Welcome to the Meteo-compare interactive map! Our interface is designed to provide you with comprehensive meteorological data at a glance, allowing you to analyse and compare weather forecasting models easly. Here is a guide to understanding and using the main control panel.

1. Selecting the Weather Model
At the top of the right-hand menu, you will find a dropdown menu (currently set to ECMWF).

What it does: This allows you to switch between different global and regional weather forecasting models (such as ECMWF, GFS, etc.).

Tip: Comparing different models is a great way to assess the reliability of a forecast.

2. Weather Layers (Data Selection)
The vertical menu on the right allows you to toggle between different types of atmospheric data. Each button changes the visual overlay on the map:

Precipitation: Displays expected rainfall, snow, or hail. The intensity is usually shown by a color gradient (blue for light, purple/red for heavy).

Temperature: Shows the air temperature. Warm colors (red/orange) indicate higher temperatures, while cool colors (blue/green) indicate lower ones.

Pressure / Geopotential: Displays isobars (the white lines on your map) and atmospheric pressure zones. High-pressure systems are marked with an H (Anticyclone) and low-pressure systems with an L (Depression).

Wind: Shows wind speed and direction, often visualized through moving particles or color-coded zones.

Waves and Sea: Essential for maritime activities, this layer shows wave height and sea state.

Instability: Used primarily to track thunderstorm potential and atmospheric convection.

Humidity: Displays the moisture level in the air at various altitudes.

Clouds: Shows cloud cover density across different regions.

Vue Satellite (Satellite View): Provides real-time or near-real-time satellite imagery of cloud formations.

Weather Warnings: Highlights areas where official meteorological alerts are active (e.g., storms, extreme heat, or floods).

3. Reading the Map Symbols
Lines (Isobars): The white lines represent atmospheric pressure. The closer they are to each other, the stronger the wind in that area.

H (Red): Represents a High-pressure system, usually associated with calm and clear weather.

L (Blue): Represents a Low-pressure system (Cyclone/Depression), often bringing clouds, wind, and rain.

Customizing Your View: Map Toggles
Beyond the main data layers, you can further refine your map by using the settings toggles. These allow you to add or remove specific visual elements for a cleaner or more detailed experience.

Wind animation: Toggle this on to see a dynamic, moving visualization of wind flow across the map.

Snow: Enables snow layer, this to specifically highlight areas where snowfall is predicted.

Thunderstorms: Enables Thunder layer, this overlay identifies regions with high convective activity and potential lightning strikes.

Isobar lines: Enables isolines, These white lines connect points of equal atmospheric pressure. They are essential for identifying high and low-pressure systems and predicting wind strength.

Values: Toggle this to display specific numerical data points (such as exact pressure or temperature readings) directly on the map surface.

Cyclones: A specialized tracker that highlights the paths and centers of tropical cyclones or intense low-pressure systems.

List: This allows you to view the weather data in a list format for specific locations or regions rather than just visually on the map.