Coast and sea

Shipping forecast and gale warnings

Printable version

The general synopsis at 1800

Low Greenland 975 expected north Iceland 971 by 1800 Sunday

Issued at: 23:15 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022.

For the period 00:00 (UTC) on Sun 25 Sep 2022 to 00:00 (UTC) on Mon 26 Sep 2022.

Shipping forecast and gale warnings map

Loading map…

Shipping forecast and gale warnings explained

Viking

Wind: Northwesterly 3 to 5 backing southerly 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later, then veering southwesterly 4 to 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate becoming moderate or rough.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

North Utsire

Wind: Northwesterly 3 to 5 backing southerly 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later, then veering southwesterly 4 to 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate becoming moderate or rough.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

South Utsire

Wind: Northwesterly 4 to 6, backing southwesterly 5 or 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Forties

Wind: Northwesterly 4 or 5, backing southwesterly 5 or 6, veering westerly 6 or 7.
Sea state: Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Cromarty

Wind: Northwesterly 4 or 5, backing southwesterly 5 or 6, veering westerly 6 or 7.
Sea state: Smooth or slight becoming slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough in east.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Forth

Wind: Northwesterly 4 or 5, backing southwesterly 5 or 6, veering westerly 6 or 7.
Sea state: Smooth or slight becoming slight or moderate.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Tyne

Wind: Northwesterly 4 or 5, backing southwesterly 5 or 6, veering westerly 6 or 7.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Dogger

Wind: Northwesterly 4 or 5, backing southwesterly 5 or 6, veering westerly 6 or 7.
Sea state: Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Fisher

Wind: North 4 to 6, backing southwest 5 to 7.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

German Bight

Wind: North 4 or 5, backing southwest 5 to 7.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Humber

Wind: North 4 or 5, backing southwest 5 to 7.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Thames

Wind: North or northeast 4 or 5, backing northwest 3 or 4, then west 5 or 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Dover

Wind: North or northeast 4 or 5, backing northwest 3 or 4, then west 5.
Sea state: Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Wight

Wind: North or northeast 4 or 5, backing northwest 3 or 4, then west 5 or 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Portland

Wind: North or northeast 4 or 5, backing northwest 3 or 4, then west 5 or 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight for a time.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Plymouth

Wind: North or northeast 4 or 5, backing northwest 3 or 4, then west 5 or 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Biscay

Wind: North or northwest 3 to 5.
Sea state: Moderate, becoming slight in northeast.
Weather: Thundery showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Trafalgar

Wind: Northerly or northwesterly 4 to 6, occasionally 7 in northeast.
Sea state: Moderate or rough, occasionally slight in southeast.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

FitzRoy

Wind: In south, northerly 5 to 7. In north, northerly or northeasterly, backing northwesterly, 4 or 5.
Sea state: In south, moderate or rough. in north, moderate, occasionally rough at first.
Weather: In south, showers. In north, showers.
Visibility: In south, good. In north, good.

Sole

Wind: Northerly or northeasterly, backing northwesterly, 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later.
Sea state: Moderate.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Lundy

Wind: Northeast 4 or 5 backing northwest 3 or 4, then west 5 or 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Fastnet

Wind: Northeast 4 or 5 backing northwest 3 or 4, then west 5 or 6.
Sea state: Slight or moderate.
Weather: Showers.
Visibility: Good.

Irish Sea

Wind: North 3 to 5 backing west 5 to 7.
Sea state: Smooth or slight becoming slight or moderate.
Weather: Showers, rain later.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Shannon

Wind: North 3 to 5 backing northwest 5 to 7.
Sea state: Moderate, becoming rough except in south.
Weather: Showers, rain later.
Visibility: Good, occasionally moderate.

Rockall

Gale warning: Issued: 15:46 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022

Westerly gale force 8 expected later

Wind: West or northwest 4 to 6, increasing 6 to gale 8.
Sea state: Moderate or rough becoming rough or very rough, then very rough or high later.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

Malin

Gale warning: Issued: 21:49 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022

Northwesterly gale force 8 expected later

Wind: West or northwest 4 to 6, increasing 6 to gale 8, occasionally 3 at first.
Sea state: Slight at first in southeast, otherwise moderate or rough becoming rough or very rough, then very rough or high later.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

Hebrides

Gale warning: Issued: 21:49 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022

Southwesterly gale force 8 expected soon, veering northwesterly later

Wind: West or northwest 4 to 6, increasing 6 to gale 8, backing southwest for a time.
Sea state: Moderate or rough becoming rough or very rough, then very rough or high later.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

Bailey

Gale warning: Issued: 21:49 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022

Southwesterly severe gale force 9 imminent, veering northwesterly later

Wind: Southwest veering northwest, 6 to gale 8, increasing gale 8 or severe gale 9 for a time.
Sea state: Rough or very rough becoming high occasionally very high but moderate at first in southeast.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

Fair Isle

Gale warning: Issued: 21:49 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022

Southwesterly gale force 8 expected soon, veering northwesterly later

Wind: Southwest 4 or 5, increasing 6 to gale 8, veering northwest later.
Sea state: Slight or moderate becoming rough or very rough, then high later in southwest.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

Faeroes

Gale warning: Issued: 21:49 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022

Southwesterly gale force 8 imminent, increasing severe gale force 9 soon, veering northwesterly later

Wind: Southwest 6 to gale 8 veering northwest 7 to severe gale 9, perhaps storm 10 later.
Sea state: Moderate or rough becoming very rough or high, then very high later in northwest.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

Southeast Iceland

Gale warning: Issued: 21:49 (UTC) on Sat 24 Sep 2022

Westerly severe gale force 9 now backed southwesterly, increasing storm force 10 imminent, veering northwesterly later

Wind: Southwesterly, veering northwesterly, becoming cyclonic later, 7 to severe gale 9, occasionally storm 10 at first and later.
Sea state: Rough or very rough becoming very rough or high, occasionally very high.
Weather: Rain or showers.
Visibility: Good, occasionally poor.

Shipping forecast information

The shipping forecast is issued four times a day at 2300, 0500, 1100, 1700 UTC and covers a period of 24 hours from 0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC respectively.

The waters around the British Isles are divided into 31 sea areas shown on the map.

The forecast contains details of gale warnings in force, a general synopsis and sea-area forecasts containing wind direction and force, sea state, weather and visibility.

Gale warnings are issued as required throughout the day (for winds of Gale Force 8 or more).

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.

Caution: The internet is not part of the Maritime Safety Information system and should never be relied upon as the only means to obtain the latest forecast and warning information. Access to the service may be interrupted or delayed from time to time, updates may also be delayed.

Please refer to GMDSS services, INMARSAT SafetyNET or international NAVTEX for the latest information. When using these web pages, always check that the page on your screen is not from your cache. Use the Refresh or Reload button if in any doubt.