Avalanche bulletins (BERA) smart home integration, free and open source
Météo-France avalanche danger (BERA) for the massifs of the Alps, Pyrenees and Corsica.
Published by guim31
- Devices
- Version 1.0.0
- Requires Gladys >=5.3.0
- ★ 0
The avalanche danger bulletin (BERA) of Météo-France in Gladys, for the 35 French massifs of the Alps, the Pyrenees and Corsica: one device per massif, with its danger level from 1 to 5, the trend for the next day, the most exposed aspects and the snow depth. Scene triggers and a dashboard widget come with it.
Read the full bulletin before going out. This integration shows a summary of it. It does not replace the bulletin, the forecaster's text, nor your own assessment in the field.
Not affiliated with Météo-France.
What you get
- One device per massif you choose: Mont-Blanc, Belledonne, Aspe-Ossau, Cinto-Rotondo…
- The danger level of the bulletin's day (European scale, 1 Low to 5 Very high), and the trend for the day after.
- The level below and above the split altitude, and that altitude (0 when the bulletin gives one level for the whole massif).
- The most exposed aspects, the date of issue and the end of validity.
- The snow depth on the north and south sides at the top altitude of the bulletin's table (2000 m in the Prealps, Corsica and the Basque Country, 2500 m elsewhere).
- Bulletin in force: 1 while a bulletin covers the current time, 0 otherwise (off season).
- Two scene triggers and a dashboard widget.
Requirements
- Gladys Assistant 5.3.0 or later.
- Internet access from Gladys. No account and no key: the bulletins come from the open archive of Météo-France on data.gouv.fr.
- Météo-France issues the bulletins from early November to early June, usually around 4 pm for the next day. Off season the devices say "no bulletin in force", without error.
Configuration
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Massifs | none | The massifs to follow, one device each. |
| Météo-France API key | empty | Optional: reads the bulletins from the DPBRA API instead of the archive. |
| Language of the feature names | French | Names of the features of new devices, and language of their texts and variables. |
Save, then open the Discover tab of the integration and create the devices you want.
Optional: the Météo-France API key
The open archive is enough in normal times. If it lags behind (the bulletin of the day does not show in the evening), create a free account on the Météo-France API portal, subscribe to the "Bulletin d'estimation du risque d'avalanche" (DPBRA) API, generate an API key and paste it in the configuration. The integration then asks Météo-France directly, one request per massif every 30 minutes. This path was developed from the API documentation, without a key: feedback welcome. The link to the PDF of the bulletin is only available from the archive.
Devices
| Feature | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Avalanche danger (1-5) | number | Highest level of the bulletin's day |
| Danger trend, next day | number | Level forecast for the day after |
| Danger below the split altitude | number | Level under the split altitude (or whole massif) |
| Danger above the split altitude | number | Level over the split altitude (or whole massif) |
| Split altitude | metres | 0 without a split |
| Most exposed aspects | text | "N, NE, NW", "All aspects" or "No aspect singled out" |
| Bulletin issued on | text | Date and time of issue |
| Valid until | text | End of validity (6 pm the next day) |
| Snow on north / south side | centimetres | Snow depth at 2000 or 2500 m depending on the massif |
| Bulletin in force | on / off | 1 while the bulletin is valid |
The levels are numbers (not the Gladys "risk" badge, which only knows four levels), so a scene condition such as "danger ≥ 4" works. When no bulletin is in force, only "Bulletin in force" is updated: the other values are not invented and simply age.
Dashboard widget
Avalanche danger: without a massif chosen, one line per followed massif (10 at most) with its level written like the official pictogram ("4 · High") and the next-day trend, coloured green (1), yellow (2) or red (3 and more). With a massif chosen: the danger and next-day tiles, the levels below and above the split altitude, the aspects, the snow depth, the validity, the forecaster's comment and a button to the PDF of the bulletin. The comment and the button each have a setting to hide them.
Scene triggers
- Avalanche danger reaches a level: a new bulletin raises the danger of a massif to the chosen level (2 to 5) or above. It fires once, when the level is crossed upwards: from 2 to 4, "reaches 3" and "reaches 4" both fire. Variables: massif, level, level name, end of validity.
- New avalanche bulletin: Météo-France issues a new bulletin for a massif. Variables: massif, level, level name, next-day trend, end of validity, summary of the bulletin (in French, as written by Météo-France), link to the PDF.
The very first bulletin read after the installation only sets the reference: it fires nothing.
Scene examples
- At 6 pm, if the danger of your massif is 4 or more, send a message "Avalanche danger {{level}} tomorrow".
- On a new bulletin, send its summary and the link to the PDF to the family group.
Data sources, licence and quotas
- Bulletins © Météo-France, archive of the avalanche bulletins on data.gouv.fr, Licence Ouverte 2.0. Read every 30 minutes: one small index file, and the bulletin of a massif only when a new one appears.
- Optional DPBRA API of Météo-France: one request per massif every 30 minutes, far below the 50 requests per minute of the portal.
Troubleshooting
- "No bulletin in force" in season, in the evening: the archive may lag behind; wait for the next cycle (30 minutes), or add an API key (see above).
- "Météo-France refused the API key": check the key in the configuration, or empty it to use the archive.
- The connection status says the bulletins cannot be read: data.gouv.fr or Météo-France is unreachable. The last values are kept and the integration tries again every 30 minutes.
Limits
- Developed without a winter in progress: the bulletins of the 2025-2026 season were used for the tests, but the delay of the archive during the season is not measured yet. Feedback welcome.
- A summary of the bulletin only: the texts on the snowpack, the weather and the snow quality stay in the PDF.
- Andorra is not covered: Météo-France publishes no bulletin for it.
Configuration settings
These are the settings Avalanche bulletins (BERA) asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.
| Setting | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your massifs | section | No | Choose the massifs to follow: one device per massif, with its avalanche danger level (1 to 5), the next-day trend, the most exposed aspects and the snow depth. Save, then create the devices in the Discover tab. |
| Sources and limits | section | No | Bulletins © Météo-France (Licence Ouverte 2.0), read without an account, from early November to early June. A summary, not a safety tool: read the full bulletin before going out. Not affiliated with Météo-France. |
| Massifs | multi_select | No | One device per massif chosen. |
| Météo-France API key (optional) | secret | No | Leave empty: the open archive of data.gouv.fr is enough. If it lags behind, a free key of the Météo-France API portal (DPBRA API) reads the bulletins straight from Météo-France. |
| Language of the feature names | select | No | Names given to the features of new devices (Avalanche danger, Valid until…) and language of their texts (aspects, dates, scene variables). |
How to install Avalanche bulletins (BERA) in Gladys
- In Gladys, open Integrations: Avalanche bulletins (BERA) appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
- Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (
ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-avalanche:1.0.0), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration). - Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
- You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-avalanche.
Avalanche bulletins (BERA) requires Gladys >=5.3.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.
Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.
About external integrations
Avalanche bulletins (BERA) is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by guim31, not by the Gladys core team.
- Browse all integrations, native and community
- Build and publish your own external integration
- Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation