A weather system is moving in, and millions of Nigerians need to know about it before Sunday arrives.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has issued its full weather forecast for Sunday, 1 November 2026, and the picture is sharply divided between a dry, sunny north and a turbulent, rain-lashed south. The agency has paired its predictions with a pointed safety advisory, making clear that this is not a forecast to ignore.
Across the northern states, residents can expect sunny and largely dry conditions throughout the day. The one exception is Taraba State, where isolated thunderstorms carrying light rainfall could develop during the afternoon and evening. The central states sit in a quieter band — partly cloudy skies with intervals of sunshine are forecast for the morning and through the rest of the day, with no significant rainfall anticipated in that zone.
The south tells a different story entirely. Morning conditions across the southern region will bring cloudy skies broken by sunshine, but Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom states face the prospect of thunderstorms and light rain from the early hours. As the day progresses, the situation intensifies. By afternoon and evening, thunderstorms carrying moderate rainfall are forecast to sweep across parts of Osun and Ondo states, the South-East and further areas of the South-South region. That is a substantial stretch of the country facing disruption on a single day.
NiMet’s safety advisory is direct and practical. Residents in affected areas are urged to plan outdoor activities around the forecast and to carry umbrellas or raincoats. The agency flagged that strong winds typically precede thunderstorms and called on people to secure loose objects around homes and buildings before conditions deteriorate. During active thunderstorms, NiMet’s guidance is unambiguous: stay indoors, keep away from tall trees, steer clear of power lines and avoid open spaces entirely.
On electrical safety, the agency asked residents to disconnect appliances during thunderstorms and to handle no electrical equipment with wet hands — a basic precaution that saves lives and one that bears repeating. Motorists received their own set of instructions: reduce speed in wet conditions, maintain safe following distances and stay alert to slippery roads and reduced visibility. Airline operators were directed to obtain airport-specific weather data directly from NiMet before conducting any flight operations on the day.
It is worth noting that NiMet issued a comparable advisory earlier this year, predicting sunshine and haziness across the country between Saturday, 18 January and Monday, 20 January 2025 — a reminder that the agency issues rolling forecasts and that Nigerians in affected states would do well to check updates regularly rather than rely on a single bulletin. Sunday’s conditions, however, carry a harder edge than hazy sunshine. For communities across the south, the combination of thunderstorms and moderate rainfall demands genuine preparation, not a casual glance at the sky.