Still & Wake

Shipping forecast areas, and what the words mean

Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties... Pick an area to see where it sits on our map and in the list, then paste its forecast to have every word explained.

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Read a sea area forecast

Plymouth

Plymouth is number 16 of 31 in the Met Office's order, after Portland and before Biscay.

Paste the forecast for Plymouth below the list to have its words explained.

Today's forecast is on the Met Office shipping forecast page, with its own map of the areas.

Map of the 31 shipping forecast sea areas, numbered in the Met Office's order, with Plymouth picked out1. Viking2. North Utsire3. South Utsire4. Forties5. Cromarty6. Forth7. Tyne8. Dogger9. Fisher10. German Bight11. Humber12. Thames13. Dover14. Wight15. Portland16. Plymouth17. Biscay18. FitzRoy19. Trafalgar20. Sole21. Lundy22. Fastnet23. Irish Sea24. Shannon25. Rockall26. Malin27. Hebrides28. Bailey29. Fair Isle30. Faeroes31. Southeast Iceland
Our map of the 31 sea areas, drawn from the corner points the Met Office publishes in its shipping forecast fact sheet (Table 1). Where an area meets the coast, its edge runs along the shore. Land from Natural Earth. Tap an area to pick it. A picture, not a chart: never navigate by it.
A harbour in sea mist, fishing boats and yachts on their moorings and the far shore fading into fog.
Sea mist in the harbour.

The 31 sea areas, in order

  1. Viking
  2. North Utsire
  3. South Utsire
  4. Forties
  5. Cromarty
  6. Forth
  7. Tyne
  8. Dogger
  9. Fisher
  10. German Bight
  11. Humber
  12. Thames
  13. Dover
  14. Wight
  15. Portland
  16. Plymouth
  17. Biscay
  18. FitzRoy
  19. Trafalgar
  20. Sole
  21. Lundy
  22. Fastnet
  23. Irish Sea
  24. Shannon
  25. Rockall
  26. Malin
  27. Hebrides
  28. Bailey
  29. Fair Isle
  30. Faeroes
  31. Southeast Iceland

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How to use it

Choose a sea area from the list. The tool says where it comes in the Met Office's order and which areas sit either side of it in the list. Then paste that area's forecast from the Met Office page. Every glossary word in it is explained, and the numbers are linked to the Beaufort scale.

A white sailing yacht on a mooring in a quiet bay under a pale overcast sky, rocky shore and hills behind.
Grey sky, flat water: worth reading the forecast before you go.

What a forecast covers

The Met Office issues the shipping forecast four times a day, at 2300, 0500, 1100 and 1700 UTC. Each one covers 24 hours, from 0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC. The waters around the British Isles are split into 31 sea areas.

Each area's forecast gives the wind direction and force, the weather and the visibility, and the Met Office page adds the sea state. Gale warnings, for force 8 or more, are issued as needed and shown with it.

The words, briefly

"Imminent" means within six hours of issue, "soon" six to 12 hours, and "later" more than 12. "Veering" is the wind turning clockwise, "backing" anticlockwise. "Moderate" has two meanings: a sea of 1.25 to 2.5 m waves, or visibility of 2 to 5 nautical miles. The tool tells them apart by which label comes first.

How the map is drawn

The map is our own drawing. The Met Office publishes the corner points of every sea area, in degrees and minutes, in its fact sheet on the shipping forecast. We joined each area's points in the order printed. The fact sheet says the edges are "defined by the plain black lines and the coastline", so where an area meets land we let the shore close it. The land comes from Natural Earth, a free public domain world map.

It shows where the areas are, not exact edges. For today's forecast and the Met Office's own map, use the link under the tool.

Sources

Written by Craig Fearn, Still & Wake. Last updated .

Craig Fearn runs Still & Wake. He writes the guides and journal.

Questions, answered

How many shipping forecast areas are there?
31, from Viking to Southeast Iceland in the Met Office list.
Can I navigate by this map?
No. It is a picture of where the areas are, drawn from the corner points the Met Office publishes. Use proper charts and the Met Office forecast at sea.
What does "soon" mean in the shipping forecast?
Expected within six to 12 hours of the time of issue.
What is good visibility?
More than 5 nautical miles. Moderate is 2 to 5, poor is 1,000 metres to 2 nautical miles, and very poor is under 1,000 metres.