Coast and Sea
Inshore waters and strong winds
General situation
An Atlantic high moves southeast across the United Kingdom on Friday with mainly northerly winds, strong in north and east. The winds will back southwesterly in the north, but they will become light and variable in the south. Then on Saturday an Atlantic low will approach Hebrides bringing strong winds to most coastal waters, with rain in north and west.
Issued at: .
For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore for the period 00:00 (UTC) on Fri 13 Nov 2026 to 00:00 (UTC) on Sat 14 Nov 2026
Inshore waters and strong winds map
Cape Wrath to Rattray Head including Orkney (1)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest 4 to 6, backing west or southwest 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, occasionally slight in Moray Firth.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- West 5 to 7, backing southwest 6 to gale 8, becoming cyclonic 4 to 6 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, occasionally slight in Moray Firth and very rough in northwest, becoming smooth or slight later in Moray Firth.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest backing southwest, 5 or 6.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight in Firth of Forth, otherwise moderate or rough becoming slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers at first.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest, backing south later, 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in Firth of Forth.
- Weather
- Showers in south.
- Visibility
- Good.
Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest 5 or 6, backing west or southwest 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Rough becoming moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- West or southwest 4 to 6, backing south 5 or 6 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest 5 or 6, backing west 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough becoming slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers, fair later.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- West 4 or 5 backing south 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwesterly 5 or 6, backing westerly 3 or 4.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, but rough at first in northeast and smooth later in Thames estuary.
- Weather
- Showers, fair later.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Westerly 3 or 4, backing southerly or southeasterly 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, but moderate at first in northeast.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northerly or northwesterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in east, becoming variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate becoming smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less, becoming southerly or southeasterly 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northeast 4 or 5, becoming variable 3 or less.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, becoming smooth.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less, becoming southeast, veering southwest later, 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth becoming slight, then moderate in southwest.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly (8)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 4 or 5, veering east or southeast 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate becoming smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East or southeast 2 to 4, veering south 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight becoming mainly moderate.
- Weather
- Showers at first, occasional rain later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor later.
Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel (9)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 3 to 5, veering south or southeast 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, but moderate at first in west.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South or southeast 2 to 4, increasing 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later near st david's head.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, becoming moderate in west, then rough later in far northwest.
- Weather
- Showers at first, occasional rain later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor later.
St Davids Head to Great Orme Head, including St Georges Channel (10)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northeast 2 to 4, becoming variable 3 or less, then south or southwest 3 or 4 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate becoming smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South or southwest 3 or 4, increasing 5 or 6, occasionally 7 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight becoming slight or moderate, then rough later in west.
- Weather
- Showers, rain later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later.
Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northwest 2 to 4, backing west or southwest 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- West or southwest 3 to 5, backing south or southeast 5 or 6.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, becoming slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in north.
- Weather
- Showers, rain later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later.
Isle of Man (12)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northwest 3 or 4, backing southwest later.
- Sea state
- Slight.
- Weather
- Isolated showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest 4, increasing south or southwest 5 or 6, backing south or southeast 4 or 5 later.
- Sea state
- Slight becoming slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Showers .
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North or northwest backing southwest, 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in north.
- Weather
- Showers, fair later.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest 4 to 6 backing south 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight becoming moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Showers, rain later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later.
Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel (14)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northerly or northwesterly backing southwesterly, 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Showers, fair later.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwesterly 4 to 6, backing southerly 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight becoming moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Showers, rain later.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later.
Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest 4 or 5, backing southwest 5 or 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth at first in southeast.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest 5 to 7, backing south 5 or 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate becoming moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
The Minch (16)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest 3 to 5, backing west 4 to 6, then southwest 5 to 7 later.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in north.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest 5 to 7, becoming cyclonic 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, becoming slight later in central area.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest 3 to 5, backing west 4 to 6, then southwest 5 to 7 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, but slight at first in southeast.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest 5 to 7, becoming cyclonic 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Shetland Isles (18)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northwest 5 or 6 backing west 2 to 4, then southwest 5 or 6 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor.
For Coastal areas up to 60 nautical miles from Lerwick, Shetland (18)
Strong wind warning
Valid Friday 13 Nov 2026 at 0000 UTC until Friday 13 Nov 2026 at 1200 UTC
General situation
High pressure moves SE towards Ireland extending a ridge across Shetland waters on Friday.
Forecast
- Wind
- Northwest 5 or 6 backing west or southwest 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, very rough at first in east.
- Weather
- Rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor
Outlook for 12 Hours from 1200 UTC on Friday 13 Nov until 0000 UTC on Saturday 14 Nov
- Wind
- West or southwest 3 to 5 increasing 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough, but slight in well sheltered southern and eastern waters
- Weather
- Rain or showers.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor
Channel Islands (19)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Northeast 4 to 5 by midnight, decreasing 3 to 4 by dawn, occasionally 2 mid-channel, veering east to southeast by midnight.
- Sea state
- Slight to moderate, locally rather rough in the northwest at first, decreasing smooth to slight.
- Weather
- Fair or fine.
- Visibility
- Good or very good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- East to southeast 3 to 4, locally 5 on Saturday morning, veering south to southwest 4 to 5 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth to slight.
- Weather
- Fair or fine.
- Visibility
- Good or very good.
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.