How to read a METAR

It's just before 7am, you've got the aircraft booked for ten, and the METAR looks like a cat walked across the keyboard:

METAR EGPH 080650Z 23003KT 200V260 6000 -RA FEW011 BKN047 07/06 Q1020

That's Edinburgh on a grey November morning in 2026. It's actually a full weather report, and it's much easier to read than it looks. Every METAR uses the same building blocks in the same order, so once you've learnt them, you'll read a line like that in the time it takes the kettle to boil.

We'll go through it a piece at a time, using real reports from Edinburgh, Heathrow, Sydney, Auckland and a few others. They're all in the ICAO format used in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. If you'd like a live one to practise on, type any ICAO code into our free METAR and TAF decoder.

Reading the Edinburgh report#

So Edinburgh's having a damp, grey morning with barely any wind. There's 6 km of visibility in light rain, a few clouds at 1,100 ft and a broken layer at 4,700 ft. That's perfectly good for circuits.

The bit we'd keep an eye on is the 07/06. When the temperature and dew point are that close, the air is almost full of moisture, and on a still evening that's how fog starts. Later on you'll see it happen at Heathrow.

The order of the groups in a METAR#

Edinburgh's report had most of the building blocks, though not all of them. Here's the full set, in the order they always come. If a group doesn't apply, it's left out, which is why some reports are half the length of others.

1. Report type and station
2. Date and time (UTC)
3. AUTO, if no human was involved
4. Wind
5. Visibility, then runway visual range if it's low
6. Present weather
7. Cloud
8. Temperature and dew point
9. QNH
10. Recent weather, and on some reports a two-hour trend

What each group means#

ICAO and the World Meteorological Organization set the format, so each group means the same thing in all four countries. Each country can still declare its own differences, though. So wherever we give a threshold, we'll tell you whose it is. It's either the UK's, from CAP 746 (which follows ICAO Annex 3 except where the UK has declared a difference), or New Zealand's, from the CAA of New Zealand.

Station and time#

The station is the airfield's four-letter ICAO code. UK codes start with EG, Irish ones with EI, Australian ones with Y and New Zealand ones with NZ.

The time is always UTC (that's what the Z stands for). In the UK and Ireland it's close to the time on your watch. In Australia and New Zealand it's many hours behind, and the date can be the day before. So convert it before you decide whether a report is recent. It's an easy one to get wrong when you've only just woken up.

COR after the report type means it's a corrected report. AUTO means the report was fully automated, with no human input.

Wind#

The wind is three digits of direction, two of speed and then the unit, as in 23003KT. The direction is where the wind is coming from, in degrees true, rounded to the nearest 10 degrees. The UK CAA and the CAA of New Zealand both specify true.

Here's the bit that catches people out. The tower and the ATIS give you the wind in degrees magnetic, and in the UK CAP 746 requires magnetic for the winds given to aircraft taking off and landing. In the UK and Ireland the difference is under 2 degrees, so it hardly matters. Around Sydney it's about 13 degrees east, and in New Zealand it's 20 to 25 degrees east. That's enough to change your crosswind figure. Our crosswind clock rule guide shows you how to convert.

• Gusts. 20018G28KT means 18 knots, gusting 28. A gust is only reported when it's 10 knots or more above the mean speed. That's the rule in CAP 746 and in the CAA of New Zealand's guidance. So a report without a G doesn't mean the wind was steady. It means any gusts stayed less than 10 knots above the mean, and on a blustery day we'd remember that.
• Varying direction. 200V260 means the direction moved between 200 and 260 degrees. It's always written clockwise. Under CAP 746 it's included when the direction varies by 60 degrees or more but less than 180, and the mean speed is 3 knots or more. Melbourne's 33005KT 290V020 crosses north, going from 290 round to 020.
• VRB. Dublin's VRB01KT means light and variable. Under CAP 746, VRB is used when the speed is under 3 knots and the direction varies by 60 degrees or more. It's also used at any speed if the direction varies by 180 degrees or more.
• Calm. A calm wind is 00000KT.

If there's a gust in the report, put the gust figure into the crosswind calculator, not the mean. You'll be landing in the gusts as well as the average.

Visibility and RVR#

Visibility is in metres, as four digits. 9999 means 10 km or more, and 0000 means less than 50 m.

