Forecasts on Marine Radio from Western European MRCCs

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About this page

A description of the content of marine weather forecasts broadcast on UK VHF/MF at schedules listed on another page.

Preamble

The primary method of broadcasting Marine Safety Information (MSI) is NAVTEX which can provide coverage up to around 400 nautical miles out to sea although this depends on many factors. This service is complemented by radio telephony with networks of remote radio sites around coasts providing VHF and MF coverage out to 30 miles and 150 miles respectively. Marine weather forecasts are broadcast on VHF and MF radio at schedules listed here for much of western Europe.

Relates pages

RADIO TELEPHONY BROADCASTS

Full MSI broadcasts are made by Radio Telephony (R/T) twice a day. A new Inshore Waters Forecast and any Gale Warnings will be broadcast every 6 hours and will be repeated together with any Strong Wind Warnings (SWW) three hours later. The broadcast times shown in the schedules on another page are in local 'clock' time i.e. they will remain unchanged throughout the year.

NOTE The broadcast of MSI may be interrupted or delayed as a result of Search and Rescue operations. Maritime Safety Information is pre-recorded,

often by different Coastguard Officers. A single MSI transmission may include different voices and accents. This is not an indication that transmissions are from different locations.

MSI is broadcast 3-hourly on VHF Channels 23, 84 or 86, and exceptionally Channel 10. This prevents mutual interference and allows one operator to broadcast simultaneously on two or more aerials. This is important especially when some broadcasts take up to 20 minutes and in order to minimise the delay in transmitting the information nationally.

METEOROLOGICAL WARNINGS

Gale warnings for Sea Areas are broadcast as soon as possible after receipt and are valid for 24 hours unless cancelled. After 24 hours a gale warning still in force will be renewed. Strong wind warnings for Inshore Waters are also broadcast as soon as possible after receipt. Both are kept under continuous review by forecasters.

Strong wind warnings will only be issued if the wind in an Inshore Waters forecast area is now expected to exceed force 6 but was not identified in the previous Inshore Waters forecast. These will be broadcast on receipt and may be included in the repetition broadcast; they are valid until the next new Inshore Waters forecast. Users are encouraged to listen to these broadcasts as an alternative to calling co-ordination centres for meteorological information.

Gale warnings, Inshore Waters Forecasts and Shipping Forecasts can also be accessed from the Met Office Web Site and on the BBC site available on both as text only or printable versions for quick downloading.

Note that a gale warning is a forecast while a cancellation is a statement of fact. This leads, sometimes, to the impression that forecasters are �Playing safe.�

This is not and should not be the case; to over-warn is to cry wolf and devalue the warnings as a whole.

The �rules� for UK shipping forecast gale warnings are strict

A warning MUST be issued if the forecaster considers that a gale force 8 or more MAY occur somewhere within a sea area within the next 12 hours.
A gale warning can be issued if gales are expected between 12 and 24 hours ahead. BUT
In case of uncertainty, the forecast may contain the word ??.perhaps gale 8 later?.? without the need to issue a warning.
A gale warning is cancelled when the forecaster is reasonably certain that there are no longer gales force winds anywhere in a sea area
Warnings are self cancelling after 24 hours but may be renewed

VHF and MF

Three routines are used for VHF MSI broadcasts :-

Routine A - VHF and MF, Twice a day. Full Maritime Safety Information broadcast, including new Inshore Waters Forecast and Outlook, Gale Warnings, Shipping Forecast, WZ Navigation Warnings including negative Tide Surge Warnings , SUBFACTS & GUNFACTS where appropriate, and the 3 Day Fisherman?s Forecast when and where appropriate.

Routine B - VHF only, Twice a day. New Inshore Waters Forecast plus Gale Warnings.

Routine C - VHF only, Four times a day. Three hour after a Routine A or B broadcast. Repetition of Inshore Waters Forecast and Gale Warnings as per previous Schedule A or B Broadcast plus new Strong Wind Warnings.

Routine D MF. only when gale warnings are in force. Repetition of Inshore Waters Forecast, Gale Warnings

Schedules, VHF channels, MF frequencies and broadcast content are on another page.

Fisherman's 3 day forecast

MRCC	Shetland	Northern North Sea including Sea Areas: Fair Isle, Viking, Cromarty and Forties.
MRCC	Aberdeen	Northern North Sea including Sea Areas: Viking, Cromarty, Forth, Forties, Fisher and Fair Isle.
MRCC	Humber	Southern North Sea including Sea Areas: Tyne Dogger, German Bight, Humber and Thames.
MRCC	Falmouth	South Western Approaches including Sea Areas: Plymouth, Fastnet, Shannon, Sole and Fitzroy.
MRCC	Stornoway	North Western Approaches including Malin, Hebrides, Rockall, Faeroes.

When Abroad

Similar forecasts can be obtained from the local MRCCs. For Schedules see ALRS, Almanacs or the National Met Service Internet sites.

Several Western European VHF services are listed below, Other European areas VHF forecast services are on other pages as indicated, Times are UTC except where noted.

For latest schedules of all French broadcasts see the M�t�o France site.

See texts of French forecasts here.
For latest Spanish broadcast schedules, see the Spanish Met service site.
See Spanish Atlantic and Spanish Mediterranean texts here.
These links and many others throughout the world will be found on my GMDSS page.

