Plain language and warning communication in Norway

Weather warnings issued by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET Norway) are communicated in many different formats and channels. The Yr weather service (www.yr.no), made in collaboration with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), is our main channel to the public. We also post on social media, where many news agencies and journalists pick up the warning message and put it on their front page. Every day a TV-meteorologist from MET Norway presents a weather forecast in the news at NRK. A detailed map of the different regions in Norway is shown and the TV-meteorologist has the opportunity to put warning symbols on these maps, in addition to the standard weather symbols. When MET Norway has issued a red or an orange warning the TV-meteorologist will have more time to cover the weather situations, e.g. showing a map layer with precipitation or wind. If there is an extreme event, the meteorologist is used as an expert in the studio. When dangerous weather occurs, it is important to communicate  how you prepare and what actions are needed. Since the TV-meteorologist is well known and has great credibility, the audience appreciates advice from the TV-meteorologist.  In Norway we use a color system to explain the warning; from yellow to orange and red. Existing literature and studies shows that the color system used in warning services are intuitive for people. However, colors alone do not provide an intuitive understanding of what to do when you see a warning. To help people understand how to respond to a dangerous situation, weather warnings typically include additional information, such as possible consequences of the weather conditions and instructions on what to do. This appears to be helpful information to assess the meaning of a weather warning. Nevertheless, including consequences and instructions is not always enough to trigger an action.  In an ongoing attempt to make the warnings more actionable, we have worked to improve communication from a plain language perspective. In this process, we moved from a focus on fixing single words and expressions, to a focus on structuring the warning with relevant and content-bearing headings and subheadings. For example, we replaced the subheading “Instruction” with the subheading “Difficult driving conditions” to help readers to understand and use the warning. The new and thematic headings and text modules are not yet implemented. However, they were generally well received in tests among various user groups. Early testing shows that the revised warnings provide the key messages, and give a quick situational awareness. Even though the focus in the project was not on TV, we think similar headings can be reused there, and in our social media channels, to strengthen the warning communication.