Coast and Sea
Inshore waters and strong winds
General situation
High pressure will build across the United Kingdom through the weekend bringing fine and increasingly warm weather to most areas. However fog patches will affect some western waters and a southwesterly flow across north and west Scotland will bring some rain or drizzle at times.
Issued at: .
For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore for the period 12:00 (UTC) on Sat 23 May 2026 to 12:00 (UTC) on Sun 24 May 2026
Inshore waters and strong winds map
Cape Wrath to Rattray Head including Orkney (1)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southwesterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 until later in northwest, becoming variable 2 to 4 near aberdeenshire and later in north.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally moderate in north and smooth in Moray Firth.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or drizzle in north.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor in north.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4 at first in north and near aberdeenshire, otherwise southwesterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 later in northwest.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate in north, smooth or slight in south.
- Weather
- Rain or drizzle at times mainly in north.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor in north.
Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed (2)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southwesterly 3 to 5, but becoming variable 2 to 4 at times in far north and in far south.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth in south.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4 at times in far south.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby (3)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable, becoming southwest for a time, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable, becoming southwest for a time, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Whitby to Gibraltar Point (4)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable, becoming southeast for a time, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth occasionally slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Gibraltar Point to North Foreland (5)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
North Foreland to Selsey Bill (6)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth, occasionally slight in west.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (7)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- West or southwest veering north or northwest, 3 or 4, becoming variable 3 or less later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 3 or less, becoming east or southeast 3 or 4 later.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly (8)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable, becoming north or northeast for a time, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth in lyme bay and moderate in west.
- Weather
- Fog patches in west.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor in west.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable becoming east or northeast, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight in east, slight or moderate in west.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor at first in west.
Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel (9)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Westerly 4 or 5 at first in Bristol Channel, otherwise variable, becoming northeasterly in south, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally moderate in west and smooth later in east.
- Weather
- Fog patches.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable mainly easterly or northeasterly, 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, but smooth or slight in Bristol Channel.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor at first.
St Davids Head to Great Orme Head, including St Georges Channel (10)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 or 4, occasionally 2 in south and 5 in north, becoming variable 3 or less later in south.
- Sea state
- Moderate at first near St Davids Head, otherwise smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fog patches mainly at first, otherwise fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor mainly at first.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4, but southwesterly 3 or 4 at first near Anglesey.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway (11)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4 in southeast, otherwise southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Fog patches mainly at first, otherwise fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor mainly at first.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 or 4 at first in north, otherwise variable 3 or less, occasionally 4 in north.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Isle of Man (12)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- South or southwest 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- South or southwest 3 or 4, decreasing 3 or less later.
- Sea state
- Slight, becoming smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough (13)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in east, becoming variable 2 to 4 for a time at first.
- Sea state
- Slight, occasionally smooth at first in south.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, becoming slight or moderate in far north.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel (14)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 at first.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate later near Mull of Kintyre.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point (15)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first in northwest, becoming variable 2 to 4 for a time at first in south.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in far northwest.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or drizzle mainly in north.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor in north.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4 in south.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough in northwest, slight or moderate elsewhere.
- Weather
- Rain or drizzle at times, fog patches in north.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor in south and very poor in north.
The Minch (16)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southwest 5 or 6, decreasing 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight in north.
- Weather
- Rain or drizzle, fog patches developing.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight just east of skye, otherwise slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Rain or drizzle, fog patches.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.
Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath (17)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southwest 5 or 6, decreasing 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally rough west of the Outer Hebrides and slight later near Sutherland.
- Weather
- Rain or drizzle, fog patches developing.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Southwest 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough west of the Outer Hebrides, slight or moderate elsewhere.
- Weather
- Rain or drizzle, fog patches.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.
Shetland Isles (18)
Strong winds are forecast
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- Southwest 4 to 6, decreasing 3 or 4 later.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally slight in east.
- Weather
- Occasional rain or drizzle, fog patches later.
- Visibility
- Moderate or good, occasionally poor, or very poor later.
For Coastal areas up to 60 nautical miles from Lerwick, Shetland (18)
Valid Saturday 23 May 2026 at 1200 UTC until Sunday 24 May 2026 at 0000 UTC
General situation
A southwesterly flow will affect Shetland Waters.
Forecast
- Wind
- Southwest 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in west.
- Weather
- Occasional rain
- Visibility
- Moderate or good.
Outlook for 12 Hours from 0000 UTC on Sunday 24 May until 1200 UTC on Sunday 24 May
- Wind
- Southwesterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in west.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in west at first.
- Weather
- Occasional rain and fog patches.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate, perhaps poor.
Channel Islands (19)
24 hour forecast:
- Wind
- North to northwest 2 to 3, locally 4 at times, veering northeast overnight.
- Sea state
- Smooth, locally slight, with a low swell.
- Weather
- Risk of mist or fog patches, mainly in the far west.
- Visibility
- Good, perhaps locally poor or very poor.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
- Wind
- Northeast 3 to 4, locally 2 at times, veering east around dusk.
- Sea state
- Smooth, locally slight, with a low swell.
- Weather
- Small risk of mist or fog patches mid-channel.
- Visibility
- Good, perhaps occasionally poor or very poor mid-channel.
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.