KNMI to issue warnings by area, not province
From November, colour codes for dangerous weather will be linked to more flexible areas and may be issued locally.
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From November, KNMI will switch to weather warnings for areas with flexible boundaries. This means entire provinces will no longer automatically receive the same code when the risk is concentrated mainly in a smaller part.
The familiar yellow, orange and red codes will remain, but the geographical division will change. Maps will no longer automatically shade entire provinces. KNMI aims to show more clearly where dangerous weather is expected and to prevent residents outside the risk area from receiving unnecessary warnings.
The new system will apply to conditions including icy roads, heat, cold, fog, thunderstorms, snow, waterspouts, wind gusts and heavy rain. If a separate map is used for each type of weather, a heat warning for a large area could, for example, coincide with a smaller warning for severe thunderstorms.
Users will be able to zoom in on their location on the website and in the KNMI app. According to the institute, notifications can be received for the live location or for other places. Weather apps, radio and television will also display warnings for the new areas, KNMI says.
The institute says provinces can sometimes be too crude as warning units. With icy roads, for example, the risk can differ greatly between the north and south of a long province. A provincial orange code may then reach many people for whom the danger is limited, while a smaller area with a genuine risk is identified less precisely.
The change will not automatically make a warning more accurate in meteorological terms. It mainly concerns how the expected risk zone is communicated to the public. The boundary between receiving and not receiving a warning will also remain uncertain: KNMI advises people near such a boundary to take changing conditions into extra account.
For road users, organisers and emergency services, the transition may be a reason to check the current map and their location settings. The colour code itself will continue to indicate the severity; the new map is primarily intended to make clear where that severity is expected. KNMI is said to have presented the change on 14 October; its introduction has been announced for November.
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The described change, the weather types involved and the options on the website and in the app appear in KNMI's primary publication. The text distinguishes between a new warning system for areas and the existing meaning of the colour codes.
- confirmed From November 2026, KNMI will issue warnings for more flexible areas instead of entire provinces. — This is stated in KNMI's announcement. source
- confirmed Warnings can be linked through the KNMI app to a live location or another place. — KNMI describes these notification options in the primary publication. source
- confirmed The yellow, orange and red colour codes will remain. — KNMI's explanation of warnings uses the same colour coding and describes the new area division as the change. source
- confirmed The change mainly makes communication of the expected risk zone more precise. — This is a journalistic summary of KNMI's explanation that provinces are sometimes too large and that flexible areas can better match the local risk. source