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.
On a tidal Atlantic coast, the forecast wind is only one input. Check swell direction and period, tidal stream and the specific harbour or bar approach from current local publications.
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
Wind against tide and separate national coastal areas can shape a short crossing.
An Irish Sea crossing changes coastal jurisdiction and tidal stream as well as exposure.
Consult Met Éireann and Met Office for the legs each serves; compare the named sea-area warnings, valid periods and wind-against-tide sections.
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.
Compare the same crossing hours on both shores
For an Ireland–Wales or Ireland–Isle of Man scenario, read Met Éireann's Sea Area Forecast and the relevant Met Office inshore sector separately. Match valid periods to departure, open-water and approach ETA; products with different time conventions or coverage are not directly comparable votes. Include small-craft as well as gale information where applicable. A land forecast for the ferry terminal is not the crossing's marine bulletin.
- Met Éireann Sea Area Forecast — Irish coastal/sea-area text, small-craft and gale warnings; inspect time conventions.
- Met Office inshore waters — Named British coastal sectors, marine strong-wind warnings and sea state.
Use buoy evidence without overextending it
Met Éireann provides buoy locations and time-labelled observations; select an exposed site relevant to the planned sea stretch, not whichever record looks most favourable. A data gap is not low wind or low wave height. Compare the observation trend with the forecast's valid time, while keeping local stream timing separate. Wind against the verified stream may alter the sea state even when the wind alone is within the crew's limit.
- Met Éireann buoy observations — Marine observations with locations and GMT timestamps; data gaps are not calm conditions.
- RYA passage planning — Practitioner guidance on contingency, tides, vessel and crew constraints.
The return may be the demanding crossing
A day-return plan should compare both directions at their own times, with reduced-speed and missed-arrival cases. Reassess if a new coastal warning changes the return exposure, visibility falls or the approach constraint cannot be met. Turning back is an option to assess, not a universal instruction; by then the original departure coast may have changed too. Keep the last confirmed refuge and next weather update in the brief.
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.
- United Kingdom
Combine named inshore sectors, the Shipping Forecast and local tidal/harbour information.