Home
Weather London
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
Career
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Look at the WeatherRadar: What is a squall line?

10:30
5 October 2022

Look at the WeatherRadar
What is a squall line?

Squall line visible on the WeatherRadar this morning, October 5th 2022
Check out the squall line on the WeatherRadar, October 5th 2022

On the WeatherRadar there was a narrow, darker line of rain within the wider band. This is known as a squall line, but do you know what it indicates?

A squall line is a narrow, linear band of thunderstorms, as seen on the WeatherRadar, that produce particularly heavy and intense downpours. Though narrow, they can extend over hundreds of kilometres long.

It can often be associated with hail, frequent lightning strikes and gusty winds as it passes through, which is often at quite a rapid speed, although they can still last several hours.

Squall lines most commonly form along or ahead of cold fronts, in highly unstable environments. As the cold air advances, it forces warmer, moist air in its path to rise, condense and form clouds, with continuous updrafts along its leading edge encouraging growth.

They tend to begin as a narrow band of convective cumulonimbus clouds, evolving into a broader system over time, thriving in conditions of strong updrafts, strong vertical wind shear, and strong low-level winds.

If a squall line forms in arid regions, this can result in a haboob, as explained here.

Weather & Radar editorial team
More on the topic
Summer in full flow. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday, 5 July 2026
Split image showing golden crepuscular rays streaming through sunset clouds over the countryside on the left, and glowing blue noctilucent clouds above silhouetted trees and traffic lights at twilight on the right.
Sunday, 5 July 2026

Your weather - Your shots

Summer in full flow
Increasingly gusty as low approaches. Overnight winds. . . Wednesday, 1 July 2026
Wind forecast map of the UK and northern Europe showing a low-pressure system centred near the Faroe Islands, with orange wind zones, airflow streamlines, and gusts reaching 45 mph in northeast Scotland and around 35 mph across Ireland and northern England.
Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Overnight winds

Increasingly gusty as low approaches
Turbulent times as gusting winds spread. Scotland affected too. . . Tuesday, 30 June 2026
WindRadar over the Mediterranean, showing the Mistral in the west and the Bora in the east. Strong winds and high wind speeds along the French Mediterranean coast and the Adriatic coast.
Tuesday, 30 June 2026

Scotland affected too

Turbulent times as gusting winds spread
All weather news
This might also interest you
Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands. Storm and rain. . . Friday, 12 December 2025
Weather graphic showing rain and wind fields over the Canary Islands and a central warning symbol.
Friday, 12 December 2025

Storm and rain

Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands
A frozen start to the weekend. Icy conditions. . . Friday, 13 February 2026
UK temperature map dated 14.02 showing widespread subzero values in blue shading, with readings such as −4 in Glasgow, −3 in Dublin, and −2 in London, alongside a blue thermometer icon.
Friday, 13 February 2026

Icy conditions

A frozen start to the weekend
Storm Chandra makes impact. Severe gales & heavy rain. . . Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Split image showing strong winds over the UK on a forecast map and widespread rain and snow on a weather radar map.
Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Severe gales & heavy rain

Storm Chandra makes impact
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwittertikToklinkList