diff --git a/doc/tasks.rst b/doc/tasks.rst
index 4304d99993..754550b51e 100644
--- a/doc/tasks.rst
+++ b/doc/tasks.rst
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ Task status tracking
 
 For long-running or remote tasks it is convenient to see extended status information not only on
 the command line or in your logs but also in the GUI of the central scheduler. Luigi implements
-dynamic status messages and tracking urls which may point to an external monitoring system. You
-can set this information using callbacks within Task.run_:
+dynamic status messages, progress bar and tracking urls which may point to an external monitoring system.
+You can set this information using callbacks within Task.run_:
 
 .. code:: python
 
@@ -199,6 +199,8 @@ can set this information using callbacks within Task.run_:
                 # do some hard work here
                 if i % 10 == 0:
                     self.set_status_message("Progress: %d / 100" % i)
+                    # displays a progress bar in the scheduler UI
+                    self.set_progress_percentage(i)
 
 
 .. _Events:
diff --git a/luigi/scheduler.py b/luigi/scheduler.py
index d2deda3131..03c4de0c85 100644
--- a/luigi/scheduler.py
+++ b/luigi/scheduler.py
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
 
 class Task(object):
     def __init__(self, task_id, status, deps, resources=None, priority=0, family='', module=None,
-                 params=None, tracking_url=None, status_message=None, retry_policy='notoptional'):
+                 params=None, tracking_url=None, status_message=None, progress_percentage=None, retry_policy='notoptional'):
         self.id = task_id
         self.stakeholders = set()  # workers ids that are somehow related to this task (i.e. don't prune while any of these workers are still active)
         self.workers = OrderedSet()  # workers ids that can perform task - task is 'BROKEN' if none of these workers are active
@@ -301,6 +301,7 @@ def __init__(self, task_id, status, deps, resources=None, priority=0, family='',
         self.failures = Failures(self.retry_policy.disable_window)
         self.tracking_url = tracking_url
         self.status_message = status_message
+        self.progress_percentage = progress_percentage
         self.scheduler_disable_time = None
         self.runnable = False
         self.batchable = False
@@ -1195,7 +1196,8 @@ def _serialize_task(self, task_id, include_deps=True, deps=None):
             'priority': task.priority,
             'resources': task.resources,
             'tracking_url': getattr(task, "tracking_url", None),
-            'status_message': getattr(task, "status_message", None)
+            'status_message': getattr(task, "status_message", None),
+            'progress_percentage': getattr(task, "progress_percentage", None)
         }
         if task.status == DISABLED:
             ret['re_enable_able'] = task.scheduler_disable_time is not None
@@ -1454,6 +1456,23 @@ def get_task_status_message(self, task_id):
         else:
             return {"taskId": task_id, "statusMessage": ""}
 
