This is a pre-passage source and decision desk, not a current forecast or clearance to depart. The map is centred approximately on the area, not on your route or a forecast-zone boundary.
Separate the open-water leg from island lee and the arrival coast. Compare wind-sea direction with any longer-period swell; a sheltered departure harbour does not describe the next headland.
1. Primary sources
Open current bulletins and warnings for every sea area on the route. These links are starting points, not a promise that each covers the whole location; if unsure, identify the issuer through WMO–IMO.
2. Route and local effects
Do not infer offshore conditions from a calm marina or city forecast.
A Gulf of Lion passage may be more exposed than the Provençal harbour at either end. Draw the open leg and the likely retreat point.
Use Météo-France marine warnings and named sectors; during mistral conditions, compare wind, sea development and arrival exposure rather than treating one coastal icon as the whole gulf.
How to use this source set
Start with the warning, then the marine text for the exact named area. If the route crosses a zone boundary, obtain both bulletins. Note issue and valid times, wind units and the meaning of wave height. Where a link opens an agency portal, navigate to its current marine product; a homepage is not itself a forecast.
Compare with an exposed station or buoy if available. Check its position and observation time: a sheltered station does not overturn a warning for an open channel. If a bulletin is missing or stale, identify the issuing service via WMO–IMO and defer the decision until current information is available.
Before-passage check
- Mark departure, exposed legs, arrival and feasible diversions; find the responsible named marine areas for each.
- Check warnings, issue and valid times; assess conditions when you expect to reach each leg, not only at departure.
- Compare wind and gusts, waves and swell, visibility, thunderstorms and local effects; do not infer a strait from a sheltered harbour.
- Compare recent observations where available, noting their time and exposure; a mismatch calls for another check.
- Set the next bulletin check, a reassessment trigger, an alternative and a backup communication channel.
Model map — optional
Windy is a third-party model display, not the issuer of official warnings. Choose a layer and check its valid hour and model run. Nothing loads until you click.
Without JavaScript, open the map separately.
If connectivity fails
Before departure, save the current official text bulletin and warning with issue time. Arrange another way to receive updates, such as an appropriate coastal broadcast, NAVTEX or satellite channel. A saved map cannot replace new warnings.
How to choose weather tools · All sailing areas
Scope: Source list assembled 25 September 2026; check its freshness and coverage before use. This public area guide is not a current personalised forecast, navigational notice service or safety verdict. Personalised forecasts with AI and experts are in closed testing; public booking is not open. The skipper makes the decision.
Coastal sections are not a whole-gulf forecast
Météo-France separates Frontière espagnole–Port-Camargue from Port-Camargue–Saint-Raphaël and its offshore products. Choose those sections only where the route actually enters them. A crossing of the Gulf of Lion should include the exposed middle and destination approach, not just two favourable harbour forecasts. Read any BMS before selecting a model run and preserve its affected area and valid interval in the brief.
- Météo-France marine — Coastal sectors, offshore products and special marine bulletins
When a mistral situation is forecast
Treat the expected northwesterly-flow situation as a question of route heading, duration of exposure and arrival-side sea, not a fixed regional wind number. Compare wind-wave growth during the passage and swell that may remain later. A lull at a Provençal marina cannot establish the sea offshore. Include the crew's ability to manage a longer exposed leg and the vessel's realistic speed in those ETA comparisons.
Choose a reassessment before the long leg
Compare the full crossing with a shorter coastal staging plan, using currently verified ports rather than invented refuges. Specify the last decision point before an exposed commitment and the next expected bulletin check. If departure is delayed, reassess the destination under its revised arrival time, not just the starting coast. Weather products do not certify harbour access or resolve navigational restrictions; obtain those separately.
Editorial review of this material: 27 September 2026. This date concerns the page content; check current forecast issue times and validity at the original sources.
- France
Keep Atlantic tidal coasts separate from Mediterranean island and gulf planning.