview, not a live picture.
FAQ
What do the colours on the weather radar mean?
The colour shows the strength of the radar echo in dBZ. Light blue is light rain or snow, green and yellow are moderate rain, orange and red are downpours or thunderstorms, and purple is a very strong echo where hail is possible.
How often is the radar updated?
Every 2 minutes in the USA, every 5 minutes in Europe and Japan and every 6 minutes in Canada. The page loads the latest frames automatically and the animation covers the last hour. NASA satellite rainfall changes every 30 minutes and is a few hours behind.
Does the radar cover the USA and the rest of the world?
Yes. Live radar covers the USA with Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam, plus Canada, Europe and Japan. For the rest of the world, such as South America, Africa, Asia and Australia, the map shows rainfall estimated by NASA satellites.
Does the radar show lightning?
Yes. Turn on the lightning button: we show flashes from the last 15 minutes detected from space. Over the Americas these are individual flashes from NOAA GOES GLM, refreshed every minute; over Europe and Africa, lightning areas from Europe’s MTG satellite (EUMETSAT), every 5 minutes with a delay of about 15-20 minutes. The radar itself shows precipitation, and thunderstorms appear on it as small, very intense red and purple spots.
Where does the data come from?
USA: NOAA/NWS MRMS. Canada: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Europe: EUMETNET OPERA (CC BY 4.0). Japan: Japan Meteorological Agency. Rest of the world: NASA GPM IMERG through NASA GIBS.
Data sources
USA: NOAA/NWS MRMS base reflectivity from NOAA NCEP. Canada: rain and snow radar from MSC GeoMet (ECCC). Europe: EUMETNET OPERA radar composite (maximum reflectivity, 1 km grid, every 5 minutes) under CC BY 4.0 via Open Radar Data. Japan: JMA high-resolution precipitation nowcast. World: NASA GPM IMERG 30-minute satellite rainfall from NASA GIBS. Colours for Canada and Japan are converted to the common Zenitmap scale.
Lightning: the Americas - NOAA GOES-19 and GOES-18 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (L2 LCFA product, public domain), flash centroids from the last 15 minutes binned to a 0.05° grid. Europe and Africa - EUMETSAT MTG Lightning Imager, Accumulated Flash Area product via EUMETView (Core data, CC BY 4.0 licence), frames every 5 minutes.
Europe: EUMETNET OPERA radar composite (EUMETNET) via Open Radar Data, licence CC BY 4.0; data modified: reprojected from LAEA to Web Mercator and coloured by reflectivity. USA, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam: NOAA/NWS Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) base reflectivity served by NOAA NCEP (public domain). Canada: contains information licensed under the Data Server End-use Licence of Environment and Climate Change Canada (MSC GeoMet); colours converted to the Zenitmap scale. Japan: 出典：気象庁ホームページ（高解像度降水ナウキャスト）を加工して作成 (source: Japan Meteorological Agency, colours converted by Zenitmap). Rest of the world: NASA GPM IMERG 30-minute precipitation rate (satellite estimate, available a few hours after observation), imagery from NASA GIBS, part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Lightning: the Americas - NOAA GOES-19 and GOES-18 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) L2 LCFA flashes from NOAA's open data on AWS (public domain); data modified: flash centroids from the last 15 minutes binned to a 0.05° grid. Europe and Africa: this service is based on EUMETSAT Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Lightning Imager data 2026 (Accumulated Flash Area, via EUMETView), licence CC BY 4.0. Map: OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.