Coast and sea
General situation
High pressure will remain centred near Iceland, with a strengthening easterly flow across the United Kingdom, becoming strong across many southern and western waters with a risk of gales developing in the far southwest. Mainly fair conditions dominating across the inshore waters, but occasional rain may return to the far southwest for a time on Wednesday.
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
- Easterly or northeasterly 3 or 4, decreasing 2 at times later.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally moderate in north and also at first in south.
- Weather
- Fair then occasional drizzle.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly, veering southeasterly later, 2 to 4, occasionally 5 in west.
- Sea state
- Slight, becoming smooth at times.
- Weather
- Occasional drizzle at first.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate at first.
Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in south and 2 later in north.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Occasional drizzle later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 2 to 4, occasionally 5 in Firth of Forth, becoming variable 3 or less later.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth later.
- Weather
- Occasional drizzle at first.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate at first.
Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally slight at first.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or northeast 3 or 4, decreasing 2 or 3 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate becoming slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Moderate occasionally slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or northeast 3 to 5, occasionally 2 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate becoming slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeasterly 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally slight in Thames estuary.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally slight at first.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or northeast 5 to 7, decreasing 4 or 5 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate occasionally rough.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly (8)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly 5 to 7, increasing gale 8 at times except in far east.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, becoming rough or very rough later in far west.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly 6 to gale 8, decreasing 5 or 6, occasionally 4 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough at first near Isles of Scilly, becoming slight or moderate later in east.
- Weather
- Occasional rain for a time in west.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate in west.
Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel (9)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East 4 to 6, increasing 6 or 7 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough near Lands End.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or southeast 6 to gale 8, decreasing 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first in west.
- Weather
- Occasional rain for a time in west.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate in west.
St Davids Head to Great Orme Head, including St Georges Channel (10)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East, backing northeast for a time at first, 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in Cardigan Bay and caernarfon bay.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in Cardigan Bay and caernarfon bay.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate later in west.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or northeast 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in west.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Isle of Man (12)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 3 to 5, increasing 5 or 6 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or northeast 4 to 6, veering east or southeast 4 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight occasionally moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or southeast 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel (14)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 4 to 6, occasionally 3 at first.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate later in North Channel.
- Weather
- Showers at first.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly veering easterly or southeasterly, 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight in Firth of Clyde, otherwise slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 later in south.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in sheltered east.
- Weather
- Showers at first.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in south and 3 in north, veering southeasterly 4 to 6 later.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth in sheltered east and moderate in south and west.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
The Minch (16)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4 for a time in far south.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth to the south and east of skye and moderate until later in far north and at first near southern entrance.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly, veering southeasterly later, 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 3 in south and 6 in north.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 3 to 5, veering southeasterly 2 to 4 later.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally moderate in south, becoming smooth or slight later in north.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Shetland Isles (18)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northeast 3 or 4, decreasing 2 or 3 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
For Coastal areas up to 60 nautical miles from Lerwick, Shetland (18)
Strong wind warning
Valid Tuesday 21 Apr 2026 at 0600 UTC until Tuesday 21 Apr 2026 at 1800 UTC
General situation
Ridge of high pressure covers Shetland Waters
Forecast
- Wind
- North or northeast 3 or 4
- Sea state
- Moderate, but smooth or slight east of shetland
- Weather
- Fair
- Visibility
- Good
Outlook for 12 Hours from 1800 UTC on Tuesday 21 Apr until 0600 UTC on Wednesday 22 Apr
- Wind
- North or northeast 2 to 4
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, but smooth east of shetland
- Weather
- Fair
- Visibility
- Good
Channel Islands (19)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East to northeast 5 to 6, locally 4 in the southeast, perhaps occasionally 7 in the far north and the far west after dusk.
- Sea state
- Smooth to slight increasing slight to moderate in the southeast, otherwise moderate increasing rather rough to rough.
- Weather
- Isolated showers mid-channel, dying out around midday risk of showers in the far southeast around dawn tomorrow.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East to northeast 5 to 6, locally 7, mainly mid-channel, at first, decreasing 4 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- Slight to moderate in the southeast, rather rough to rough elsewhere, decreasing smooth or slight with a low swell later.
- Weather
- Isolated showers likely until dusk.
- Visibility
- Good.
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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