Coast and Sea

Inshore waters and strong winds


General situation

An Atlantic low will move eastwards, towards the northwest of the British Isles, bringing strengthening winds and rain or showers.

Issued at: .

For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore for the period 18:00 (UTC) on Mon 18 May 2026 to 18:00 (UTC) on Tue 19 May 2026

Inshore waters and strong winds map


Cape Wrath to Rattray Head including Orkney (1)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Easterly or southeasterly 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight at first in Moray Firth, otherwise slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in east.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southeasterly 4 to 6, occasionally 7 at first in east, becoming variable 2 to 4, then southwesterly 4 or 5 later in far west.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first in east.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Easterly or southeasterly 3 to 5, increasing 5 or 6 in east, occasionally 7 later in northeast.
Sea state
Slight, occasionally smooth at first in Firth of Forth, becoming moderate later.
Weather
Rain or showers, perhaps thundery.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southeasterly, veering southerly or southwesterly, 3 to 5, but 5 or 6 at first in northeast.
Sea state
Moderate, but smooth or slight in Firth of Forth and occasionally rough at first in northeast.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southeast 3 to 5, increasing 5 or 6 for a time later.
Sea state
Slight becoming moderate.
Weather
Rain or showers, perhaps thundery.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southeast veering south, then southwest later, 3 to 5.
Sea state
Moderate, occasionally slight later.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
South or southeast 3 to 5, increasing 5 or 6 for a time.
Sea state
Smooth or slight becoming slight or moderate.
Weather
Rain or showers, perhaps thundery.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
South veering southwest, 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate becoming slight.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5, backing southerly or southeasterly 4 to 6.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, becoming slight or moderate in east.
Weather
Rain or showers, perhaps thundery in north.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southerly 4 to 6, veering southwesterly 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery in north.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southerly or southwesterly 3 or 4, increasing 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later in west.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Rain, showers later.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southwesterly 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first in southwest.
Weather
Showers, becoming mainly fair later.
Visibility
Good occasionally poor at first.

Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southerly, veering southwesterly later, 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later in east.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in southwest.
Weather
Rain, showers later.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southwesterly 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in south.
Weather
Showers, becoming mainly fair later.
Visibility
Good occasionally poor at first.

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

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
South veering southwest 4 to 6.
Sea state
Moderate or rough, but slight or moderate until later in east.
Weather
Rain, showers later.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southwest 5 or 6, decreasing 4 or 5.
Sea state
Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough at first near the Isles of Scilly.
Weather
Showers, becoming mainly fair later.
Visibility
Good occasionally poor at first.

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

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
South or southwest 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate in east, moderate or rough in west.
Weather
Rain then showers.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
West or southwest 5 or 6, decreasing 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate at first in east, otherwise moderate or rough.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

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

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
South backing southeast for a time, veering southwest later, 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough later.
Weather
Rain then showers.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southwest 4 to 6.
Sea state
Moderate or rough becoming slight or moderate later.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Variable becoming southeast 2 to 4, increasing 4 to 6, then veering southwest later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, becoming slight or moderate in north.
Weather
Rain then showers.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southwest 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Isle of Man (12)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
South or southeast 3 to 5, increasing 5 or 6, veering southwest later.
Sea state
Slight, becoming moderate.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
West or southwest 5 or 6, decreasing 4 or 5.
Sea state
Moderate, becoming slight or moderate later.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southerly or southeasterly 4 to 6, occasionally 7 at first in north, decreasing 3 or 4 later in west.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Rain then showers, perhaps thundery later.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southerly veering southwesterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 later in south.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in northwest.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery at first.
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
Southerly 3 to 5, backing southeasterly 4 to 6 for a time.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, becoming slight or moderate in the North Channel.
Weather
Rain then showers, perhaps thundery later.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southerly veering southwesterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, but slight or moderate in the North Channel.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southeast 4 to 6, increasing 6 or 7 for a time, veering south 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming rough for a time in far west.
Weather
Rain then showers, perhaps thundery later in south.
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
South 3 or 4, veering southwest, increasing 4 to 6 for a time.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough for a time in west.
Weather
Showers, perhaps thundery at first in south.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

The Minch (16)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Easterly or southeasterly 3 or 4, increasing 4 to 6 for a time, occasionally 7 in south.
Sea state
Smooth or slight in central areas, slight or moderate near entrances.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Easterly or southeasterly, veering south, 3 or 4, then southwesterly 4 to 6 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight at first in central areas, otherwise slight or moderate, occasionally rough later near southern entrance.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Easterly or southeasterly 3 or 4, increasing 4 to 6 for a time, occasionally 7 in south.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first in far south.
Weather
Rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Easterly or southeasterly, veering south, 3 or 4, then southwesterly 4 to 6 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough later in south.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Shetland Isles (18)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Southeasterly 4 or 5, increasing 5 or 6, then 6 or 7 later in south.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in far south.
Weather
Mainly fair, rain later.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

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

Strong wind warning

Valid Monday 18 May 2026 at 1800 UTC until Tuesday 19 May 2026 at 0600 UTC

General situation

Low pressure west of the UK maintains a southeasterly flow over Shetland Waters, extending an Atlantic trough over Shetland Waters later on Tuesday.

Forecast

Wind
Southeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in southwest later.
Sea state
Moderate, but slight just east of shetland at first.
Weather
Mainly fair.
Visibility
Good.

Outlook for 12 Hours from 0600 UTC on Tuesday 19 May until 1800 UTC on Tuesday 19 May

Wind
Southeasterly 5 or 6, occasionally 4 in far northeast at first.
Sea state
Moderate, but becoming rough in southwest later.
Weather
Mainly fair, rain later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate later.

Channel Islands (19)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
South 4 to 5, increasing 5 to 6 with gusts locally to 35kt overnight, veering southwest 4 to 5 later, perhaps locally 6.
Sea state
Smooth to slight with a low swell, increasing slight to moderate overnight, further increasing rather rough to rough in the northwest later.
Weather
Isolated showers rain spreading eastwards, locally heavy overnight, clearing to isolated showers around dawn, perhaps locally heavy later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate, locally poor at times.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southwest 4 to 5, occasionally 6, veering west later, locally variable 1 to 3 in the south of the area.
Sea state
Slight to moderate with a low swell in the southeast, rather rough to rough elsewhere.
Weather
Isolated showers, dying out overnight perhaps occasional rain later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate, perhaps locally poor at times.

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.