Technological and scientific developments in nowcasting over the last 10 years have opened up new opportunities in public safety, risk management, environ-mental protection, and the cost effectiveness of services provided by the public and private sector. Since weather phenomena do not “stop at national state bor-ders”, the development of a truly integrated nowcasting system (one that includes the whole chain from modeling to protective action) is best achieved through transnational collaboration. Until now, no such cooperation existed in Europe and nowcasting systems were, at best, developed by single institutions. Furthermore, there was a lack of strong links between the development of nowcasting applica-tions and the specific needs of the application side.