Over the years, the iPhone Weather app is granularly improving. However, iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 managed a slightly better and bigger leap. You can now view weather maps, have a Weather widget on the Home and Lock Screen, and get alerts for severe weather.
And as Apple does, it has added the feature quite proficiently. You can activate emergency weather notifications and precipitation reports for your area and locations you’ve listed in the Weather app. So, without further ado, let’s look into how to set emergency weather alerts on your iPhone and iPad.
- What are severe weather alerts?
- How to turn on weather alerts for your location on iPhone or iPad
- Enable weather notifications for other locations
- If you’re not receiving weather notifications?
What are severe weather alerts and will I get them?
As the name suggests, the iPhone and iPad Weather app will notify you if a severe, emergency or bad weather alert is issued near you. This includes real-time notifications for precipitation, rain storms, tornados, hurricanes, flash floods, heat waves, and more.
However, the feature is not available in all countries and regions. As of writing, it was available for:
- The United States
- Canada
- Mexico
- Australia
- India
- Japan
- China
- Brazil
- Thailand
- And most countries and regions in Europe
Remember, you can turn on these alerts for your current and favorited locations.
Note: iPadOS 16 will officially be released in October, so as of now, you can enjoy this feature only on iOS 16 running iPhone.
How to turn on weather alerts for your location on iPhone or iPad
The process involves two steps, first allowing the Weather app to access your location and then turning on weather notifications from the app.
1. Enable location access
- Open Settings.
- Swipe down and select Privacy & security.
- Tap Location Services → toggle on Location Services if not already.
- Locate and select Weather from the list.
- Tap Always.
Ensure that you enable Precise Location for the Weather app to access your exact location.
2. Enable notifications in the Weather app
- Open the Weather app.
- Tap the bullet list icon at the bottom right.
- Next, tap the three dots icon at the top right.
- Select Notifications.
- Tap Continue.
- If prompted, select Allow and then Allow again.
- Toggle on, as per your preference:
- Severe Weather
- Next-Hour Precipitation
- Tap Done
Now, you’ll get live notification updates for different weather conditions supported in your region.
Enable weather notifications for other locations
- Go to the Weather app → bullet list icon.
- Tap the three dots icon → Notifications.
- Under the Locations section, choose the location.
- Toggle on:
- Severe Weather
- Next-Hour Precipitation
- Tap Done.
To disable weather notification of your location or other locations in your weather list, repeat the above steps, toggle off, and tap Done.
If you’re not receiving weather notifications?
Apple updates the Weather app with real-time weather information from various data sources. Most of these are location-specific. So you might not get notified if the Weather app can’t access data from your region.
Hence, while notifications about some weather changes are available in selected countries, they aren’t in some. If you’re in the listed areas mentioned above, ensure you’re using the latest iOS 16.
Conclusion
While Apple still has a long way to compete with other third-party weather forecasting apps exist; I’ll take these smaller victories for now. At least we got a weather app on iPad for the first time in 12 years.
I suggest you don’t let the Weather app sit there doing nothing. Instead, enable the severe weather alerts to exercise its muscle and let Apple know that’s it on the right track. Have more queries or ideas to share? Use the comment section.
Read next:
- Best Apple Watch Weather Apps
- Best funny Weather apps for iPhone and iPad
- Weather widget not working on iPhone? How to fix it
- How to view weather maps on iPhone
A self-professed Geek who loves to explore all things Apple. I thoroughly enjoy discovering new hacks, troubleshooting issues, and finding and reviewing the best products and apps currently available. My expertise also includes curating opinionated and honest editorials. If not this, you might find me surfing the web or listening to audiobooks.