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Testing Met Office API

This guide explains how to test the Met Office API to verify that severe weather warnings are being retrieved correctly.

Prerequisites

  1. Get a Met Office API Key:

    • Register at Met Office DataHub
    • Subscribe to the free "Site-specific" API
    • Copy your API key

  2. Node.js installed (should already be available if you're running MagicMirror)

Test Scripts

Two test scripts are provided:

1. Test Single Location (test_metoffice_api.js)

Tests a specific UK location and shows the raw API response and parsed alerts.

Usage:

# Using command line argument
node test_metoffice_api.js YOUR_API_KEY 51.5074 -0.1278

# Using environment variable
export METOFFICE_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
node test_metoffice_api.js 51.5074 -0.1278

# Default location (London)
node test_metoffice_api.js YOUR_API_KEY

Example Output:

=== Met Office API Test ===

Location: 51.5074, -0.1278
API Key: abc123def4...

Request URL: https://data.hub.api.metoffice.gov.uk/sitespecific/v0/point/daily?latitude=51.5074&longitude=-0.1278
Making request...

Status Code: 200
Status Message: OK

--- Response Body ---
{
  "features": [
    {
      "properties": {
        "warnings": [
          {
            "warningType": "Heavy Rain",
            "headline": "Heavy rain warning",
            "description": "Heavy rainfall expected...",
            "warningLevel": "Yellow",
            "validFrom": "2024-01-15T00:00:00Z",
            "validTo": "2024-01-16T23:59:59Z"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

=== Parsed Alerts ===

Alert 1:
  Event: Heavy Rain
  Severity: Yellow
  Headline: Heavy rain warning
  Start: 2024-01-15T00:00:00Z
  End: 2024-01-16T23:59:59Z
  Description: Heavy rainfall expected...
  Source: Met Office

Total alerts found: 1

2. Test Multiple Locations (test_metoffice_locations.js)

Tests multiple UK locations to find which ones have active warnings. Useful for finding locations with current warnings.

Usage:

# Using command line argument
node test_metoffice_locations.js YOUR_API_KEY

# Using environment variable
export METOFFICE_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
node test_metoffice_locations.js

Example Output:

=== Testing Met Office API for Multiple UK Locations ===

✓ Manchester: 2 warning(s) found
  London: No warnings
  Birmingham: No warnings
✓ Edinburgh: 1 warning(s) found
  Cardiff: No warnings
  ...

=== Summary ===

Found warnings in 2 location(s):

Manchester (53.4808, -2.2426):
  1. [Yellow] Heavy Rain
     2024-01-15T00:00:00Z to 2024-01-16T23:59:59Z
  2. [Amber] Wind
     2024-01-15T12:00:00Z to 2024-01-16T12:00:00Z

Edinburgh (55.9533, -3.1883):
  1. [Yellow] Snow
     2024-01-16T00:00:00Z to 2024-01-17T23:59:59Z

Common UK Test Locations

Here are some UK coordinates you can test with:

Location Latitude Longitude
London 51.5074 -0.1278
Manchester 53.4808 -0.2426
Birmingham 52.4862 -1.8904
Edinburgh 55.9533 -3.1883
Cardiff 51.4816 -3.1791
Belfast 54.5973 -5.9301
Leeds 53.8008 -1.5491
Glasgow 55.8642 -4.2518
Liverpool 53.4084 -2.9916
Newcastle 54.9783 -1.6178

Troubleshooting

No Warnings Found

If no warnings are found, this could mean:

  1. No active warnings: There may genuinely be no warnings for that location

  2. API Key Issues:

    • Verify your API key is correct
    • Check that you've subscribed to the "Site-specific" API
    • Ensure the API key hasn't expired

  3. Location Issues:

    • Verify coordinates are within UK bounds (latitude: 49.5-61, longitude: -8.5 to 2)
    • Try a different location

API Errors

401 Unauthorized:

  • Invalid or missing API key
  • API key not activated

403 Forbidden:

  • API key doesn't have access to this endpoint
  • Subscription not active

404 Not Found:

  • Invalid coordinates (outside UK)
  • API endpoint changed

429 Too Many Requests:

  • Rate limit exceeded
  • Wait a few minutes and try again

500 Server Error:

  • Met Office API issue
  • Try again later

Verifying Integration

After testing the API directly, verify the module integration:

  1. Add API key to config:

    {
    module: "MMM-SevereWeatherAlerts",
    config: {
        latitude: 51.5074,
        longitude: -0.1278,
        location: "London",
        metOfficeApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY"
    }
}

  2. Check MagicMirror logs:

    • Look for "Met Office API failed" messages
    • Check if alerts are being parsed correctly

  3. Verify display:

    • Alerts should show with day labels (Today/Tomorrow/Day name)
    • Only alerts for forecast days (today + next 3) should display
    • Severity colors should match (Red/Amber/Yellow)

Expected Behavior

When warnings are present:

  • Alerts Section: Shows warnings with day labels

    • "Today: [Alert Name]"
    • "Tomorrow: [Alert Name]"
    • "[Day]: [Alert Name]"

  • Forecast Section: Days with warnings show amber border/background

  • Filtering: Only warnings for today + next 3 days are shown

Notes

  • The Met Office API may not always have active warnings
  • Warnings are location-specific - different areas may have different warnings
  • The API falls back to Open-Meteo if Met Office API fails
  • Open-Meteo analyzes weather data to generate warnings even without Met Office API