Sometimes there's a second group with a compass point on the end. That's the minimum visibility in one direction. So 1500 0800NE means 1,500 m prevailing, and 800 m to the north-east. Under CAP 746 it's reported when it's below 1,500 m, or when it's below half the prevailing figure and below 5,000 m.

Runway visual range comes next when visibility or RVR is low. In the UK, that means either one is below 1,500 m. In New Zealand only Auckland and Christchurch report RVR, using the same 1,500 m threshold.

R27L/1300D means the RVR on runway 27 left is 1,300 m and going down. U means it's going up, and N means there's no clear change. A P before the number means it's above the top of the scale, and an M means it's below the bottom.

Present weather#

This is the group that looks most like alphabet soup. There are only three parts to it, though. The intensity or distance comes first, then a descriptor, then the weather itself.

• Intensity. - is light, no sign is moderate and + is heavy. The intensity always describes the precipitation. So -TSRA is a thunderstorm with light rain, not a light thunderstorm. VC means the weather is in the vicinity of the aerodrome but not on it.
• Descriptors. SH showers, TS thunderstorm, FZ freezing, MI shallow, BC patches, PR partial, BL blowing, DR drifting.
• Precipitation. RA rain, DZ drizzle, SN snow, GR hail, GS small hail or snow pellets, PL ice pellets.
• Obscuration. These are the things that cut visibility. BR mist, FG fog, HZ haze, FU smoke.

Under CAP 746, BR is used when mist brings the visibility down to between 1,000 and 5,000 m. FG is only used when it's below 1,000 m in every direction.

You can get more than one type at once. -RADZ is light rain and drizzle together, with the main one written first. And if there's no weather group at all, there's nothing significant to report.

Cloud#

Each cloud group gives the amount in oktas (eighths of the sky), then the height of the cloud base in hundreds of feet. The height is above the aerodrome, not above sea level.

If there's cumulonimbus (CB) or towering cumulus (TCU), it's added straight after the height, as in SCT055CB. They're reported at any height. When the sky is obscured you'll see VV, for vertical visibility, and VV/// means there's no figure for it. The UK doesn't assess vertical visibility, so VV/// is all you'll see there.

Layers are listed from lowest to highest, and there are usually no more than three. Under CAP 746 the first layer can be any amount. The second is only reported if it's SCT or more, and the third only if it's BKN or OVC. CB and TCU are always included, whatever their amount. That's why, apart from CB and TCU, you'll never see FEW above BKN.

It's the first BKN or OVC layer that limits you. So FEW011 BKN047 is a much better day than BKN011 BKN047, even though at a glance they look almost the same.

CAVOK, NSC and NCD#

CAVOK is the one everyone's pleased to see. It replaces the visibility, RVR, weather and cloud groups, and in the UK, CAP 746 only allows it when all of these are true at once:

• the visibility is 10 km or more
• no minimum visibility is reported
• there's no cloud below 5,000 ft, or below the highest minimum sector altitude if that's higher
• there's no CB or TCU
• there's no significant weather at or near the aerodrome

So CAVOK doesn't mean a clear sky. You can still get it under a solid overcast at 5,500 ft.

NSC means no significant cloud. There's nothing below 5,000 ft or the highest minimum sector altitude, and no CB or TCU, but CAVOK doesn't apply. That's usually because the visibility is under 10 km.

NCD means no cloud detected, and it only comes from automatic systems. In New Zealand, the CAA says it means nothing below 10,000 ft at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. At other domestic aerodromes it means nothing at any height.

Temperature, dew point and QNH#

07/06 means the temperature is 7°C and the dew point is 6°C. An M means minus, as in 00/M04. The closer the two numbers are, the closer the air is to saturation. The UK's guidance for observers says that in mist, the gap is usually 1 degree or less.

Q1020 is the QNH, the pressure adjusted to mean sea level, in whole hectopascals. In the UK it's always rounded down (CAP 746), so a reading of 1020.8 is reported as 1020. With QNH set, your altimeter shows your altitude above sea level.

Recent weather and the trend#

RE in front of a weather code means recent weather. It's significant weather, like moderate or heavy rain or a thunderstorm, that has stopped or eased since the last routine report or in the last hour, whichever is shorter (CAP 746). Edinburgh's RERA at 2320Z on 8 November meant it had been raining and had stopped.

Some METARs end with a trend, a forecast for the two hours after the report was made.

