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
Track the transition from coastal sectors toward the Gibraltar approaches.
The Alboran Sea sits between Spanish coastal legs and a Strait of Gibraltar approach; these are separate timing problems.
Read AEMET maritime sectors for the whole route, then account for local wind acceleration and traffic or tidal constraints in the strait without deriving them from a coastal weather icon.
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.
Separate Alboran coast from the Strait approach
AEMET distinguishes the Eastern Andalusia, Melilla and Alboran coast from Western Andalusia and Ceuta and the broader Mediterranean product. Select by the actual leg and arrival side rather than the nearest city. A route toward Gibraltar adds a current/traffic and navigation task; it is not only the next weather point. Preserve the original named sector so the next reader can reproduce the source choice.
- AEMET coastal and high-seas marine products — Separate coastal and high-seas selection
Wind direction matters as much as magnitude
Compare the proposed eastbound and westbound legs under the same forecast change. A wind favourable to one heading may oppose the return or expose the destination entrance. Use Portus marine measurements or predictions only after selecting the correct layer and representative coverage; do not convert a tide-gauge reading into an offshore wave assessment. Compare swell and wind sea separately when the displayed product supports that distinction.
- Puertos del Estado oceanography / Portus — Buoy, gauge, radar and model services; select representative available station Direct product verification is limited; obtain the current issue from the issuer.
Do not invent a strait window
A departure-window comparison can rank weather exposure, but it cannot establish a precise Gibraltar transit schedule without applicable tide/current and navigation information. Record those unresolved inputs explicitly. For a delayed coast-to-strait leg, recompute arrival at the constrained section and compare an independently checked staging stop before it. A charted route and current authority instructions take precedence over a convenient model-colour corridor.
- AEMET coastal and high-seas marine products
- WMO–IMO marine warnings and issuer directory — METAREA service selection; website can have delayed or interrupted products
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.
- Spain
Balearics, mainland coasts and Canary ocean departures need different source sets.