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
Match Shipping Forecast areas with local coastal sectors and busy approaches.
North Sea approaches include a shipping area, coastal inshore forecast and busy port approaches, often at different scales.
Compare the Met Office Shipping Forecast with the actual coastal sector and harbour notices; visibility and traffic matter even when model wind is moderate.
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.
Local passage-planning dossier
The North Sea needs national coastal products as well as the broader shipping-area forecast.
Forecast sectors and coverage
Separate UK inshore sectors, KNMI coastal/lake products and DWD North Sea reports. A broad shipping-area name does not specify the harbour approach, estuary or Dutch lake; choose the national/local product for that leg.
Weather-sensitive legs
Match wind and waves with the tidal stream where relevant, and check visibility before busy approaches. Estuary timing, offshore sea state and an inland lock passage cannot be reduced to one forecast point.
Observations, sea state and reassessment
RWS levels and BSH current maps are different kinds of evidence; a modelled stream is not a current measurement at the intended entrance. Confirm station/datum and the latest harbour information.
Worked planning scenario — not a live forecast
On a UK–Netherlands or German coastal plan, assign source ownership to the approach as well as the crossing. A departure delay can improve offshore wind yet miss a verified arrival/tidal constraint; compare both conditions together.
Official products by task
- Met Office Shipping Forecast — Larger sea areas, including Channel and North Sea sectors; match against the coastal product.
- Met Office inshore waters & strong winds — Named coastal sectors and strong-wind warnings; do not substitute a land warning.
- KNMI coastal waters — Named Dutch coastal, estuary and lake sectors; issue and validity are shown at the issuer.
- DWD sea-weather products — Choose Nord- und Ostsee, coastal reports and warnings; the portal is not one zone forecast.
- BSH modelled currents — Operational model maps, not measured tidal stream at a harbour entrance; inspect freshness.
- Rijkswaterstaat Waterinfo — Water levels and available water observations; check station, units and datum before comparison.
Sector names help you locate the issuing product; they are not an automatic route-coverage match. Open the current issue and check boundaries, issue time and validity. This page does not display current warnings; an unavailable product does not mean no hazard.
Waters and sailing options
- Solent and Isle of Wight
Pair marine wind warnings with local tidal-stream and harbour information.
- Netherlands coast and Wadden Sea
Use named KNMI coastal sectors and a separate water-level/approach check.
- IJsselmeer and Markermeer
An inland-water sailing plan needs lake sectors, actual levels and lock information.
- Zeeland Delta
Separate sea-facing approaches, estuary sectors and managed inland waters.
- German Bight
Combine DWD sea warnings, coastal exposure and BSH water/current information.
Countries & territories
- United Kingdom
Combine named inshore sectors, the Shipping Forecast and local tidal/harbour information.
- Netherlands
Distinguish North Sea/Wadden, inland lakes and Zeeland waterways before choosing data.
- Germany
North Sea tidal approaches and Baltic bays need separate weather and water-level products.
Build your passage brief
Bring your route, leg timings, vessel and crew profile, checked sources and reassessment triggers into the brief. Personal AI analysis and expert review are available to invited closed-test participants; a port page does not extend the calculation service’s coverage.
A Sailing Weather editorial guide to local conditions, practical passage preparation and marine-weather sources. Source and structure review: 27 September 2026. For a specific passage, check current issues, validity and forecast coverage. The skipper retains the final decision and responsibility.
Give each shore its own approach brief
A UK–Netherlands crossing has an offshore forecast problem and two local approach problems. Record which issuer covers the departure inshore sector, the open-water leg and the destination coastal sector. Then add the harbour authority's current notices. Do not extend a broad Shipping Forecast label into the river entrance, and do not infer the crossing's visibility from the departure marina's clear sky.
- Met Office inshore waters — Named British coastal sectors, marine strong-wind warnings and sea state.
- KNMI coastal waters, lakes and estuaries — Named Dutch sectors including IJsselmeer and Marken; read actual issue/validity.
Current arrows need a type and a time
BSH explicitly describes its maps as operational modelled surface currents, with tidal and wind-driven contributions. Select the correct valid hour and distinguish it from a tide-free daily mean. A favourable ocean or regional arrow cannot establish an estuary slack-water time. Combine the weather picture with locally applicable stream publications, and keep the uncertainties separate rather than collapsing them into a green route score.
- BSH modelled surface currents — Hourly operational model currents include tidal and wind-driven components; inspect date.
Moderate wind can still leave a poor arrival
Compare ETA under slower progress with visibility, daylight, the approach stream and available refuge. At a busy approach, reduced visibility and crew workload remain important even when the wind comparison improves. Rebrief if a coastal warning changes, an observed trend diverges, or the original arrival constraint is missed. Choosing the smallest wind value should never hide a missing local water-level or harbour-status check.
- KNMI coastal waters, lakes and estuaries
- DWD sea weather — North/Baltic products and coastal reports, separate from land warnings.
- RYA passage planning — Practitioner guidance on contingency, tides, vessel and crew constraints.
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.