If you're a fan of the weather, I've got some difficult news to share. The Bureau of Meteorology has a new website, and some punters truly hate it. It might be the worst thing to happen to the BOM since its failed rebrand a few years ago, in fact.

Clear skies as BoM launches new site

The Bureau of Meteorology's new website launched last week is what it describes as a new “secure and resilient platform” for Aussies looking to get the forecast.

The Bureau says the upgrade focuses on its most frequently used pages (forecasts, observations, and weather warnings) to make them easier to navigate and use. There are several headline changes: navigation is streamlined, content is written in “plain English,” and users can now customise the homepage by saving favourite locations and map settings.

The design is fully responsive, meaning it works seamlessly on laptops, mobiles, and tablets too. 

According to Acting CEO Dr Peter Stone, “We designed the new website in consultation with the community to make sure it delivers the benefits people want and need.” The site now also prioritises security, which the Bureau calls “critical for supporting industry and community during severe weather events.” 

App users will apparently notice that the design of the site now mimics that of the app, with similar customisation and map features, aiming for consistency across platforms.

Specialist weather content from the old website is being transitioned to the new one gradually. In some cases, users may find themselves clicking between new and “legacy” pages as the migration continues .

Incidentally, it was a scorcher in Sydney when the BoM rolled out its new site. Almost like they knew when people would be looking for weather info!

But it wasn't just the Sydney temperatures getting heated when the new site launched.

Clouds gather as punters sound off

The Bureau’s new website has drawn fierce criticism from presenters, meteorologists, aviation professionals, and everyday users. Many of whom say the redesign fails at the worst possible times: when it's needed most.

One major point of contention is the new radar colour scheme. Tony Auden, weather presenter and meteorologist at Seven, summed up the core problem: 

“While it’s never been properly defined, we’ve always had a rule of thumb that black on the radar means hail, and it’s worked pretty well over the years. The new BoM radar view has essentially clipped the top end of the radar scale at orange… so we can’t see any detail in the biggest storms. This left a lot of people in the dark about the threat to their homes during [a recent severe hail storm in Queensland].” 

Auden’s own comparison images showed the old radar revealing hail cores that the new scheme missed, notably during a hailstorm in Ipswich that produced golf-ball-sized hail .

Anthony Cornelius, another professional meteorologist, argued that the timing of the rollout was reckless: 

“It beggars belief that the BoM would roll out such a significant change to an essential infrastructure service just as the main storm season is about to start,” he said, highlighting the confusion after a destructive supercell storm swept through Brisbane and Ipswich." 

Cornelius identified three core issues: the new radar underestimated the storm’s intensity, radar images were lagging behind real time, and crucial information was difficult to find. He was blunt about the consequences: “Many… would have taken more action, but didn’t based on what the radar looked like!” 

He also criticised the shift away from the familiar “dbz” measurement to “mm/hr,” which confused users expecting to see the same indicators as before.

Senator Malcolm Roberts went further, calling the new radar “a disaster” after Queenslanders “saw it fail first-hand on Sunday — and the consequences were real. We need it changed back.”

Public reaction has been equally unforgiving. One user wrote, “It was nearly useless for the hailstorm through Brisbane last night. The old radar clearly shows the hail in black. New one shows as slightly heavy rain.” Others complained that, “the original system was simple and streamlined. They’ve probably spent millions of dollars fixing something that wasn’t broken. Unfortunately, it’s broken now.” One commercial pilot called it “an absolute disaster,” while mobile users reported that the radar maps are “unusable” on browsers, with another frustrated comment: “It wasn’t broke and it definitely didn’t need fixing.”

Reddit users also noticed the maps themselves were a little bit...odd:

Radar working well on the new Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) website.....

Source: Reddit Australia pic.twitter.com/mrNdMDJSFE

— Tarric Brooker aka Avid Commentator 🇦🇺 (@AvidCommentator) October 26, 2025

Anthony Cornelius also pointed out that the website’s launch cut off access for some users: “using these [links] actually caused our main office to be ‘banned’ from accessing the BoM site”. He added that many mobile apps relying on BOM data stopped working. Finally concluding, “You cannot change a major resource in the middle of storm season or during… a severe weather event. Nor can you change the effective output of an essential tool like the BoM radar, or leave people in limbo wondering when the actual radar image they’re looking at was really taken.”

For now, the Bureau says it is taking feedback seriously, with Acting CEO Dr Peter Stone promising, “This is just the beginning of our journey to improve our online services. We will continue to deliver website improvements in regular updates, based on community and customer feedback, just as we have done throughout the development phase” 

How to access the old Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) website

For users struggling with the changes—or simply preferring the tried and tested layout—the Bureau of Meteorology is still keeping the old website online during this transition period. To access the legacy BoM site, users can go directly to:

http://reg.bom.gov.au/

This legacy address allows Australians to continue using the original site (for now), complete with its familiar radar colours and interface, while the new website continues to evolve and specialist content is gradually migrated. The Bureau says some links on the new site will automatically redirect to legacy pages if the content hasn’t been transitioned yet. 

For many who rely on specific tools, keeping the old website available means they don’t have to abandon what works for them in the face of ongoing changes.