Coast and sea

Inshore waters and strong winds

General situation

A low pressure west of Shetland will slowly move east of Shetland, bringing showers to the coastal waters and strong winds to the north and west. Then a ridge of high pressure will build on Saturday, with showers and winds easing off.

Issued at:

For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore for the period to

Inshore waters forecast and strong winds map

Cape Wrath to Rattray Head including Orkney (1)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest veering northwest, 5 to 7.
Sea state
Moderate or rough, becoming slight in inner Moray Firth and very rough in northwest.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 over Orkney, decreasing 4 or 5 later.
Sea state
Rough or very rough in northwest, otherwise slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first.
Weather
Rain then showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate at first.

Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest 5 to 7 veering west 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first in north and smooth in southwest.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
West 4 to 6, veering northwest 5 to 7, backing west 3 to 5 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in northeast and smooth in southwest.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good.

Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest 3 to 5, veering northwest 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor at first.

Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest veering west, 3 or 4.
Sea state
Slight, occasionally moderate at first in north.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
West 3 or 4, veering northwest 4 or 5 for a time.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor at first.

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southerly or southwesterly, veering westerly or northwesterly, 3 or 4.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Thundery showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Westerly or northwesterly 3 to 5.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, becoming moderate later in northeast.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwesterly, veering westerly or northwesterly later, 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight, occasionally smooth in east and moderate in west.
Weather
Thundery showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Westerly or northwesterly 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight, occasionally smooth in east and moderate in west.
Weather
Showers at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor at first.

Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest, veering west or northwest, 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Thundery showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
West or northwest 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor at first.

Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly (8)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
West or southwest 3 or 4 veering northwest 4 or 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but rough in west.
Weather
Showers, thundery at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor at first.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 4 or 5, decreasing 2 or 3, backing southwest 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Rough at first in west, otherwise slight or moderate, becoming smooth later in lyme bay.
Weather
Showers at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor at first.

Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel (9)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
West or southwest 3 or 4 veering northwest 4 or 5.
Sea state
Moderate, but rough in southwest and slight in east.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 4 or 5, decreasing 2 or 3, backing southwest 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but rough at first in southwest.
Weather
Showers, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

St Davids Head to Great Orme Head, including St Georges Channel (10)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
West 2 to 4, veering northwest 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth at first in northeast.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 4 to 6, backing west 2 or 3, then southwest 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest 3 or 4 veering west 3 to 5, then northwest 4 to 6 later.
Sea state
Slight, occasionally smooth at first and moderate later.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 4 to 6, backing west or southwest 2 or 3.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight later.
Weather
Showers, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Isle of Man (12)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest 3 or 4 veering west 4 or 5, then northwest 5 or 6 later.
Sea state
Slight, becoming moderate later.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 5 to 7, decreasing 2 to 4, backing southwest later.
Sea state
Moderate, becoming slight later.
Weather
Showers, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor at first.

Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest 4 or 5 veering northwest 5 or 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming rough in northwest.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 5 or 6 becoming variable 3 or less, then south 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but rough at first in northwest, becoming smooth or slight later.
Weather
Showers, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel (14)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwesterly 4 or 5 veering northwesterly 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in Firth of Clyde.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwesterly 4 to 6, becoming variable 3 or less.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, but moderate at first in North Channel.
Weather
Showers, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
West 4 to 6 veering northwest 5 to 7.
Sea state
Moderate or rough, occasionally slight in southeast and very rough in northwest.
Weather
Rain or showers, turning squally.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 5 to 7 becoming variable 3 or less, then south 2 to 4 later.
Sea state
Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough at first in northwest, becoming slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers, squally at first, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

The Minch (16)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
West 4 to 6 veering northwest 5 to 7.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but rough or very rough in north.
Weather
Rain or squally showers.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 5 to 7, decreasing 3 or 4, becoming variable 2 to 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but rough, occasionally very rough at first, in north, and smooth later in south.
Weather
Showers, squally at first, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
West 4 to 6 veering northwest 6 to gale 8.
Sea state
Rough or very rough, occasionally moderate in southeast and high later in northwest.
Weather
Rain or squally showers.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northwest 5 to 7, decreasing 3 or 4, becoming variable 2 to 4 later.
Sea state
Rough or very rough, becoming moderate or rough, then slight later in southeast.
Weather
Showers, squally at first, fair later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Shetland Isles (18)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southeast 5 to 7 becoming cyclonic 4 to 6.
Sea state
Rough or very rough, becoming moderate or rough later.
Weather
Rain or showers, perhaps thundery.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

For Coastal areas up to 60 nautical miles from Lerwick, Shetland (18)

Valid Thursday 21 Sep 2023 at 1200 UTC until Friday 22 Sep 2023 at 0000 UTC

General situation

An area of low pressure will become slow moving between Shetland and the Faeroes on Thursday.

Forecast

Wind
Cyclonic, mainly southeasterly to southwesterly 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 at first in southeast, decreasing 3 or 4 later in west
Sea state
Rough or very rough
Weather
Rain or showers
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for 12 Hours from 0000 UTC on Friday 22 Sep until 1200 UTC on Friday 22 Sep

Wind
Cyclonic 3 to 5, but 6 at first in southeast
Sea state
Rough or very rough, becoming moderate later in southeast
Weather
Rain or showers
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor

Channel Islands (19)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southwest 3 to 5, veering west to northwest.
Sea state
Slight to moderate, locally smooth, with a low to moderate swell.
Weather
Showers becoming frequent for a time, occasionally heavy, possibly thundery.
Visibility
Good or very good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
West to northwest 4 to 5, decreasing 2 to 3 later.
Sea state
Slight to moderate, becoming smooth later, with a low swell.
Weather
Squally showers until later, locally heavy at first.
Visibility
Good or very good, occasionally moderate.

The inshore waters forecast information

Forecasts for UK inshore waters are issued four times a day and cover a period of 24 hours from 0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC.

The coastal waters around the British Isles are divided into 19 areas which extend up to 12 nautical miles offshore.

The forecast contains details of wind direction and force, sea state, weather and visibility.

Strong coastal winds (force 6 or more) are displayed for the first 24 hours of the inshore waters forecast.

Marine forecasts disclaimer

In the UK, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) is responsible for the provision of Maritime Safety Information (MSI) to ships at sea, which includes the broadcast of warnings and forecasts. The Met Office initiates warnings and prepares routine forecasts for dissemination on behalf of the MCA.

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