Tempest provides quite a bit of information, including temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed/direction, lighting strike info, and UV data. The system also measures rain activity, but it does so without a traditional rain-catching funnel. Instead, Tempest uses a haptic rain sensor, essentially measuring when and how forcefully water droplets hit the top of the device. It’s surprisingly accurate and a lot less messy than the typical rain sensor—and it doesn’t have to be cleaned periodically. While normal carbon monoxide detectors have a piercing alarm built in, that can be heard around the house - as does the Netatmo one, incidentally - that's not going to help you if you're out shopping. On the whole, we were generally impressed with the accuracy of the Netatmo Weather Station. Its outside temperature, humidity and rainfall readings never strayed too far from other local and official weather stations, and were typically a good representation of the local conditions. It does feel a little constricted zooming in and out of a line graph on a smartphone to take a closer look at granular data.

Another thing I really like is that Netatmo's Android app offers a series of widgets. I've actually used an old Android tablet, mounted to the wall in my office, with all four widgets set up on the screen, as a live display which I can glance at to see just how heavily it's raining, what temperature I'm at and even whether there's a chance of rain that day. Observations from amateur stations and those not part of the Met Office’s official network cannot be considered for entry into the official records as they’re not subject to the same internationally agreed standards that are required for the official records. Do you have a weather station at home?Consistency of measurements is vital across the network, both for informing our forecasts and for the long-term weather and climate records of the UK. Tempest’s temperature readings tend to run a little high, and its weather forecasts were the worst in this roundup, missing on average by 5.2 degrees. Tempest’s forecasts tend to be pretty wild, including one that guessed the high would be 9 degrees lower than Netatmo and another that forecast a 30 percent chance of “wintry mix” precipitation on a day when there was no rain and we had a 40-degree low. That’s odd because forecasting is supposed to be Tempest’s forte, using machine learning to “significantly improve the forecast over time,” per the company. I’ve been testing the device for several months and still see some pretty out-there predictions on otherwise unremarkable days. Setting everything up is pretty easy. There's some fiddly calibration to be done with the rain gauge and anemometer, and it's worth investing in a shield for the outdoor thermometer, which Netatmo can supply, but you're given clear instructions all the way. One minor gripe we have with the app is its refresh rate. While the weather station automatically transmits readings every five minutes, the app only refreshes the data every ten.

You’ll find weather stations located across the UK, often in wide open space so observations can be accurately recorded. For example, official weather stations are often located at airports as they have plenty of open space making them a good place for observations to take place. However, the observation equipment is set an internationally-agreed distance from the runway to ensure no external factors can influence readings in any way. The set-up process is pretty straightforward and it shouldn't take you more than around 15 minutes to have the two main units connected and up and running. We set it up using the mobile app, but you can use your computer if you'd prefer. The Netatmo Weather Station may not satisfy the most serious weather enthusiasts, and it will likely be a step too far for others. However, its key strength is its ability to collate all your current and historical data into one intuitive app that you can access anytime and anywhere. These weather stations measure a large variety of different meteorological parameters, including air temperature; atmospheric pressure; rainfall; wind speed and direction, humidity; cloud height and visibility.If you'd like some increased functionality, the web app has a few extra features, including the ability to export your data to Excel - this is only possible for the outdoor sensors, though. The rising and falling of the barometric pressure links up to a very reliable forecasting system, and the air quality - measuring things like humidity and CO2 levels - can send alerts if the system detects high levels, giving you a reminder to open a window, for example. Stations areusually around 40 km apart, enablingus to record theweather associated with the typical low pressure and frontal systems that cross the UK. You can monitor all your current and historical data in real-time on your smartphone or computer using the free Netatmo web or mobile app.