+    @rpc_method()
+    def set_task_progress_percentage(self, task_id, progress_percentage):
+        if self._state.has_task(task_id):
+            task = self._state.get_task(task_id)
+            task.progress_percentage = progress_percentage
+            if task.status == RUNNING and task.batch_id is not None:
+                for batch_task in self._state.get_batch_running_tasks(task.batch_id):
+                    batch_task.progress_percentage = progress_percentage
+
+    @rpc_method()
+    def get_task_progress_percentage(self, task_id):
+        if self._state.has_task(task_id):
+            task = self._state.get_task(task_id)
+            return {"taskId": task_id, "progressPercentage": task.progress_percentage}
+        else:
+            return {"taskId": task_id, "progressPercentage": None}
+
     def _update_task_history(self, task, status, host=None):
         try:
             if status == DONE or status == FAILED:
diff --git a/luigi/static/visualiser/index.html b/luigi/static/visualiser/index.html
index d90efdc808..95b5911011 100644
--- a/luigi/static/visualiser/index.html
+++ b/luigi/static/visualiser/index.html
@@ -245,6 +245,10 @@
                 {{#re_enable}}<a class="btn btn-warning btn-xs re-enable-button" title="Re-enable" data-toggle="tooltip" data-task-id="{{taskId}}">Re-enable</a>{{/re_enable}}
                 {{#trackingUrl}}<a target="_blank" href="{{trackingUrl}}" class="btn btn-primary btn-xs" title="Track Progress" data-toggle="tooltip"><i class="fa fa-eye"></i></a>{{/trackingUrl}}
                 {{#statusMessage}}<button class="btn btn-primary btn-xs statusMessage" title="Status message" data-toggle="tooltip" data-task-id="{{taskId}}" data-display-name={{displayName}}><i class="fa fa-comment"></i></button>{{/statusMessage}}
+                {{^statusMessage}}
+                  {{#progressPercentage}}<button class="btn btn-primary btn-xs statusMessage" title="Status message" data-toggle="tooltip" data-task-id="{{taskId}}" data-display-name={{displayName}}><i class="fa fa-comment"></i></button>
+                  {{/progressPercentage}}
+                {{/statusMessage}}
             </div>
         </script>
         <script type="text/template" name="errorTemplate">
@@ -272,9 +276,13 @@ <h4 class="modal-title" id="myModalLabel">Status message for {{displayName}}</h4
               </div>
               <div class="modal-body">
                 <pre class="pre-scrollable">{{statusMessage}}</pre>
+                <div class="progress">
+                  <div class="progress-bar" role="progressbar" aria-valuenow="{{progressPercentage}}" aria-valuemin="0" aria-valuemax="100" style="min-width: 2em;">
+                  {{progressPercentage}}%
+                  </div>
+                </div>
               </div>
               <div class="modal-footer">
-                <button type="button" class="btn btn-info refresh"><i class="fa fa-refresh"></i> Refresh</button>
                 <button type="button" class="btn btn-default" data-dismiss="modal">Close</button>
               </div>
             </div>
diff --git a/luigi/static/visualiser/js/luigi.js b/luigi/static/visualiser/js/luigi.js
index 1399068b12..d9607dcfda 100644
--- a/luigi/static/visualiser/js/luigi.js
+++ b/luigi/static/visualiser/js/luigi.js
@@ -99,6 +99,12 @@ var LuigiAPI = (function() {
         });
     };
 
+    LuigiAPI.prototype.getTaskProgressPercentage = function(taskId, callback) {
+        return jsonRPC(this.urlRoot + "/get_task_progress_percentage", {task_id: taskId}, function(response) {
+            callback(response.response);
+        });
+    };
+
     LuigiAPI.prototype.getRunningTaskList = function(callback) {
         return jsonRPC(this.urlRoot + "/task_list", {status: "RUNNING", upstream_status: "", search: searchTerm()}, function(response) {
             callback(flatten(response.response));
diff --git a/luigi/static/visualiser/js/visualiserApp.js b/luigi/static/visualiser/js/visualiserApp.js
index 977457366a..a975bc3b5b 100644
--- a/luigi/static/visualiser/js/visualiserApp.js
+++ b/luigi/static/visualiser/js/visualiserApp.js
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ function visualiserApp(luigi) {
             graph: (task.status == "PENDING" || task.status == "RUNNING" || task.status == "DONE"),
             error: task.status == "FAILED",
             re_enable: task.status == "DISABLED" && task.re_enable_able,
-            statusMessage: task.status_message
+            statusMessage: task.status_message,
+            progressPercentage: task.progress_percentage
         };
     }
 
@@ -284,12 +285,33 @@ function visualiserApp(luigi) {
 
     function showStatusMessage(data) {
         $("#statusMessageModal").empty().append(renderTemplate("statusMessageTemplate", data));
-        $("#statusMessageModal .refresh").on('click', function() {
-            luigi.getTaskStatusMessage(data.taskId, function(data) {
-                $("#statusMessageModal pre").html(data.statusMessage);
-            });
-        }).trigger('click');
         $("#statusMessageModal").modal({});
+        var refreshInterval = setInterval(function() {
+                if ($("#statusMessageModal").is(":hidden"))
+                    clearInterval(refreshInterval)
+                else {
+                    luigi.getTaskStatusMessage(data.taskId, function(data) {
+                        if (data.statusMessage === null)
+                            $("#statusMessageModal pre").hide()
+                        else {
+                            $("#statusMessageModal pre").html(data.statusMessage).show();
+                        }
+                    });
+                    luigi.getTaskProgressPercentage(data.taskId, function(data) {
+                        if (data.progressPercentage === null)
+                            $("#statusMessageModal .progress").hide()
+                        else {
+                            $("#statusMessageModal .progress").show()
+                            $("#statusMessageModal .progress-bar")
+                                .attr('aria-valuenow', data.progressPercentage)
+                                .text(data.progressPercentage + '%')
+                                .css({'width': data.progressPercentage + '%'});
+                        }
+                    });
+                }
+            },
+            500
+        );
     }
 
