The preoccupation with the weather plays a large part in being British. Its ability to make or break a day, more so than most other countries, is the reason it is the basis for so much small talk on a daily basis.

70% of the British population check the weather forecast every day via smartphone, newspaper or television; a prosaic, often unreliable custom.

Weather Systems is a new project by Liverpool design agency Uniform that brightens up the weather forecast, rotten or not. The project involves three simple weather alerts in the shape of modular toys, born out of the thermometer and wind vane of old, all connected to the Internet of Things.

The Rain System warns users of imminent rainfall, a series of pins move up and down striking a metal plate, evoking the look and sound of rain drops. The Temperature System uses four colours to provide a simplified indication of the temperature outside while the Wind System illustrates imminent wind speed and direction, with a small weather vane spinning at different speeds indicating the intensity of the wind before settling to show the direction it's blowing.

By using online weather data from Dark Sky API, Weather Systems provide at a glance, real-time forecasts that accurately illustrate what the localised weather conditions will be over the next 10 minutes.