www.challengeddivers.com A simple resource for UK Shore Divers Taking the accuracy of our weather forecasting, the best bet is to simply look out the window. Mind you, it”s always good to have someone to blame when it all goes wrong, so the weather man can be top of the list. Ever hopeful that the billions of pounds invested in meteorological forecasting can tell us more than it rained yesterday, we should at least make some effort to show we at least tried. So, we know that next Tuesday week we are having summer. Lets plan a day at the seaside, diving.... or do we look at all the places we fancy going, check the tide tables for depths and times, set a date, but keep an eye on the forecast.  We can cope with rain and cold by wrapping up warm, but it is the wind that causes us most concern. It will determine the height and ferocity of the waves and to a certain degree the visibility. Beaufort wind force scale Shore diving, anything above force 4 is uncomfortable and above 6 is very unwise. Always check the wind speed and direction against tides as this can make a huge difference to the dive planning. | Tide Table Links | Reference Books | Weather Prediction Links | Flat Calm. Ripples without crests. Small wavelets. Crests of glassy appearance, not breaking. Large wavelets. Crests begin to break; scattered whitecaps. Small waves with breaking crests. Fairly frequent whitecaps. Moderate waves of some length. Many whitecaps. Small amounts of spray. Long waves begin to form. White foam crests are very frequent. Some airborne spray is present. Sea heaps up. Some foam from breaking waves is blown into streaks along wind direction. Moderate amounts of airborne spray. Moderately high waves with breaking crests forming spindrift. Well-marked streaks of foam are blown along wind direction. Considerable airborne spray. High waves whose crests sometimes roll over. Dense foam is blown along wind direction. Large amounts of airborne spray may begin to reduce visibility. Very high waves with overhanging crests. Large patches of foam from wave crests give the sea a white appearance. Considerable tumbling of waves with heavy impact. Large amounts of airborne spray reduce visibility. Exceptionally high waves. Very large patches of foam, driven before the wind, cover much of the sea surface. Very large amounts of airborne spray severely reduce visibility Huge waves. Sea is completely white with foam and spray. Air is filled with driving spray, greatly reducing visibility 0   Calm 1   Light Air 2   Light Breeze 3   Gentle Breeze 4   Moderate Breeze   5   Fresh Breeze 6   Strong Breeze 7   Near Gale 8   Gale 9   Severe Gale 10  Storm 11  Violent Storm 12  Hurricane <1 1 - 3 4 - 7 8 - 12 13 - 17 18 - 24 25 - 30 31 - 38 39 - 46 47 - 54 55 - 63 64 - 72 >72 Storms tend to start offshore, and listening to the radio 4 shipping forecasts can often give us a clue as to what’s happening around the coast. The map on the right gives areas to those funny names. A quick look at the weather links should give you some idea of what to expect in the local area. Some local authorities give excellent information Wind Strength and Direction Apart from tide height where we don’t want to be wading across slippery rocks or struggling to stay under, the wind strength and direction is of primary concern.  Big winds mean big waves.  A weather shore on a rising tide means steeper waves, not good for beach entry and exits. Wind coming off the sea can help us drift back to base and tends to give shallower waves, as does a rising tide. Lee Shore: The wind is coming off the sea. Weather Shore: The wind is coming off the land. Location, location, location Because of the higgledy piggledy nature of our coastline, the UK can offer many sheltered shore dive sites, or sites within easy travelling distances of each other giving completely different aspects. When planning shore diving, don’t forget to check out other nearby sites as alternatives.