People only just discovering what snow percentage on iPhone weather app actually means
People are only just realising what the snow percentage on the weather app actually means as parts of England have seen snowfall this November.
Everyone dreams of white Christmas, but what we don't dream of is it happening in November and causing temperatures to plummet to -11 degrees.
However this is exactly what happened as the UK was been gripped by an Arctic Blast over the last week. Temperatures have since warmed up, however the country is facing even more chaos being with Storm Bert, causing the Met Office to issue weather warnings up and down the country.
In light of the surprise snowfall, many people's weather app has been seeing a lot more action than usual, but not everybody understands what they're actually looking at.
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When you go on your weather app and see it says 50% and shows the symbol for snow, most of us think that means that snow is going to cover 50% of the area we're in during the hours shown on the app.
Simple, right? Well, apparently not.
Apparently, 50 per cent probability of snow on your weather app actually means a 50 per cent chance you will see snow within the hour and has nothing to do with the amount of coverage, so says the Met Office.
With that being said, AccuWeather offers a difference of opinion.
Chief Video Meteorologist Geoff Cornish said that whatever percentage is showing a chance of snow, let's say 50, means that out of 100 simulations run by meteorologists, 50 agree that snow is the outcome.
Cornish said: "Your probability of precipitation is the likelihood that you will receive measurable precipitation during the forecast timeframe.
"It is the probability that at least 0.01 of an inch of precipitation will fall on your rooftop if you live in the forecast area.
"That's about enough rain to produce a small, underwhelming puddle."
Make sense to you? No, me neither but Cornish did advise people not to overthink the weather, which when living in the UK is pretty good advice if you ask me.
He did also say that the probability of precipitation doesn't actually have anything to with the length of time precipitation may occur or how it intense it will be.
Cornish went on: "Take it at face value. Your probability of precipitation is simply the chance of rain on a scale of zero to 100, if it's warm enough for rain, at some point in the forecast time. The same applies to snow, freezing rain or sleet."
If I was you, I'd just make sure you're wearing shoes with good grip and maybe don't skip grabbing the umbrella on the way out the door until you see flowers back on the trees.
Saskia Calliste