Revealed: The countries where planes experienced the most and least turbulence in 2024, with the US outside the top 50 and Britain one of the BEST places for nervous flyers
The world's most and least turbulent countries so far in 2024 have been revealed – and it's Bhutan where planes have experienced the roughest air, with Antarctica as the least turbulent area in 172nd place.
Just above Antarctica are Spitsbergen (171st), Russia (170th), Greenland (169th) and Canada (169th).
Britain ranks 150th and the US 68th, with Australia 64th.
The list was prepared by turbli.comwith January 2024 turbulence average data.
Turbli assigned the rankings using the same data sources that pilots and airlines use to plan their flights: “data derived from advanced weather models developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the MetOffice.”
The world's most and least turbulent countries so far in 2024 have been revealed
After Bhutan, the rest of the top 10 consists of Guinea-Bissau (second), Senegal (third), Cape Verde (fourth), Nepal (fifth), Gabon (sixth), Guinea (seventh), Congo (eighth), Cameroon (ninth). ) and Sierra Leone (10th).
The most turbulent European mainland of 2024 is Spain, which ranks 42nd.
In addition to a ranking of the 'most turbulent countries', Turbli.com has an interactive map that predicts turbulence levels for a given flight route.
The map, updated every six hours, provides forecasts for the current time and three, six, nine or twelve hours into the future, at altitude levels between 4,200 meters (13,800 feet) and 11,800 meters (38,700 feet), which is a cruise . altitude for many aircraft.
Turbulence is highlighted in 'heatmap' color gradations that go from light blue to blue and from orange to red.
Blue indicates light turbulence, with orange to red indicating moderate to strong or severe turbulence.
It is Bhutan where aircraft experienced the heaviest air in 2024
Nervous flyers now have a powerful tool to make their next flight even more enjoyable: an interactive map that predicts turbulence levels along their route. The map covers the entire world and comes from turbli.com, which explains that it uses the same data sources that pilots and airlines use to plan their flights
Turbli.com says that light turbulence equates to a 'smooth flight'; moderate bumps mean 'difficulty walking and eating'; 'strong' results in 'strong tensions against seat belts'; and “severe” turbulence results in “violent and sudden elevation changes.”
Turbulence can also be defined as 'extreme', but here an aircraft is 'practically impossible to fly' and would be extremely rare. The kind of pilots you may never encounter in your career.
One of the most useful features of the interactive map is that waypoints can be added.
Enter the start and end points of a flight and a flight path will appear so users can see if the flight passes through turbulence. Click on 'get forecast' and the site will generate a turbulence graph for the trip.
Turbli.com also offers three static turbulence maps – for the world, US and Europe.
These provide predictions in three-hour increments up to 24 hours into the future.