The search giant Google has now added weather conditions to Google maps. Simply go to http://maps.google.co.uk and you will see a map of your world region.
In the top right of the screen is a drop-down menu with the word “Traffic”, hover over the menu and you will see there are other options, select “Weather”.
Now you will get a weather map showing cloud overlain on your map. In addition you can see current weather conditions for major locations on your map.
You can also click on the weather conditions for a location and get a four day forecast
How accurate the forecast is I cannot say but Google say that it will help you plan visits to locations that you might want to see.
There are configuration options on the left side of the screen that allow you to change features such as temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius or wind speed from MPH to KPH. You can also disable clouds as well.
It is another way in which Google are trying to keep you locked into Google. I believe that they have realised that when it comes to dominance of the web that Facebook has an advantage because people live in Facebook while they use Google as a start point to their web travels. Google still needs to find a way to fully integrate everything into one seamless ecosystem although the black menu bar at the top of the screen when you are logged into your Google account does go a long way towards achieving this. Google still dominates the web in many ways and search engine optimisation nearly always refers to ranking highly with Google. The rise of social media has produced a new frontier on the Internet and gaining control of it will be worth billions of pounds in the coming years. Google have realised that they cannot just sit on their laurels and are now actively pursuing the social market.
Google have produced this video to introduce this feature:
Google Maps introduces weather
My only real concern with this is the amount of rain Blackburn is going to get over the next couple of days. Ah well, it’s set to clear up for the weekend!