How-to
Checking road and weather conditions with live cameras
A practical way to use public cameras before a drive, a hike or a day at the beach — and what a camera can and cannot tell you.
Updated 22 September 2026 · 3 min read
A forecast tells you what the weather should be. A camera shows you what it is. Used together they are the quickest way to decide whether a mountain pass is open, whether fog has lifted from a coast or whether snow is settling on your route.
Before a drive
- Open the live map and search for the start of your route.
- Zoom in until live previews appear over the camera dots, and follow the road you will take.
- Open the cameras at the exposed points — passes, bridges, coastal stretches — and check the road surface and visibility.
- Confirm with the road agency’s own closure and incident information. Cameras show conditions, not decisions.
Before a hike, a ski day or the beach
Webcams at resorts, summits and beaches are often better than road cameras for this: they point at the view rather than at a lane. Look for cloud sitting on a ridge, wind on the water, or snow cover on the slopes, and compare against a camera a few kilometres away.
What a camera cannot tell you
- Whether a road is officially closed — always check the agency.
- Black ice, which is invisible in a photograph.
- Conditions between two cameras, which can be very different on a mountain road.
Do not use a phone to check cameras while driving. Check before you set off, or let a passenger do it.
Try it on the live map.
No account needed — it opens on your region.