Everything you need to know about DroneChecker. Ready to fly? Check live conditions and airspace restrictions.
The fly rating is advisory only and based on live weather data combined with your drone's published wind resistance specifications. It checks wind speed, gusts, visibility, precipitation type and geomagnetic activity.
Ratings: Good to Fly conditions are within safe limits for your drone. Fly with Caution means one or more factors are marginal. Do Not Fly means conditions exceed your drone's safe operating limits.
Always use your own judgement and verify conditions on the ground before flying. The pilot in command is solely responsible for safe operations at all times.
Most consumer drones — including all DJI Mini and Mavic models — have no water resistance rating. Even light drizzle can cause water ingress into motors, ESCs and camera gimbals, potentially causing permanent damage or a flyaway.
We flag drizzle as caution rather than good to fly because the risk is real, even if the drone doesn't immediately fail. Fly in drizzle at your own risk.
The KP index measures geomagnetic activity caused by solar wind interacting with Earth's magnetic field. For drone pilots this matters because high KP levels can cause compass errors and GPS inaccuracies, increasing the risk of flyaways.
KP 0–3: No impact on drone systems.
KP 4–5: Possible minor compass drift — fly carefully and stay close.
KP 6+: GPS may be unreliable. DroneChecker will show a Do Not Fly rating at KP 6 or above.
Data is sourced live from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. See our KP index guide for the full scale and what each level means for flying.
DroneChecker uses the manufacturer's published wind resistance rating for each drone's red (Do Not Fly) threshold. The amber (Caution) threshold is set by DroneChecker at approximately 75% of the red limit as a safety margin — manufacturers don't publish "caution" figures. Use the drone selector at the top of the dashboard to switch between models; the thresholds update automatically. See the exact thresholds for popular models without opening the app.
If your drone isn't listed, choose the closest matching generic profile (Light drone under 500g or Heavy drone over 500g).
From 1 January 2026, all UK1, UK2, UK3, UK5 and UK6 class-marked drones flown in the UK must broadcast Remote ID during every flight. From 1 January 2028, the requirement extends to UK0 camera drones of 100g+, UK4 model aircraft, and legacy aircraft in the same bracket.
Remote ID broadcasts your Operator ID, the drone's serial number, position and altitude, your own position as the remote pilot, and an emergency-status flag. It's not the same as your Operator ID — it's a separate identifier generated by the CAA at the same time. You enter it into your drone via the manufacturer's app and switch the broadcast on before every flight.
Always check caa.co.uk/drones for the latest guidance, and check current airspace restrictions before every flight.
Weather data is provided by Open-Meteo, which uses ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) model data — the same high-quality forecast model used by professional meteorologists. It's updated hourly.
KP geomagnetic index data is sourced live from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
DroneChecker fetches fresh weather data every time you open the app and then automatically refreshes in the background every 30 minutes while the app is active. You can also tap ↻ Refresh in the header at any time to force an immediate update.
The header shows "Updated X mins ago" so you always know how current the data is.
Yes — DroneChecker caches the last known weather data on your device. If you lose signal at a flying site, you'll still see the most recently loaded conditions with a banner indicating it's offline data.
The golden hour calculator works entirely offline as it's calculated astronomically from your location coordinates, with no internet required.
On first launch, DroneChecker shows London conditions immediately so you're never looking at a blank screen. Within a few seconds it should update automatically to your actual location once GPS or network location resolves.
If it stays on London, tap the 🎯 button next to the search bar to manually request your location, or type your postcode or town into the search bar.
Search for or navigate to a location, then tap the ☆ star button next to the search bar. The location is saved and appears as a pill below the search bar for one-tap access.
Free users can save up to 2 favourite locations. Plus and Pro subscribers get unlimited saved locations, each showing a live fly rating dot so you can see conditions at all your spots at a glance. Not sure where to fly? See our guides to popular UK flying locations.
Yes — the weather, fly rating, golden hour and KP index all work globally. Weather data covers the entire world via Open-Meteo.
The CAA rules and guidance in the Checklist tab are UK-specific. If you're flying outside the UK, always check your local aviation authority's regulations — drone rules vary significantly between countries.
Yes — tap the settings cog in the top right of the header and toggle Dark mode on or off. DroneChecker defaults to dark mode. Your preference is saved and remembered between sessions.
Yes — tap the settings cog in the top right and choose your preferred wind speed unit: km/h, mph, m/s or knots. You can also change the temperature display between °C first and °F first. Your preferences are saved between sessions.
DroneChecker has a free tier with no adverts and no account required. Free features include the fly rating, live weather dashboard, 6-hour forecast, pre-flight checklist, KP index, and a Restrictions map showing ground hazards and indicative airspace zones.
