Shipping forecast and gale warnings
The general synopsis at midday
High Fair Isle 1034, slow moving, declining 1033 by midday tomorrow. New lows expected Biscay and FitzRoy, both 1010, by same time
Issued at: .
For the period to .
Shipping forecast and gale warnings map
Viking
- Wind
- Northerly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
North Utsire
- Wind
- Northerly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
South Utsire
- Wind
- Northerly or northwesterly 5 or 6, decreasing 3 or 4.
- Sea state
- Moderate, becoming slight later.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Forties
- Wind
- Northerly or northeasterly, 3 or 4, increasing 5 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Cromarty
- Wind
- Northerly or northeasterly, but easterly in west, 3 or 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Forth
- Wind
- Northerly or northeasterly 3 or 4.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Tyne
- Wind
- Northerly or northeasterly, 3 or 4, increasing 5 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Dogger
- Wind
- Northerly or northeasterly, 3 or 4, increasing 5 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Mainly fair.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate.
Fisher
- Wind
- North or northeast 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally slight in east.
- Weather
- Thundery showers in far east.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor in far east.
German Bight
- Wind
- North or northeast 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally slight in east.
- Weather
- Thundery showers in far east.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally poor in far east.
Humber
- Wind
- Northeast 4 or 5.
- Sea state
- Moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Thames
- Wind
- Northeasterly 5 or 6, occasionally 4 later in north.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Dover
- Wind
- Northeasterly 5 or 6, increasing 7 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Wight
- Gale warning
-
Issued:
Northeasterly gale force 8 expected later
- Wind
- Northeast 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 until later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Showers later in south, perhaps thundery.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later in south.
Portland
- Gale warning
-
Issued:
Northeasterly gale force 8 expected later
- Wind
- Northeast 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 until later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Showers later in south, perhaps thundery.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later in south.
Plymouth
- Gale warning
-
Issued:
Northeasterly gale force 8 expected later
- Wind
- Northeast 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 until later.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Showers later in south, perhaps thundery.
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate later in south.
Biscay
- Wind
- Cyclonic, becoming mainly west, 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Thundery showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally poor.
Trafalgar
- Wind
- Westerly or northwesterly 2 to 4, increasing 5 later in far northwest.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally slight in far east.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
FitzRoy
- Wind
- Cyclonic, but northeasterly in far north, 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first in far north.
- Sea state
- Moderate, occasionally rough in far north and slight in far southeast.
- Weather
- Thundery showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally poor.
Sole
- Wind
- East or northeast 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Moderate or rough.
- Weather
- Thundery showers.
- Visibility
- Good occasionally moderate.
Lundy
- Wind
- East or northeast 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Fastnet
- Wind
- East or northeast 5 to 7.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Irish Sea
- Wind
- East or northeast 4 to 6.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Shannon
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in south.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in far southeast.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Rockall
- Wind
- Northeast veering east, 3 or 4, increasing 5 at times.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Malin
- Wind
- East or northeast 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in west.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Hebrides
- Wind
- Easterly or northeasterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 2 to 4 later in south.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Bailey
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4, but southwesterly 4 or 5 in far north.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Fair Isle
- Wind
- Variable 2 to 4.
- Sea state
- Slight.
- Weather
- Fair.
- Visibility
- Good.
Faeroes
- Wind
- In southeast, variable 2 to 4. In northwest, southwesterly 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- In southeast, slight. in northwest, slight or moderate.
- Weather
- In southeast, fair. In northwest, showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Faeroes
- Wind
- In southeast, variable 2 to 4. In northwest, southwesterly 3 to 5.
- Sea state
- In southeast, slight. in northwest, slight or moderate.
- Weather
- In southeast, fair. In northwest, showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Southeast Iceland
- Wind
- Southwesterly 3 to 5, but 6 or 7 in northwest.
- Sea state
- Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in far northwest.
- Weather
- Showers.
- Visibility
- Good.
Shipping forecast information
The shipping forecast is issued four times a day at 2300, 0500, 1100, 1700 UTC and covers a period of 24 hours from 0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC respectively.
The waters around the British Isles are divided into 31 sea areas shown on the map.
The forecast contains details of gale warnings in force, a general synopsis and sea-area forecasts containing wind direction and force, sea state, weather and visibility.
Gale warnings are issued as required throughout the day (for winds of Gale Force 8 or more).
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.