     function preProcessGraph(dependencyGraph) {
diff --git a/luigi/task.py b/luigi/task.py
index 8709bc8b65..b2b75f8886 100644
--- a/luigi/task.py
+++ b/luigi/task.py
@@ -437,6 +437,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
         self.set_tracking_url = None
         self.set_status_message = None
+        self.set_progress_percentage = None
 
     def initialized(self):
         """
@@ -675,7 +676,7 @@ def _dump(self):
                         pickle.dumps(self)
 
         """
-        unpicklable_properties = ('set_tracking_url', 'set_status_message')
+        unpicklable_properties = ('set_tracking_url', 'set_status_message', 'set_progress_percentage')
         reserved_properties = {}
         for property_name in unpicklable_properties:
             if hasattr(self, property_name):
diff --git a/luigi/worker.py b/luigi/worker.py
index 4677914e1e..c01ca153bf 100644
--- a/luigi/worker.py
+++ b/luigi/worker.py
@@ -125,11 +125,13 @@ def __init__(self, task, worker_id, result_queue, status_reporter,
     def _run_get_new_deps(self):
         self.task.set_tracking_url = self.status_reporter.update_tracking_url
         self.task.set_status_message = self.status_reporter.update_status
+        self.task.set_progress_percentage = self.status_reporter.update_progress_percentage
 
         task_gen = self.task.run()
 
         self.task.set_tracking_url = None
         self.task.set_status_message = None
+        self.task.set_progress_percentage = None
 
         if not isinstance(task_gen, types.GeneratorType):
             return None
@@ -268,6 +270,9 @@ def update_tracking_url(self, tracking_url):
     def update_status(self, message):
         self._scheduler.set_task_status_message(self._task_id, message)
 
+    def update_progress_percentage(self, percentage):
+        self._scheduler.set_task_progress_percentage(self._task_id, percentage)
+
 
 class SingleProcessPool(object):
     """
diff --git a/test/scheduler_api_test.py b/test/scheduler_api_test.py
index 0d88d046b1..adbc328711 100644
--- a/test/scheduler_api_test.py
+++ b/test/scheduler_api_test.py
@@ -482,6 +482,12 @@ def test_batch_update_status(self):
         for task_id in ('A_1', 'A_2', 'A_1_2'):
             self.assertEqual('test message', self.sch.get_task_status_message(task_id)['statusMessage'])
 
+    def test_batch_update_progress(self):
+        self._start_simple_batch()
+        self.sch.set_task_progress_percentage('A_1_2', 30)
+        for task_id in ('A_1', 'A_2', 'A_1_2'):
+            self.assertEqual(30, self.sch.get_task_progress_percentage(task_id)['progressPercentage'])
+
     def test_batch_tracking_url(self):
         self._start_simple_batch()
         self.sch.add_task(worker=WORKER, task_id='A_1_2', tracking_url='http://test.tracking.url/')
diff --git a/test/task_progress_percentage_test.py b/test/task_progress_percentage_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..347bcf26b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/task_progress_percentage_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# Copyright 2012-2015 Spotify AB
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+from helpers import LuigiTestCase
+
+import luigi
+import luigi.scheduler
+import luigi.worker
+
+
+class TaskProgressPercentageTest(LuigiTestCase):
+
+    def test_run(self):
+        sch = luigi.scheduler.Scheduler()
+        with luigi.worker.Worker(scheduler=sch) as w:
+            class MyTask(luigi.Task):
+                def run(self):
+                    self.set_progress_percentage(30)
+
+            task = MyTask()
+            w.add(task)
+            w.run()
+
+            self.assertEqual(sch.get_task_progress_percentage(task.task_id)["progressPercentage"], 30)