Southampton Weather

9°C

Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom

Updated: 29/10/2026 02:35

Navigation

UK Extremes

High Temp

17.2° C

Charlwood

Low Temp

-1.5° C

Cairngorm

Precipitation

14.5 mm

Achnagart

Wind Gust

93.2 mph

Aonach Mor

Site Updates

Inshore Waters Forecast

Live • fetched from the Met Office • Southampton is in “Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis”

Valid 00:00 (UTC) on Thu 29 Oct 2026 to 00:00 (UTC) on Fri 30 Oct 2026 • Issued 00:01 (UTC) on Thu 29 Oct 2026 • Cached 02:26

Key — hover any icon or map pin for details:

Wind direction & Beaufort force
(green = light, amber = moderate, red = strong/gale)

Sea state
(more/taller lines = rougher)

Visibility
(fewer/dashed bars = poorer)

Map pin: our area /
red = strong wind warning

BREEZY / MODERATE CONDITIONS

Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (covers the Solent & Southampton Water)

Wind

Sea State

Visibility

Next 24 hours: Variable 3 or less, becoming east or southeast, 3 to 5. Slight, occasionally moderate at first. Drizzle at first. Moderate or good.

Outlook, following 24 hours: East or southeast 3 or 4, occasionally 5 for a time. Slight, occasionally moderate later. Fair. Good, occasionally poor.

The Inshore Waters Forecast is a Met Office product, issued four times a day (0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC) on behalf of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, covering the coastal waters of the entire British Isles out to 12 nautical miles offshore — divided into 19 named stretches of coast. Southampton and the Solent fall within “Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis”, highlighted above.

Map of the 19 Inshore Waters Areas

A real map of the UK, showing the reference point for each of the 19 Met Office inshore areas, numbered to match the table further down the page. Click a pin to jump to its row below, or click an area's name in the table to jump back up and zoom in on its pin. Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis (our area) is the larger blue pin; any area currently under a strong wind warning shows red.

General Situation

High pressure will be slow moving over the Continent throughout the forecast period, maintaining a mainly southerly flow, with relatively light winds at times in south. Low pressure in the Atlantic will push frontal troughs later into the western areas.

How This Differs From The Shipping Forecast

Both come from the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, and both cover wind, sea state, weather and visibility — but they're aimed at different audiences. The Shipping Forecast covers large open-sea areas (like “Wight”, which stretches well out into the Channel) aimed at commercial and larger vessels further from land. The Inshore Waters Forecast instead covers a narrow strip hugging the coast — out to 12 nautical miles — split into far more, smaller areas, making it more locally relevant for the kind of sailing, fishing and leisure boating that actually happens close to shore. A force 6 gale well out in sea area Wight might barely trouble the sheltered waters of Southampton Water itself — this forecast is the one that actually reflects that.

All Inshore Areas (Next 24 Hours)

Area	Conditions	24 Hour Forecast
1. Cape Wrath to Rattray Head including Orkney		Southwesterly 4 or 5, backing southerly or southeasterly, 3 to 5. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough until later west of Orkney. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
2. Rattray Head to Berwick upon Tweed		South or southwest 3 to 5. Slight, occasionally moderate in north and smooth in south. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
3. Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby		Southwest backing south 3 or 4, occasionally 2 later. Smooth or slight. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
4. Whitby to Gibraltar Point		Southwest backing south or southeast, 3 or 4, occasionally 2 later. Smooth or slight. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
5. Gibraltar Point to North Foreland		Southwesterly 3 or 4, becoming variable 3 or less, then southeasterly, 2 to 4 later. Smooth or slight. Drizzle at first. Moderate or good.
6. North Foreland to Selsey Bill		Southwesterly 2 to 4, becoming variable 3 or less, then easterly or southeasterly, 3 or 4 later. Smooth or slight. Drizzle at first. Moderate or good.
7. Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis		Variable 3 or less, becoming east or southeast, 3 to 5. Slight, occasionally moderate at first. Drizzle at first. Moderate or good.
8. Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly		South or southwest 3 or 4, backing southeast 3 to 5. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough at first near Isles of Scilly. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
9. Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel		Southwest backing south or southeast, 3 or 4, occasionally 5 later in west. Slight or moderate. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
10. St Davids Head to Great Orme Head, including St Georges Channel		Southwest backing south or southeast, 3 to 5. Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth east of Anglesey. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
11. Great Orme Head to the Mull of Galloway		Southwest backing south or southeast, 4 or 5. Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in Liverpool Bay. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
12. Isle of Man Strong wind warning		Southwest 3 or 4, backing south 4 or 5, then south or southeast, 5 or 6 later. Slight, becoming slight or moderate later. Mainly fair. Mainly good.
13. Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough Strong wind warning		Southwest 3 or 4, backing south or southeast 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later. Slight or moderate. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
14. Mull of Galloway to Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and North Channel Strong wind warning		Southwesterly 3 or 4, backing southerly or southeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later in North Channel. Slight or moderate. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
15. Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point Strong wind warning		Southwesterly 4 or 5, backing southerly or southeasterly 5 or 6, occasionally 7 later in west. Moderate or rough, occasionally slight in sheltered east. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
16. The Minch Strong wind warning		Southwesterly backing southerly or southeasterly, 5 or 6, occasionally 7 later. Slight or moderate, but moderate or rough in entrances. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
17. Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath Strong wind warning		Southwesterly backing southerly or southeasterly, 5 or 6, occasionally 7 later. Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough later in southwest. Showers at first. Moderate or good.
18. Shetland Isles Strong wind warning		Southwest backing south 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first and 3 later. Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough at first in north and west, becoming slight in sheltered eastern waters. Showers at first. Mainly good.
19. Channel Islands		South to southeast 1 to 3, backing southeast to east 3 to 4 by mid-morning, perhaps locally 5 mid-channel later. Smooth to slight, with a low swell. Fair or fine. Good or very good.

Reading It

Each area gets a 24-hour forecast plus an outlook for the following 24 hours, covering wind (direction and Beaufort force), sea state, general weather and visibility, in that order. A “Strong wind warning” flag means Force 6 or above is expected somewhere in that area during the first 24 hours — worth taking seriously for anything smaller than a ferry.

The three small icons next to each area (and above, for the Solent) are drawn straight from that same wording — not a separate data source. The arrow shows wind direction with its Beaufort force underneath, coloured green (light), amber (moderate/fresh) or red (strong/gale); the wave icon shows sea state, with more and taller lines meaning rougher water; the circle-and-bars icon shows visibility, with fewer or dashed bars meaning poorer visibility. The coloured strip above the Solent box gives the same picture at a glance: green for calm, amber for breezy, red for a strong wind warning.

Source: Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency • See also: Shipping Forecast (Text) • Shipping Forecast (Audio) • Local Tides • UK Wave Height