We all know what the three main types of Dutch weather are: showers, rain and pouring down. We’ve all been caught out in a damp and unpleasant fashion by a sudden fall of rain. If only we’d checked the radar…

If you’ve been dithering, or aren’t happy with your current weather app, here’s a round-up of a few of the more popular and well-regarded weather apps with comprehensive information on the Netherlands.

Here’s to making sure it’s a good day to go fietsen…

Dutch weather apps

While the written forecasts for these apps are in Dutch, they also have the most accurate and comprehensive information for the Netherlands.

Buienradar

Buienradar is a household name in the Netherlands and a very popular app for people wanting to watch the rain sweep through. The central focus of the app is the radar showing whether there is any rain coming to your location in the next two hours.

You can customise the app to your own preferences by adding specific modules to your start page, which allows you to have your preferred weather information available within a couple of swipes.

Weeronline

Another app with its focus on rain radar, but it also has 14 day forecast for locations around the world, as well detailed written forecasts for the Netherlands and Belgium (in Dutch).

It also rates days according to activities like beach, BBQ or skating, and offers hay fever and UV radiation warnings. It will also let you share the weather with your friends, in the case of good (or bad) news.

Weeronline has won awards including the iCulture Awards best weather app and the TMG Publieksprijs, both in 2013.

Buienalarm

Not good at remembering to check the radar? Then get Buienalarm, which will send you rainfall warnings based on your location, whether at home or out and about.

If you do remember to take a look at the interactive radar map yourself, it is constantly updated for two hours ahead to within five minutes, along with an accurate precipitation chart.

Het Weer in Nederland

This app uses data from the Dutch national weather service KNMI and provides an overview of the current weather forecast (in Dutch), both for five days and extended, and also has a rain radar.

It has maps showing current temperatures, wind speed and visibility, along with UV predictions, an animated weather map (for several days in advance) and weather and coastal alarms.

Weer Nu

This is the successor app to Het Weer in Nederland, only available for Android 4 or higher. It has actual weather readings for your location direct from KNMI, as well as three radar maps, for rain, snow and Europe as a whole.

Other additions includes adding the weather in the notification bar of the device and has a sun and moon widget with rise and fall times, moon phases and light levels.

Weer & Zo

This claims to be the most complete weather app for Android users in the Netherlands. All the information is displayed on maps, which can be zoomed in on and configured into a personal order, or to omit some.

The maps cover temperature, rain, wind, storms, visibility, windchill (in winter), UV index, pollution and isobar pressure.

International weather apps

To keep up to date with the weather situation in your favourite holiday spots, most common business trip destination or your parents’ house, you will need an app with world coverage.

AccuWeather

AccuWeather is one of the more well-known websites for international weather. The app has a homescreen widget displaying two-day forecasts with severe weather warnings for your GPS location. You can also store an unlimited number of locations.

Current weather conditions update every 15 minutes with humidity and precipitation percentages, dew point, visibility, UV index, wind speed gusts and direction, times for sunrise and sunset, and RealFeel, AccuWeather’s own weather forecasting system that determines what the local temperature actually feels like.

Yahoo Weather

Yahoo’s weather app won the Apple Design Award in 2013. It has hourly, five-day and 10-day forecasts with Flickr photos that match the location, time of day and current conditions.

It allows you to browse interactive maps for radar, satellite, heat and snow, and you can add up to 20 cities. You can also submit your photos to Yahoo Weather by joining #projectweather on Flickr.

WeatherPro

Developed by weather professionals MeteoGroup, Europe’s largest independent weather company, it has global satellite information for much of Europe (and the USA and Australia).

Its weekly forecasts are updated every three hours with information on temperature, wind direction and speed, air pressure, precipitation amount and probability, and relative humidity.

There is also a premium version, which has hourly forecasts for two weeks ahead, precipitation radar for Europe and ski and beach weather reports for popular resorts and destinations all over the world.

1Weather

1Weather is a very popular Android app, due to its design, according to its makers. It has simple but elegant interface that shows real-time local weather and forecasts worldwide for two days.

It also has 10-day extended forecast and precipitation info, and 36-hour and seven-day interactive maps. It uses dynamic .

Other weather apps

If none of the above appeal, perhaps try one of these other Dutch and international apps.

• Weerplaza buienalarm en radar (Android)
• The Weather Channel (Android & iPhone)
• Clear Day (iPhone)
• Rainy Days (Android)
• WeatherBug (Android & iPhone)
• Eye In Sky Weather (Android)