Coast and sea
General situation
A complex area of low pressure will drift away southwards across the Bay of Biscay. This will leave a slack pressure pattern over the United Kingdom during Friday and Saturday.
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)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth later.
- Weather
- Showers, wintry for a time.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first in north.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Moderate becoming slight.
- Weather
- Showers, wintry for a time.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- West or southwest 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight occasionally smooth.
- Weather
- Showers then fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 2 to 4, becoming variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Moderate becoming slight.
- Weather
- Wintry showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less, becoming southwest 2 to 4 later.
- Sea state
- Slight.
- Weather
- Wintry showers then fair.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 2 to 4, becoming variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Moderate becoming slight.
- Weather
- Wintry showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less, becoming southwest 2 to 4 later.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth later.
- Weather
- Wintry showers then mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally poor.
Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northerly, veering easterly, 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate becoming slight, occasionally smooth later.
- Weather
- Wintry showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Wintry showers then mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally poor.
North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northerly or northeasterly 3 to 5, backing northerly 2 to 4 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first.
- Weather
- Wintry showers for a time in east.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate in east.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Northerly or northwesterly 2 to 4, backing southerly 4 or 5 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth becoming slight, occasionally moderate later in west.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally poor.
Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first.
- Sea state
- Moderate becoming smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers at first.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate at first.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- North or northeast 2 to 4, occasionally 5 at first, backing south 4 to 6 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth becoming slight, occasionally moderate later.
- Weather
- Mainly fair, rain or showers later.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally poor.
Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly (8)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 6 or 7, decreasing 3 to 5, then becoming variable 2 to 4 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, becoming slight, occasionally smooth later.
- Weather
- Wintry showers then fair.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4, becoming cyclonic 3 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth at first.
- Weather
- Fair then showers, occasional rain later.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel (9)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first, becoming variable 3 or less later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first in west.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate at first near Lands End.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4, becoming cyclonic 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate later.
- Weather
- Showers, occasional rain later.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
St Davids Head to Great Orme Head, including St Georges Channel (10)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 2 to 4, occasionally 5 at first near St Davids Head, becoming variable 3 or less later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first near St Davids Head.
- Weather
- Fair then showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 2 to 4, becoming variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Smooth, occasionally slight at first.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth occasionally slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Isle of Man (12)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 2 to 4, becoming variable 3 or less, then becoming south or southwest 2 to 4 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South, veering west or southwest, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers, wintry for a time.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel (14)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers, wintry for a time.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in far west.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first in far west.
- Weather
- Showers, wintry for a time.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
The Minch (16)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northeast, becoming variable, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Moderate at first in far north, otherwise smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less, occasionally 4 at first.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers, wintry for a time.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northeast 2 to 4, occasionally 5 at first, becoming variable later.
- Sea state
- Moderate occasionally slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers, wintry for a time.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Shetland Isles (18)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth later.
- Weather
- Wintry showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
For Coastal areas up to 60 nautical miles from Lerwick, Shetland (18)
Strong wind warning
Valid Friday 01 Dec 2023 at 0000 UTC until Friday 01 Dec 2023 at 1200 UTC
General situation
Shallow low pressure, centered just south of Shetland waters, remains slow moving through the next 24 hours.
Forecast
- Wind
- Northeasterly 4 or 5 in northwest at first, otherwise cyclonic 2 to 4
- Sea state
- Moderate, slight in sheltered waters south of shetland
- Weather
- Wintry showers
- Visibility
- Mainly good, occasionally poor
Outlook for 12 Hours from 1200 UTC on Friday 01 Dec until 0000 UTC on Saturday 02 Dec
- Wind
- Easterly or southeasterly 2 to 4, later becoming northeasterly 3 to 5 in north and variable 3 or less in southeast
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate
- Weather
- Wintry showers
- Visibility
- Mainly good, occasionally poor
Channel Islands (19)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly 3 to 5, but northeasterly 6 to 7 in the north of the area, becoming generally northeasterly 3 to 5 from dawn.
- Sea state
- Slight to moderate, but rather rough to rough in the northwest until dawn, becoming smooth or slight by dusk.
- Weather
- Showers, locally heavy, perhaps with hail.
- Visibility
- Good or very good, occasionally moderate, perhaps locally poor at times.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Northeast to north 3 to 5, becoming variable 1 to 3 from dawn, then south to southwest 3 to 4 by afternoon, increasing 4 to 6 in the evening.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, increasing slight to moderate later.
- Weather
- Showers, locally heavy, perhaps with hail.
- Visibility
- Good or very good, occasionally moderate, perhaps locally poor at times.
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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