Coast and sea
General situation
The United Kingdom will lie in a mainly southeasterly airflow during the next 24 hours, with many places having either rain or showers.
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
- South or southeast 3 to 5, becoming variable 3 or less in Moray Firth.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight in Moray Firth, but elsewhere slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Rain or showers, becoming fair in west.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate in east.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South or southeast 3 to 5, occasionally variable 2 in Moray Firth but increasing 6 for a time later near Cape Wrath.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight at first in Moray Firth, otherwise slight or moderate, but occasionally rough later in north.
- Weather
- Rain at times in east.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor in east.
Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in north, becoming variable 2 at times in south.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight for a time in south.
- Weather
- Rain at times.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor later.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 3 or less except in far north.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Rain at times.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- South or southeast 3 to 5, becoming variable 3 or less for a time at first.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth in south.
- Weather
- Rain at times, mainly later.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor later.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South or southeast 3 to 5, occasionally 2 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Rain at times.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or southeast 2 to 4, veering south or southeast 3 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, becoming moderate later in far north.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or drizzle, fog patches.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South or southeast 3 or 4, occasionally 5 at first, then decreasing 2 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally moderate at first in north and smooth later in south.
- Weather
- Rain or drizzle at times, fog patches.
- Visibility
- Moderate or poor, occasionally very poor.
Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or southeasterly, backing northeasterly for a time, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Occasional rain, mainly in north, fog patches.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southeasterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 at first and 2 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Rain at times, mainly at first in north, fog patches in north.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor in north.
North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 3 or 4, becoming variable 2 to 4 for a time.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate at first in west, otherwise smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Occasional rain.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Easterly veering southeasterly, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Occasional rain at first.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or southeast, backing northeast for a time, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair then occasional rain.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or southeast 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth.
- Weather
- Rain at times.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly (8)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly, backing northeasterly in east, 2 to 4, becoming variable 3 or less later.
- Sea state
- Rough at first from Lizard Point westwards, otherwise slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers, then rain in east.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor later in east.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less, becoming cyclonic 3 to 5 in west.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight in east but rough later to the west of Land's End.
- Weather
- Rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor in east.
Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel (9)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Easterly or southeasterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 at first, then becoming variable 3 or less except near Pembrokeshire.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough at first in west, otherwise slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers, then rain in east.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor later in east.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southeasterly 3 or 4 in west, variable 3 or less in east.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in east but becoming rough later near Cornwall.
- Weather
- Rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor in east.
St Davids Head to Great Orme Head, including St Georges Channel (10)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southeasterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in west, becoming variable 2 at times in Cardigan Bay, Caernarfon Bay and to the east of Anglesey.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight in north.
- Weather
- Rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southeasterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in west, becoming variable 2 at times in Cardigan Bay, Caernarfon Bay and to the east of Anglesey.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in west.
- Weather
- Rain at times.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or northeast 2 to 4 in Morecambe Bay and Solway Firth, but elsewhere southeast 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight in south, slight or moderate in north.
- Weather
- Showers, then rain later in east.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor in Liverpool Bay.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or northeast in Morecambe Bay and Solway Firth, but elsewhere east or southeast, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first in northwest.
- Weather
- Rain at times, mainly in east.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor in east.
Isle of Man (12)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southeast 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South or southeast 4 or 5 backing east or southeast 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally moderate at first.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 3 at first, increasing 6 at times later in north.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first in north, then decreasing 3 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers then mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate at first.
Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel (14)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4 at first in far north, otherwise southeasterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 later in North Channel.
- Sea state
- Mainly slight or moderate, but smooth or slight in far north.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 4 or 5, backing easterly 2 or 3 later in far north.
- Sea state
- Mainly slight or moderate, but smooth or slight in far north.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East or southeast 2 to 4 veering south or southeast 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 4 to 6, increasing 7 for a time in north, then backing easterly or southeasterly 3 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate becoming moderate or rough, then occasionally very rough later near western Tiree.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
The Minch (16)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 3 to 5, occasionally 2 at first, then increasing 5 or 6 later in west and south.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate in west and south, smooth or slight in east and north.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southeast 4 to 6 becoming cyclonic 6 or 7, then south or southeast 3 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- To the south and west of Skye, slight or moderate, occasionally rough later, but elsewhere smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southeasterly 3 to 5, occasionally 2 at first, then increasing 5 or 6 later except in far north.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight near Sutherland.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southeast 4 to 6 becoming cyclonic 6 or 7, then south or southeast 3 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth at first near Sutherland but becoming rough or very rough later elsewhere.
- Weather
- Showers, then rain later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate at first and poor later.
Shetland Isles (18)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southeast 4 or 5, increasing 6 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough later in east.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
For Coastal areas up to 60 nautical miles from Lerwick, Shetland (18)
Valid Saturday 17 Jan 2026 at 1800 UTC until Sunday 18 Jan 2026 at 0600 UTC
General situation
High pressure over Scandinavia and low pressure to the west of the UK will maintain a southeast airflow over Shetland Waters.
Forecast
- Wind
- Southeast 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later
- Sea state
- Moderate
- Weather
- Showers
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor
Outlook for 12 Hours from 0600 UTC on Sunday 18 Jan until 1800 UTC on Sunday 18 Jan
- Wind
- Southeast 4 to 6
- Sea state
- Moderate, becoming rough later in east
- Weather
- Showers
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor
Channel Islands (19)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- East to southeast 2 to 3, backing northeast 3 to 4 around midnight, veering east to southeast again by dawn, decreasing 2 to 3 by midday.
- Sea state
- Smooth, locally slight, with a low swell.
- Weather
- Rain and drizzle from around midnight, likely dying out by midday, then occasional mist or fog patches, mainly near the French coast.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate, locally poor or perhaps very poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East to southeast 2 to 3, veering southeast to south 3 to 4 by dawn Monday, perhaps occasionally 5 near Alderney later.
- Sea state
- Smooth, locally slight, with a low swell.
- Weather
- Patchy rain or drizzle, with mist and a risk of fog patches.
- Visibility
- Moderate, occasionally good, locally poor or perhaps very poor.
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.
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.