Coast and sea

Inshore waters and strong winds

General situation

A slack airflow covers most of the United Kingdom, with mainly light or moderate winds and showers. However an area of low pressure will approach the far northwest later on Wednesday into Thursday, bringing strengthening south or southwest winds and rain to the northwest.

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)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Northerly or northwesterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4, then southeasterly 4 to 6 later in southeast.
Sea state
Slight or moderate in north, smooth or slight in south.
Weather
Showers, occasional rain later in west.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate later in west.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Variable 2 to 4 at first in west, otherwise southerly or southeasterly 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later in northeast.
Sea state
Smooth or slight at first in Moray Firth, otherwise slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in northwest.
Weather
Occasional rain.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate, but poor in northwest.

Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Northeast 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4, then east or southeast 3 to 5 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
East or southeast 3 to 5, veering south or southeast 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Northeast 4 to 6, decreasing 3 or 4, then veering southeast later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southeast 3 or 4, veering south or southeast 4 to 6.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Northerly veering northeasterly 4 to 6, decreasing 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northeasterly becoming variable 2 to 4, then southeasterly 3 to 5 later, occasionally 6 later in far north.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Northerly or northeasterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first.
Sea state
Slight or moderate.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northeasterly 3 to 5, veering easterly 2 to 4, occasionally 5 later in north.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight later in south.
Weather
Mainly fair.
Visibility
Good.

North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Variable 2 or 3 at first in west, otherwise northeasterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first in east, becoming variable 2 to 4 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight later in west.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Variable 2 to 4.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, but slight or moderate at until later in far east.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Variable 2 to 4, becoming northeast 3 to 5 for a time.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Variable 2 to 4.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

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

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Variable, becoming mainly east or southeast later, 2 to 4.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

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

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North veering east or northeast, 3 to 5, becoming variable 3 or less later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Variable 2 to 4.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good occasionally moderate.

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

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North veering east or northeast, 3 to 5, becoming variable 3 or less later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Variable 2 to 4, becoming south or southwest 3 to 5 for a time.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North veering east 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first, becoming variable 2 to 4 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Variable 2 to 4, becoming south or southeast 4 to 6, veering south or southwest 3 to 5 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Isle of Man (12)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North or northwest 4 or 5, veering east or northeast 3 to 5, veering south 3 or 4 later.
Sea state
Mainly slight.
Weather
Mainly fair.
Visibility
Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
South or southeast 2 to 4, increasing 3 to 5.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Mainly fair.
Visibility
Good.

Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Cyclonic becoming southeast, 3 to 5, occasionally 6 later in north.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, but slight or moderate in far northwest.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
South or southeast, veering southwest later, 3 to 5.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but smooth or slight at first in south.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel (14)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Cyclonic, becoming easterly or southeasterly, veering southerly later, 3 to 5.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southerly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate later in the North Channel.
Weather
Showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate.

Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Northerly 4 or 5, veering southerly or southeasterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 later.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but smooth or slight in east.
Weather
Showers later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5, increasing 5 or 6 in northwest.
Sea state
Slight or moderate, but smooth or slight at first in east, occasionally rough later in west.
Weather
Occasional rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

The Minch (16)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North or northeast 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4, then south 4 to 6 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight in central areas, moderate near entrances.
Weather
Showers, occasional rain later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate, but poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
South or southwest 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight at first in central areas, otherwise slight or moderate, becoming rough later near entrances.
Weather
Occasional rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)

Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North or northeast 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4, then south or southwest 4 to 6 later.
Sea state
Moderate.
Weather
Showers, occasional rain later.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate, but poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
South or southwest 4 to 6, occasionally 7 later.
Sea state
Moderate, becoming rough later.
Weather
Occasional rain or showers.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Shetland Isles (18)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
Northwest backing southwest later, 3 to 5.
Sea state
Moderate or rough at first in north and west, otherwise moderate, but slight to the southeast.
Weather
Showers, wintry at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate, but poor at first.

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

Valid Tuesday 05 May 2026 at 1800 UTC until Wednesday 06 May 2026 at 0600 UTC

General situation

A cold and showery northwesterly flow over Shetland Waters will ease tonight.

Forecast

Wind
Northwesterly 4 or 5 backing westerly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in north.
Sea state
Moderate, occasionally rough in north and west, but slight just southeast of shetland.
Weather
Showers, occasionally wintry at first.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate or poor.

Outlook for 12 Hours from 0600 UTC on Wednesday 06 May until 1800 UTC on Wednesday 06 May

Wind
Westerly backing southwesterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in north at first.
Sea state
Moderate, occasionally rough in far north at first, but slight just southeast of shetland.
Weather
Showers
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate

Channel Islands (19)

24 hour forecast:

Wind
North to northwest 3 to 4, veering northeast by dawn, becoming locally 1 to 3 in the north of the area later.
Sea state
Smooth or slight.
Weather
Isolated showers, perhaps locally heavy around midnight.
Visibility
Good, occasionally moderate, perhaps locally poor around midnight.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind
Northeast 2 to 3, occasionally 4, veering southeast overnight.
Sea state
Smooth occasionally slight.
Weather
Isolated showers risk of mist or fog patches near the french coast towards dawn.
Visibility
Good or very good, occasionally moderate, perhaps locally 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.

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