The UK's bestWeather Stations2022 Review

If you’ve recently taken an interest in meteorology, or are looking to replace an old machine, this AcuRite Iris Weather Station is one of the best weather stations currently on the market for amateur meteorologists.

The station itself is powered using solar power. Data is then transmitted, via a Wi-Fi connection, to a display unit indoors.

It will measure:

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Wind speed
• Wind direction
• Rainfall

This station also allows you to track rainfall over time as well, and displays the current moon phase.

It comes with fixtures so you can attach the sensor to a pole, or alternatively it can be simply placed on a flat, elevated surface outside. Therefore, most garden layouts will be able to find a way to accommodate the weather station – it just needs to be close enough to connect to the Wi-Fi.

Unlike a lot of cheaper weather stations, this unit has a full colour display and the information is easy to read even from across the other side of the room. The screen brightness can be dimmed or turned up depending on the time of day; however, even the lowest brightness is quite strong, and may be disturbing in bedrooms.

Whilst not so much of a frequent problem in the UK, it can also continue to monitor the weather even if there is a power cut thanks to the possibility of running the display off either battery or mains power. Perhaps more helpfully, this also gives flexibility on where the display can be placed in the house, as it doesn’t matter if there is a power outlet available.

In terms of price, this isn’t a budget option, and is one of the more expensive units on this list. However, there is an option to buy two displays which can be placed in different rooms. This sets it apart from others, and means you could even keep one monitor on you, if you wanted to.

The Youshiko Weather Station provides a full range of readings. It can also be set up to provide audible warnings for more severe weather.

It’s capable of measuring:

• Wind speed
• Wind direction
• Rainfall
• Temperature
• Humidity
• Heat index
• Dew point
• Wind chill
• Beaufort scale
• Barometric pressure

It also gives a general forecast indication, highlighting if there will be predominantly sun, partial cloud, cloud, rain, storms or snowfall.

Plus, unlike some other weather stations, the LCD display shows the indoor temperature and humidity (alongside the information it’s receiving from the weather station outside) which can be useful for looking after houseplants and for health reasons.

If you’re particularly interested in keeping an eye on a certain aspect of the weather, you can also set a pre-alert to warn of certain changes like high wind, high rainfall, low pressure, and ice.

Information is transferred from the station to the display via Wi-Fi, and there’s an accurate radio-controlled clock to keep time. It sets itself automatically, meaning that the hourly weather history from the past 24 hours can be checked and is accurately time stamped.

It’s not overly difficult to set up, and the indoor display unit simply requires 3 x AA batteries to get going; however, mounting the weather station can prove more challenging.

During installation, it needs to be pointed north. This can sometimes take a few attempts to get right, and if mounting the station on a pole, the process can involve adjusting a lot of small screws. This does mean there’s a risk of losing small parts whilst fitting the station high up.

Overall, taking the price into consideration, as well as the different features on offer, this comes out as one of the best weather stations in terms of value; it has a lot of the same features as more expensive machines, but is much less expensive. This can possibly be attributed to less high-end technology, such as the more basic black and white display unit.

This Bresser 5-in-1 Weather Station measures 10 different values, including indoor and outdoor temperatures. It shares a lot of similarities with the Youshiko Weather Station, also featured on this list, but analyses wind chill instead of indoor dewpoint.

In particular, it’s one of the best weather stations for analysing rainfall; it keeps a record of hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and total rainfall, so you can continually keep an eye on the data. Other weather information is stored for 24 hours, and is used to create a trend forecast for the next 12 hours.

It’s relatively straight forward to set up the station outside, although it does need to be faced north. This may require the installation of a specific pole in the garden to mount it from, as opposed to using any existing fence posts. It uses 3 x AA batteries, and the display unit needs 3 x AA batteries as well.

The LCD screen is backlit with a warm orange light, which makes it suitable for use in any room. It’s relatively clear, although some of the writing is a little small (particularly the information about rainfall history), so some of the data can’t be read from a distance.

Being from a German-based manufacturer, the clock automatically sets itself to European time. This can be avoided by setting the clock manually, as it’s not connected to the UK radio network. Whilst this is a small inconvenience, which has been corrected in some other models, it’s still not overly difficult or time consuming to set the clock.

Overall, this is an accurate and inexpensive weather station, although its accuracy will rely on finding a suitable place for it in the garden. Its weakness might be in the wind readings, as it may measure gusts as opposed to the average prolonged wind speed.

If you’re keen to share your weather findings with the worldwide web, as well as collect extensive data over a long period, the Froggit WH3000 Weather Station offers more professional functions than cheaper weather stations.

It’s capable of uploading data to the ‘Weather Underground’ server over W-Fi, meaning you can also access your weather data from an app even if you’re not at home. This data is visible for other users of the Weather Underground website to see, helping to create an accurate map of weather data across the world.

As well as uploading information to the internet, the outside weather station transmits the following data to the indoor display unit:

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Solar radiation
• UV value
• Precipitation
• Wind speed
• Wind direction

It will also analyse the data to provide an up-to-date forecast, and display indoor temperature, humidity and air pressure as well.

All of this information is easy to read on the clear colour display, and there are two brightness settings to choose between. It’s not overly bright when turned low, but can also double as a nightlight if switched onto the brighter setting at night time.

Depending on where you wish to place the display, it can be powered via batteries (3 X AAA – not included) or mains power. The outside weather station requires 2 X AA batteries.

There are several positives to the Froggit WH3000, including a strong signal between the indoor and outdoor units, the intuitive nature of the display, and the accuracy of the temperature reading even in the sun.

However, there are a couple of features that could be improved upon. For example, the wind arrow indicates where the wind is coming from, as opposed to where it’s going, which isn’t very instinctive. Plus, the manual also isn’t very detailed, and doesn’t cover all of the operations, so you’re left to work some things out.

For budding meteorologists after new ways to analyse weather data, this Aercus Instruments Weather Station makes it possible to download information onto an SD card and view it on the computer.

As well as connecting automatically to the online Weather Underground server via Wi-Fi, data can also be stored on an SD card directly from the display unit. Spreadsheet software, such as Excel, makes it possible to view this information on the computer.

As a result, this is one of the best weather stations for analysing large amounts of data, as the external memory allows it to store more than 24-hours’ worth of information. The data can be used to create history reports and graphs amongst other things.

The indoor display unit shows immediate updates on the conditions outside and creates short-range forecast predictions. There’s also a separate wall unit for reading the indoor temperature, humidity and pressure.

You can measure:

• Indoor/outdoor temperature
• Indoor/outdoor humidity
• Barometric pressure
• Wind speed and direction
• Rainfall
• UV & light
• Dew point
• Wind chill

Overall, this is an accurate and simple device; it does what it’s supposed to with no major problems. It is generally reported to take precise readings, and the display is bright and clear.

It’s even possible to programme a timer for the display, to choose the hours in the day when you would like the backlight to be on.

Set up is relatively straight forward, although the instructions can be a little lacking which may make the process take a little longer. Using the mounting bracket is a little fiddly as well, so the process can be made easier by having four hands on deck as opposed to just two.