Google Maps for Android now includes weather information and an air quality overlay to help you plan your trips and avoid pollution.
In Google Maps, a small box has been added at the top left of the screen below the search bar and location filters that shows the local weather forecast, temperature and the daily air quality index. The box can be expanded to show more detailed weather information and hourly temperature forecasts for the next 12 hours. This information is also updated as you change locations, allowing you to check the local weather in other areas, helping you plan a trip or simply check the weather in other parts of the world.
Below that is the air quality rating which can be expanded to show a color overlay over the map, going from green to yellow, orange, red and purple, along with a numerical rating from 1 – 10 to indicate air quality.
According to 9to5Google, the addition of weather information has been added to version 11.113.XX of the Android app, which requires Android 6 and above. However, iOS users will already be familiar with the weather information in Google Maps, as this feature has been a staple of the iOS version for years.
In practice this works quite well. For example, according to current air quality data in Google Maps, most of Britain is shown as a green or 2 on the scale, indicating low air pollution. However, when you zoom out to Europe and beyond, you start to see higher ratings indicating high levels of air pollution. Milan and Venice seemed to show some of the highest levels of yellow (4), red (8) and even the highest levels of purple (10), so you might want to avoid these areas, especially if you have breathing problems.
Once in the air quality overview you can select the option “About air quality information‘ section that takes you to a Google Maps help page, which explains what the air quality scales are and how they are calculated, as well as information about the most common types of pollutants and where they come from, as well as further information.
The air quality map is not global, but currently covers most of Europe. North America, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Cyprus and Israel.
While this information is available from other sources if you look for it, the added convenience of adding it to maps is much more convenient and allows you to plan your trips a little better from now on.