For centuries going boating safely has relied on making the right decision in terms of the weather, so where do we get our information?

Weather

Knowing where to get weather information is key. On this page we’ve drawn together some handy resources which are used by our Instructors when they are making decisions. We hope that you find it useful.

As an instructor how we look at weather and get the information we each need will depend on: 1) Personal preferences 2) Where we are going 3) How variable the weather presently is or is likely to be,

For example if staying in Lymington/Poole Harbour/close to shore then the BBC Website forecast for Poole/Lymington will probably suffice.

If the weather is variable then backing that up with perhaps the inshore forecast and XC Weather makes sense. If going further afield or into remote areas then these plus Windguru gives that bit more useful information. If wanting to see how the weather is likely to evolve then a review of the inshore forecast, shipping forecast and synoptics for the coming days is sensible. As you can see it is not an exact science but a good tip is to look at forecasts even when you are not boating to build an understanding so when you do need to make decisions you are better at it.

Live weather
wh-cqw Cobbs Quay Weather – our home base – here
wh-phw Poole Harbour Weather (Live data from Poole Harbour) – here
Yacht Havens Lymington Yacht Haven Weather – Live information – here
wh-pyc Poole Yacht Club weather station – here
wh-bramblenet Bramblemet – (live from the Bramble Bank) – here
Local weather
wh-bbc Poole Weather – here
wh-bbc Lymington Weather – here
wh-winguru Popular with windsurfers and kitesurfers a simple to use site – here
XC-Weather-125 Simple and generally very accurate – here
Weather Forecasts
wh-bbc Coastal Forecast – here
wh-bbc Shipping Forecast – here
wh-bbc Inshore Waters Forecast – here
wh-metoffice Shipping & Gales Forecast – here
wh-metoffice Inshore Waters Forecast – here
Explanations and terminology
wh-metoffice “Gale Force 8” – what does this really mean in terms of wind speed and wave height – here
wh-metoffice Want to understand what all the terms mean in the Shipping and Inshore Waters Forecasts. Understand what words like ‘Imminent’ and ‘Soon’ really mean – here
Synoptic charts & other sites ~ for the more experienced
wh-mark-stronge A Weather portal with many sources of weather – here
wh-synoptic Synoptic – +00Hrs – here