• NOSIG means no significant change is expected.
• BECMG means a lasting change is on the way. It sometimes comes with FM (from), TL (until) or AT and a time.
• TEMPO means temporary changes. Cork's TEMPO BKN012 warned of a broken layer at 1,200 ft coming and going.

If there's no trend on a report, no trend was issued. That doesn't mean nothing's going to change. For anything beyond two hours you'll need the TAF, and our TAF guide goes through one.

Example: Heathrow going into fog#

That 1-degree gap is worth taking seriously. Here's Heathrow at 2120Z on the same day:

METAR EGLL 082120Z 05003KT 1500 0800NE R27L/1300D R27R/1200N PRFG NSC 07/06 Q1020 BECMG 0400 FG VV///

It's already murky. There's a north-easterly at just 3 knots. Visibility is 1,500 m, and only 800 m towards the north-east. The RVR on 27 left is 1,300 m and falling, and on 27 right it's 1,200 m and steady. There's a bank of fog over a substantial part of the airfield (PRFG, partial fog), there's no significant cloud (NSC), and the temperature and dew point are 1 degree apart again. The trend on the end expects it to get worse, becoming 400 m in fog with the sky obscured.

The trend was optimistic. Three hours later, an hour after the trend period ran out, Heathrow looked like this:

METAR EGLL 090020Z 04001KT 0050 R27L/0050N R27R/M0050N FG VV/// 04/04 Q1020 NOSIG

Visibility 50 m. RVR on 27 right below 50 m. Temperature and dew point both 4°C.

Edinburgh went the same way that evening, if a little more gently. It reported CAVOK 07/06 at 2050Z and 5000 BR NSC half an hour later. So if you see CAVOK with a 1-degree gap on a still November night, don't count on it for your flight home.

Automatic reports and missing data#

Reports marked AUTO come from sensors, with nobody watching. They report what the sensors can measure, and they use slashes for anything they can't. These are the UK codes, from CAP 746:

• //// instead of visibility means there's no visibility information.
• // instead of present weather means the weather sensor isn't working.
• /// after a cloud group means the system can't tell whether that cloud is CB or TCU.
• //////CB or //////TCU means convective cloud has been detected, but its amount and height aren't known.

Australian and New Zealand reports use the same codes. Here's Wellington at 0200Z on 9 November:

METAR NZWN 090200Z AUTO 17016KT 9999 BKN008/// BKN013/// 15/12 Q1025

There's broken cloud at 800 ft and 1,300 ft, and the sensors can't tell what type it is. Now Auckland, half an hour earlier:

METAR NZAA 090130Z AUTO 07011KT 7000 -TSRA BKN015/// //////CB 19/18 Q1020

A thunderstorm with light rain, and broken cloud at 1,500 ft. The sensors have also picked up cumulonimbus, but they can't say how much there is or how high. That last group is the one that should change your plans. And here's Sydney:

SPECI YSSY 090208Z AUTO 18021KT //// // FEW042 SCT064 17/11 Q1020

It's a special report with no visibility or present weather information, so it tells you nothing about either. A blank isn't good news. We'd always treat missing information as unknown, never as a sign the weather's fine.

What a METAR doesn't tell you#

• What happens next. It's a snapshot of one moment. The trend only covers two hours, and not every report has one.
• What's happening away from the airfield. It covers the aerodrome and the area right around it. A valley 15 miles away can be in fog while the METAR says CAVOK.
• Whether the flight is legal. The visibility and cloud in a METAR are one of the things you check against your VMC minima. Use them with the official forecast, NOTAMs and an official briefing.

Decoding live reports#

Type any ICAO code into our METAR and TAF decoder to see the latest report in plain English. You'll also get the last six hours of reports, and the TAF drawn as a timeline.

If your strip doesn't have its own weather station, the airfield pages show the latest METAR from the nearest airport that does, and how far away it is in nautical miles. They also list runways and frequencies.

The best way we know to get quick at this is to decode your home field's report over breakfast, then check your answer in the decoder. Do it for a week or two and the cat stops walking across the keyboard.

Weather cancellations in Volanti#

If you look after your club's bookings, you'll know mornings like these bring a run of cancellations and a few disappointed members. When a booking is cancelled for weather in Volanti, the reason is recorded. The aircraft or instructor can also be held for everyone, so nobody rebooks straight into the same fog. And when the hold is released, the waiting list runs again on its own. Booking and scheduling explains how it works.