Apple brings next-hour precipitation to Weather in the UK and Ireland

When iOS 14.5 launches this spring, users in the UK and Ireland could benefit from next-hour precipitation forecasts in Apple's first-party Weather app.

The feature, which is currently offered for U.S. users, provides a detailed 60-minute rain or snow forecast within the Weather app and its corresponding widgets. When precipitation is present, or will be in the coming hour, a chart displaying a minute-by-minute breakdown of weather conditions appears.

Apple is working to expand access to other locations, and it appears that users in the UK and Ireland will be among the first to benefit from the feature. Users in the region began to see next-hour reports pop up in Weather following today's iOS 14.5 beta release, according to multiple reports on Twitter.

Weather integrated next-hour forecasts shortly after Apple acquired popular weather data aggregation app Dark Sky last March. The title was among the first to leverage multiple weather stations and proprietary algorithms to provide accurate hyper-local forecasts to smartphone users.

Whether Apple intends to roll out the new Weather capability with iOS 14.5 is unknown, though chances are good considering its early presence in the latest beta.

The upcoming iOS update is shaping up to be a substantial release with a slew of new features including unlocking iPhone with Apple Watch when Face ID detects a face mask, new game controller support, Apple Card sharing, worldwide 5G for dual-SIM setups and more.