Weather Effect

77 Quality Score

Active Installs

16/30

With roughly 4,000 active installs, Weather Effect sits in the lower-middle range of niche plugins, well behind mainstream weather tools like Location Weather at 10,000 installs.

Update Freshness

25/25

The plugin was updated in July 2026 and is tested against WordPress 7.0.1, which is unusually forward-looking and earns a perfect maintenance score, though the PHP 5.6 minimum requirement feels dated.

User Rating

14/15

A 90 out of 100 rating from 30 users is solid, but the small sample size means it is still a thin signal compared to plugins with hundreds of reviews.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads opened and zero resolved gives a misleading 50 out of 15 score, which likely reflects low engagement rather than proven responsiveness, so be cautious if you hit issues.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Compatibility scores full marks, tested with WordPress 7.0.1 and requiring only WordPress 4.5, meaning it will run on virtually any modern install.

Scores higher than 57% of indexed plugins

About

Add animated falling effects like snow, rain, autumn leaves, and seasonal decorations to your website.

Active Installs 4k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.5/5

Last Updated 2026-08-20 11:03am GMT

Requires WordPress 4.5+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 5.6+

Security History

2 known vulnerabilities, all patched

1 High 1 Medium

Most recent: September 7, 2021

View details ▸

What It Does

Weather Effect overlays animated falling particles onto your WordPress site, including snow, rain, autumn leaves, and seasonal decorations for events like Christmas and Halloween. It is purely a decorative visual effect plugin with no weather data or forecasting features. Setup appears to be a simple activation without deeper configuration being heavily documented.

Who It's For

This plugin is best suited for small business owners, bloggers, or event organizers running seasonal promotions, holiday landing pages, or themed storefronts who want a quick decorative touch without touching code. It also fits niche sites that lean into atmospheric theming, such as winter sports clubs, Halloween retailers, or Christmas microsites. If you are building a full weather-driven site with forecasts and widgets, this is the wrong tool.

Who Should Skip It

Anyone looking for actual weather forecasts, location-based conditions, or functional weather widgets should skip this entirely, as it produces only cosmetic animations. Sites that prioritize page performance or accessibility for users with vestibular disorders or motion sensitivity should also avoid it, since perpetual falling particles add DOM weight and continuous animation overhead.

The Bottom Line

Weather Effect is a narrowly scoped, well-maintained cosmetic plugin that does one thing, animated falling effects, and appears to do it competently with a 77.13 overall score. Its small user base and nonexistent support thread history mean you are betting on a developer who updates aggressively but has not yet been tested at scale. Recommended only for seasonal or themed sites that genuinely want decorative flair and nothing else.

Related Plugins

Location Weather 79/100

Choose this if you need real forecast data, air quality metrics, or location-based weather widgets rather than purely decorative effects.

wp-forecast 76/100

Pick this when you want a functional forecast tool backed by a long-established codebase and broader community support.

WP Snow Effect 74/100

Pick this if you want a similar lightweight snowfall animation from a different author, useful as a fallback if Weather Effect conflicts with your theme.

Weather Widget Pro 73/100

Choose this if your goal is a sidebar or block-based widget showing current conditions in a chosen city rather than animated particles.

Weather Atlas Widget 65/100

Choose this for a free, widely installed widget solution with roughly 9,000 installs if you need decorative weather visuals tied to actual forecasts.