Interested in the weather on land? Here’s loads of information to explore about Sea Conditions Forecast and weather offshore.
If you’re familiar with the Fylde Coast you’ll have seen offshore rigs in the Irish Sea, lit up at night. Sometimes you can see the flare on them, burning off gas. There’s also a growing wind farm too – you’ll see their warning lights at night.
Sea Conditions Forecast and Weather
But did you know that the rigs we can see, along with other structures far offshore, report on sea conditions and weather, helping to shape forecasts.
Here are a few of them. As we discover others we’ll add them here.
Real Time Wave Data – offshore at Cleveleys
Lots of interesting information about waves is available from the Channel Coastal Observatory website, recorded from a buoy off Cleveleys.
See the wave data here as it monitors weather conditions out at sea.
Here’s an example table, where you can see that on this day the wave height reached about 3.5m out at sea, just after 2pm.
The table tells us that at 9am the wave height at sea was just under 3m (or 9′). Compare that information to the corresponding photo below, taken onshore at 9am. You can see that most of the energy of the waves has dissipated as the sea reaches shore.
The Channel Coastal Observatory website displays information from this buoy and others. They’re owned/operated by the National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes of England. The Network comprises 6 Regional Programmes, each collect data from their own coastal areas. It’s used in coastal engineering and management of sea defences.
Tide Gauge at Heysham
Did you know that there’s a tide gauge at Heysham, which compares the predicted tide heights against actual measurements? It’s part of the UK National Tide Gauge Network. The Environment Agency own and operate it, and record tidal elevations at 44 locations around the UK coast.
The sea moves through a regular annual cycle of low and high tides. We need to be able to predict how prevailing weather will affect the pattern, especially storm conditions.
The red line in the table below shows the predicted tide height, and the blue dots are actual recordings.
National Data Buoy Centre
One of the international systems for collecting offshore information is the National Data Buoy Centre (NDBC).
It’s based in Mississippi and its mission is “to provide marine meteorological, oceanographic and geophysical observations accurately and in real-time to assist warning centres, marine forecasters, the military, ocean platform operators and the public“.
Find out more about the National Data Buoy Centre
Their website opens with a world map (below) marking the position of weather stations. There are 1331 stations (as of 21.4.24). In the previous 8 hours to updating this article 943, of them had reported information.
You can zoom in on the map to look at individual monitoring stations around the UK, or anywhere else in the world that tickles your fancy. Fortunately, there aren’t any tsunami stations in UK waters!
Nearby Data Buoys reporting Weather Conditions at Sea
Observations from data buoys measuring weather conditions at sea include wind direction and speed. But interestingly, to us here on land with a birds eye view of the water, they also include wave height.
- Station number 62124 is on a private industry oil platform off Liverpool/North Wales. It’s currently reporting live weather (as of 21.4.24)
- There’s a Met-Office monitoring buoy off Aberystwyth on the coast of Wales, along with other nearby assets. Take a look at the Met Office weather stations here.
A few years ago, there was a rig which could be seen off the Fylde Coast/Blackpool, home to station number 62125. It’s not transmitting now but follow its link to get data from nearby stations and ships currently recording weather conditions at sea.
Take a look at Coast Watchers
Coast Watchers is a project between Visit Fylde Coast, Wyre Council’s engineering team, and Lancaster University. It’s been running for a few years, in various incarnations. Relaunched in 2024 it’s your chance to contribute your seafront and beach photos to an online Fylde Coast diary archive.
The purpose is to record (and share) what’s happening on our section of shoreline – both with changing views and weather.
Why don’t you join in? Be a Citizen Scientist – all you have to do is upload your own photos!
While you’re here…
Go to the homepage of the Visit Fylde Coast website for the latest updates.
Love the Fylde Coast? Sign up for your email newsletter. Packed full of interesting things it arrives in your inbox all 52 weeks of the year.
Join us on Facebook at our Visit Fylde Coast Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @visitFyldeCoast
Plus hundreds of videos to watch on our YouTube channel – from all over the Fylde Coast!
Booking a stay? Pick a safe, clean and legal place to stay, at the very best price. Book using the Visit Fylde Coast Accommodation guide.
