Weather and Waves data
The weather data is provided by UK Met Office and is © Crown copyright 2024, the Met Office and © British Crown copyright 2024, the Met Office
The Wave / Swell height, direction and period data is provided by Open-Meteo, © 2022-2024 Copyright Open-Meteo.com
Visibility
Visibility measures the distance at which an object can be clearly seen.
- VP (Very Poor) Less than 1 km
- P (Poor) 1.1 km to 4 km
- M (Moderate) 4.1 km to 10 km
- G (Good) 10.1 km to 20 km
- VG (Very Good) 20.1 km to 40 km
- E (Excellent) Greater than 40 km
UV
UV exposure index and the protection required to help keep you safe:
0 No risk of UV – It’s safe to stay outside.
1-2 Low – You can safely stay out side. Consider sunscreen in direct sunlight.
3-5 Moderate – Take care during midday hours and do not spend too much time in the sun unprotected. Sunscreen advised.
6-7 High – Seek shade during midday hours, cover up and wear sunscreen.
8-10 Very high – Spend time in the shade between 11am and 3pm. Shirt, sunscreen and hat are essential.
11 Extreme – Avoid being outside during midday hours. Shirt, sunscreen and hat essential.
Beaufort Wind Scale
Force Wind Speed Wave Height Description Sea State
(mph) (meters)
0 0-1 0 Calm Sea like a mirror.
1 1-3 0-0.3 Light Air Ripples with the appearance of scales are formed, but without foam crests.
2 4-7 0.3-0.6 Light Breeze Small wavelets, still short, but more pronounced.
Crests have a glassy appearance and do not break.
3 8-12 0.6-1.2 Gentle Breeze Large wavelets. Crests begin to break.
Foam of glassy appearance. Perhaps scattered white horses.
4 13-18 1-2 Moderate Breeze Small waves, becoming larger; fairly frequent white horses.
5 19-24 2-3 Fresh Breeze Moderate waves, taking a more pronounced long form; many white horses are formed.
6 25-31 3-4 Strong Breeze Large waves begin to form; the white foam crests are more extensive everywhere.
7 32-38 4-5.5 Near Gale Sea heaps up and white foam from breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks
along the direction of the wind.
8 39-46 5.5-7.5 Gale Moderately high waves of greater length; edges of crests begin to break into spindrift.
The foam is blown in well-marked streaks along the direction of the wind.
9 47-54 7-10 Severe Gale High waves. Dense streaks of foam along the direction of the wind.
Crests of waves begin to topple, tumble and roll over. Spray may affect visibility
10 55-63 9-12.5 Storm Very high waves with long overhanging crests.
The resulting foam, in great patches, is blown in dense white streaks along the direction
of the wind. On the whole the surface of the sea takes on a white appearance.
The tumbling of the sea becomes heavy and shock-like. Visibility affected.
11 64-72 11.5-16 Violent Storm Exceptionally high waves (small and medium-size ships might be for a time lost to view behind the waves).
The sea is completely covered with long white patches of foam lying along the direction
of the wind. Everywhere the edges of the wave crests are blown into froth.
Visibility affected.
12 72-83 >14 Hurricane The air is filled with foam and spray.
Sea completely white with driving spray,
Visibility very seriously affected.
Barometric pressure
The standard barometric pressure at sea level is 1013 millibars and a normal range is between 965 and 1040.
High pressure typically indicates good weather, clear skies with the sun warming us and the earths surface.
Low pressure means colder weather, clouds blocking the sun, rain and wind. Very low pressure over open water creates heavy winds which can turn into hurricanes or typhoons.
Lower barometer means higher sea levels and higher values lower sea levels, roughly 1 millibar is equivalent to 1cm change in the sea level hieght.
Typically this is + / – 30cm, but with extreme pressure / weather changes this can be 60cm or more.
Wave data
Height of waves
For a more information see the following links
Met Office – What does this forecast mean
Met Office – Understanding beach forecasts
Thewaveshack – How to read a surf report