DroneChecker Plus (£2.99/month or £22.99/year) is an optional subscription that unlocks additional features including the extended 72-hour hourly forecast and 7-day best day planner, the Wind Detail map, the Golden Hour tab, Flying Spots, cloud flight log sync, multiple custom drone profiles and an extended today's conditions summary.
DroneChecker Pro (£3.99/month or £29.99/year) includes everything in Plus, plus live NOTAMs and community Planned Flights on the Restrictions map.
Safety-critical features are always free — you should never have to pay to know if it's safe to fly.
DroneChecker isn't currently on the Apple App Store, but you can install it directly from Safari on iPhone or iPad:
1. Open dronechecker.co.uk in Safari
2. Tap the Share button ⎋ at the bottom
3. Tap Add to Home Screen
4. Tap Add
The app will appear on your home screen and behave just like a native app.
Flight logging is a Plus and Pro feature. Your log is cached locally on your device between sessions (so it still shows offline) and automatically synced to the cloud, so if you reinstall the app and sign back in, your full log is restored. You can export to CSV, Excel or Google Sheets, or take a local backup, at any time.
If you cancel your subscription, your existing log entries are kept safe in the cloud — you'll need an active Plus or Pro subscription to view or add to your flight log again.
Free users: no personal data is collected or stored on our servers. Your location is only used to fetch weather data and is never transmitted to us. All data — favourites, flight log, settings — is stored locally on your device only.
Plus and Pro subscribers: to provide cloud sync and manage your subscription, we store your email address, flight log entries and saved locations securely in Firebase (Google Cloud, EU region). Payment is handled by Stripe — we never see or store your card details.
We use Google Analytics to understand anonymous usage patterns. No personally identifiable information is ever collected through analytics. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
Tap Send Feedback in the app footer on the Dashboard tab, or email us directly at bbridgewater.dev@gmail.com. Please include your device model, browser or app version, and a description of the issue.
Yes — on Android, push notifications work directly in the browser (Chrome and most other Android browsers), with no installation required. Go to Settings → Flight alerts → Configure, toggle alerts on, and tap Allow when prompted for notification permission.
If you installed DroneChecker from the Play Store, make sure notifications are allowed for the app in your phone's system settings (Settings → Apps → DroneChecker → Notifications).
Yes, but only once DroneChecker has been added to your Home Screen. Apple only allows web apps to send notifications on iOS 16.4 or later, and only after they're installed — not from a regular Safari tab.
To enable alerts on iPhone:
1. Open dronechecker.co.uk in Safari and tap Share → Add to Home Screen
2. Open DroneChecker from the Home Screen icon you just created — not from Safari
3. Go to Settings → Flight alerts → Configure and toggle alerts on, allowing the permission prompt
If you try to enable alerts from a regular Safari tab, you'll see a message that notifications aren't supported — that's expected on iOS. Installing to your Home Screen first resolves it.
DroneChecker Plus (£2.99/month or £22.99/year) includes:
• Extended 72-hour hourly forecast + 7-day best day to fly planner
• Wind Detail map — full 10m/80m/120m altitude wind breakdown & rain radar overlay
• Golden Hour tab — golden hour, blue hour, sun path map & photo conditions
• Flying Spots — community-shared flying locations with photos & reviews
• Cloud flight log sync across all your devices, with Excel and Google Sheets export
• Unlimited saved locations with live fly rating dots
• Multiple custom drone profiles with configurable wind thresholds
• Extended today's conditions summary and fly window alerts (up to 3 locations)
DroneChecker Pro (£3.99/month or £29.99/year) includes everything in Plus, plus:
• Live NOTAMs on the Restrictions map — real-time UK temporary airspace restrictions
• Community Planned Flights — see and share where nearby pilots plan to fly
Tap Go Pro in the top right of the app, or tap any Pro-only feature, then choose the Plus or Pro tier. You can sign in with your Google account or create an account with your email address. Payment is handled securely by Stripe.
Plus is £2.99/month or £22.99/year (saving 36% vs monthly). Pro is £3.99/month or £29.99/year (saving 37% vs monthly) and adds live NOTAMs and community Planned Flights on top of everything in Plus.
You can cancel at any time via the self-service billing portal. In the app, tap Manage subscription on your account card (visible on any tab). This opens your Stripe billing portal where you can cancel, update your payment method or view invoices.
Your access continues until the end of the current billing period — you won't be charged again after cancellation.
Google sign-in requires a standard browser session. If you're having trouble:
• Incognito / private mode — Google sign-in is blocked in incognito mode. Use a normal browser tab.
• Safari on iPhone — make sure you're using the latest version of Safari. Sign-in works via a redirect flow.
• Alternative — use Continue with Email instead, which works in all browsers and environments.
Yes — sign in with the same account on any device and your subscription, flight log and saved locations are all available. DroneChecker works on Android, iPhone (via Safari), and any desktop browser.