The fastest official way to check tomorrow’s weather in the UAE is the free Weather UAE app from the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), which runs in English and Arabic. The same services also sit on the website ncm.gov.ae: a warnings map, satellite imagery, weather and marine bulletins in PDF, and a separate sea condition service.
Which official tool should you open?
| If you want | Open this | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| The forecast for where you are | Weather UAE (iOS) or UAE Weather (Android) | Free; needs an internet connection and location access to show customised data |
| To see whether a warning is active | Warnings Map on the website, or the app’s warnings map | The app can push warnings by preference, for fog, rain and sea |
| Rain and cloud on a map | Satellite Imagery on the website, or the maps section of the app | The app lists radar, satellite, weather station and model maps |
| Sea conditions | albahar.ncm.gov.ae | Has an English version (add ?lang=en) |
| A document to read or share | Weather Bulletin PDF and Marine Bulletin PDF in the website menu | Both are menu items on the English homepage |
| Air quality | airquality.ncm.gov.ae | The National Air Quality Platform |
| Warnings for earthquakes, tropical storms, floods, forest fires and drought | Early Warnings for All at ew4all.ncm.gov.ae | Warnings are shown in green, orange or red |
How do you set up the app before you need it?
- Install it: the App Store listing is named Weather UAE (Arabic subtitle “طقس الإمارات”), and the Android version is named UAE Weather on Google Play.
- Allow location access. The app states that an internet connection and geolocation are required to show the latest customised data, so leave location access on for the area you care about.
- Switch on warning notifications and choose the types you care about. The app’s release notes describe push notifications based on your preferences for fog, rain and sea.
- Open the warnings map once, so you know where it sits before a warning is issued.
- Open the maps section and find radar and satellite. The release notes also describe a marine forecast, hourly forecasts for up to nine days, and a widget for today’s forecast.
How do you use the website if you would rather not install an app?
Type ncm.ae or ncm.gov.ae: the first one redirects to the second. The pages open in Arabic by default, so use the English link at the top, or add ?lang=en to the address. In the English menu, “Weather Condition” is the forecast, and “Warnings Map” and “Satellite Imagery” sit beside it. The menu also holds “Weather Stations”, “Airports stations”, “Tropical Storms” and “Earthquakes Monitoring” pages, plus “Al Bahar – Marine Services” for the sea.
For a quick radar picture, the government’s weather page also points to a UAE radar map at ghaith.ncm.ae.
How do the forecast and the warnings map work together?
The forecast tells you the conditions expected at your location. The warnings map tells you whether an alert is active, and its colours carry the instruction: green is information with no action needed, orange is the need to prepare to take action to protect lives, and red is a stage where action is needed. Check both when you plan a drive, a beach day or a trip to the mountains, because a calm forecast and an active orange warning for another area can both be true on the same day.
Who can you call?
The center lists +971 2 222 7777 as its contact number, with office hours of Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 16:00, and states that operations run 24/7. In an emergency, call Police on 999, Ambulance on 998 or Civil Defence on 997 instead of the office line.
One practical step: install the app today, allow location access and open the warnings map once, so tomorrow’s check takes seconds. The official website is at ncm.gov.ae, and our guide to what the green, orange and red alert colours ask of you is worth a read before the next warning.
Where to go next
- UAE weather alert colours and the action each one asks for
- Wadis, roads, sea and fines when a weather warning is on
- Why one phone gets a UAE emergency alert and another does not
- UAE winter weather outlook and what El Niño could mean
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