Following an imminent release notice two days ago, Abdullah Almuntassir and co. have released a new version of their weather addon Ultra Weather XP, bringing it up to v2.6.

The update comes with the launch of a new online store, which all current customers must use in order to get the update. The likes of simMarket and the X-Plane.org Store will carry the addon for new customers only.

A tutorial on how to use the Ultra Weather XP store to upgrade is available in the developer's Facebook group here.

Version 2.6 has been "rewritten from the ground up", bringing vast changes from 2019's v2.5, explaning a long period of silence from the developer. The key features of v2.6 are:

• New completely designed Plugin Interface.
• Works in all platforms Windows, Mac, and Linux.
• Made for X-Plane 11.50+.
• Work with either Vulkan, Metal, or Open GL.
• Completely new 12 sets of Sky colors with new high definition Sun textures.
• Completely new 24 sets of Clouds.
• Multiple Water Colors.
• New Lights textures.
• Full Dynamic system.
• Dynamic Sky coloring.
• Dynamic Atmosphere.
• Dynamic Sun Glow.
• Dynamic Sun coloring objects.
• Dynamic objects shadow.
• Dynamic Visibility.
• Dynamic visibility Raleigh.
• Dynamic Raleigh scattering.
• Dynamic Mie scattering.
• Dynamic Clouds coloring.
• Dynamic changing Clouds Simulating volumetric. (Not Full Volumetric).
• Dynamic increase Clouds view distance in low visibility.
• Dynamic High altitude Cloud type control.
• Dynamic Water Waves.
• Dynamic Light Haze.
• Thunderstorms sounds.
• Ambient sound.

Unfortunate timing also saw the release of X-Plane 11.50 beta 10 today, which caused errors with the release version of 2.6. The developers have now issued a hotfix, which is downloadable from the group's store.

Despite a number of hours having passed since the announcement post's release, we are still unable to solidly confirm the specific details of the update's price, or whether it's free.

According to the developer's post, anyone who purchased the product after version 2 (released in June 2017) will receive it for free - however, a moderator representing the developer says that only customers who purchased Ultra Weather XP after January 1, 2020 will get the update for free.

The price for the upgrade is set at $9.95 USD, though as above, it's unclear who has to pay this fee. We'll keep this article updated should the developer clarify the situation.

A new copy of Ultra Weather XP v2.6 can be found on the group's website for $35.00 USD.