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Low-income countries are significantly more vulnerable than high-income countries to the risks posed by natural hazards. This paper describes the findings of research into stakeholders’ perceptions of the overall effectiveness of early warnings and risk assessments for weather-related hazards (i.e. cyclones, floods, droughts and landslides), for humanitarian and development purposes in low-income countries in Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia. New findings are derived from a survey and consultations with some 400 practitioners, scientists, researchers and decision-makers in the regions. Our findings, which were based upon the collated results of a literature review, stakeholder interviews together with other reviews and surveys, show that although there would appear to have been some progress in improving early warning and risk assessments for weather-related hazards, it is highly variable across …