A new national weather system is coming to Canada, changing the way we receive warnings about storms, heat and other severe conditions.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has announced that weather alerts will soon include colour codes to help the public quickly understand the level of risk.
The new feature is something that could be useful for people living on Vancouver Island where windstorms and summer heat have become more unpredictable.
The goal is to make alerts easier to read at a glance. Instead of relying only on written notices, the system will highlight the seriousness of a weather event using three colours.
Yellow alerts will signal potentially hazardous conditions that might disrupt daily life, while orange alerts will indicate more damaging and disruptive weather that is likely to have a bigger impact.
1/4 New: #Weather alerts—Warnings, Advisories, and Watches—are now colour-coded. Moving from yellow, to orange, to red as the potential risk increases.
Always read your alerts to be #WeatherReady.
👉 Info: https://t.co/toM92VEtYN pic.twitter.com/DDbe6mp1l5
— Environment Canada (@environmentca) November 26, 2025
The rare red alerts will be reserved for events that could cause major destruction or threaten lives, such as extreme storms or dangerous heat.
The change comes at a time when Canada is seeing more intense and unpredictable weather. The idea is to make alerts easier to understand so people know when something serious is on the way and can stay safe.
Major events like the 2021 atmospheric river that washed out BC highways, the huge 1998 ice storm in eastern Canada and the 2020 blizzard that buried Newfoundland are the kind of emergencies that would have been labelled red under the new system.
The new system will rely on more than just forecasting models. Meteorologists will be using an impact-based process to help describe how weather could affect daily life, such as transportation, infrastructure and personal safety.
This is meant to help people picture what a severe event would actually mean for them rather than simply knowing what the weather will be.
According to a Government of Canada media release, the update is part of a larger effort to modernize public weather services in the country.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says more improvements are coming over the next year as the department works to expand early warnings and provide clearer context in forecasts.
Weather alerts can be accessed online, and the WeatherCAN mobile app can be downloaded for free on both Android and iPhone.