France

French, CROSS, stations broadcasting Inshore waters forecasts (in French). Forecasts cover up to 20 M offshore.

Bulletin	Transmiteer, VHF Channel. (LT)
The Belgian frontier to the baie de Somme. (CROSS Gris-Nez)	VHF - Ch 79 Dunkerque 7 h 20, 16 h 03, 19 h 20 Gris-Nez[[<<] ]7 h 10, 15 h 45, 19 h 10
The baie de Somme to Cap de la Hague (CROSS Gris-Nez)	VHF Ch - 79 Ailly 7 h 03, 15 h 33, 19 h 03
Cap de la Hague to Pointe de Penmarc�h (CROSS Jobourg)	VHF - Ch 80 Antifer 8 h 03, 16 h 33, 20 h 03 Port-en-Bessin 7 h 45, 16 h 15, 19 h 45 Jobourg 7 h 33, 16 h 03, 19 h 33
Warning for sea areas Antifer to Casquets	VHF - Ch 80 Jobourg on receipt, then at every half hour H+20 and H+50 (in English)
Cap de la Hague to Pointe de Penmarc�h (CROSS Jobourg)	VHF - Ch 80 Jobourg 7 h 15, 15 h 45, 19 h 15 Granville 7 h 03, 15 h 33, 19 h 03
Cap de la Hague to Pointe de Penmarc�h (CROSS Corsenl)	VHF - Ch 79 Raz 4 h 45, 7 h 03, 11 h 03,15 h 33, 19h03 Stiff 5 h 03, 7 h 15, 11 h 15 15 h 45, 19h15 Batz 5 h 15, 7 h 33, 11 h 33,16 h 03, 19 h 33 Bodic 5 h 33, 7 h 45, 11 h 45, 16 h 15, 19 h 45 Fr�hel 7 h 45, 8 h 03, 12 h 03, 16 h 33, 20 h 03 from 1st May to 30 September.
Pointe de Penmarc�h to Anse de l�Aiguillon (CROSS Etel)	VHF - Ch 80 Penmarc�h 7 h 03, 15 h 33, 19 h 03 Groix 7 h 15, 15 h 45, 19 h 15 Belle-Ile 7 h 33, 16 h 03, 19 h 33 Saint-Nazaire 7 h 45, 16 h 15, 19 h 45 Yeu 8 h 03, 16 h 33, 20 h 03 Les Sables d�Olonne 8 h 15, 16 h 45, 20 h 15
De l�anse de l�Aiguillon to the Spanish Frontier (CROSS Etel)	VHF - Ch 79 Chassiron 7 h 03, 15 h 33, 19 h 03 Soulac 7 h 15, 15 h 45, 19 h 15 Cap-Ferret 7 h 33, 16 h 03, 19 h 33 Contis 7 h 45, 16 h 15, 19 h 45 Biarritz 8 h 03, 16 h 33, 20 h 03

The Baltic

For details see my Baltic Weather Forecast page

Icelandic Waters

See the Iceland page.

The Mediterranean

See the Mediterranean Weather Forecast page.

Channel Isles, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany

(NB Denmark only broadcasts on MF. Portugal broadcasts weather forecasts on MF although there are some port forecasts on Ch 11 and Radionaval may be heard on Ch 11 from Monsanto, try 0805 and 2005, or Sagres, try 0835 and 2035 UTC.)

Station	VHF Ch / Times UTC unless stated	Areas
Jersey Radio	25, 82 at 0645 / 0745 / 0845 ( LT) and 1245 / 1845 / 2245	Area bounded by 50�N, 3�W and the French Coast
Irish Coastguard	02, 04, 23, 24, 26, 28, 83, 87 3 hourly from 0103	Coastal waters to 30 NM and Irish Sea
Oostende	27, at 0820 / 1720	Dover and Thames
Dutch CG	0940/2140	Dover, Thames, Humber, German Bight, Dogger, Fisher, Forties and Viking in English. 24 hour forecast
Dutch CG	23, 83 at 0805/1305/1905/2305 ( LT)	Coastal waters (in Dutch and English)
German CG	23, 83 at 0630 / 1730	Fisher and German Bight (in German)

German Traffic Centres give regular and frequent updates of weather conditions in the approaches to ports and harbours

Atlantic Spain

Spanish stations broadcasting Sea Area forecast in English and Inshore waters forecasts, sometimes in English

Station	VHF Ch	Times
Bilbao	10	Even hours + 33
Santander	11	0245 / 0645 / 1045 / 1445 / 1845 / 2245
Gij�n	10, 15, 17	Even hours + 15
Coru�a	13, 67, 15	Even hours + 15
Finisterre	11	Even hours + 33
Vigo	10, 67, 15	Even hours + 15
Tarifa	10, 67,73	Even hours + 15
Alge�iras	74	0315 / 0515 / 0715 / 1115 / 1515 / 1915 / 2315

Spanish stations broadcasting Inshore Waters forecasts in Spanish.

Times of broadcast	Station and Channel
0840 / 1240 / 2010	Pasajes 27, Bilbao 26, Santander 24, Cabo Pe�as 26, Navia 60, Cabo Ortegal 2, A Coru�a 26, Finisterre 22, Vigo 65, La Guardia 21
0833 / 1133 / 2003	C�diz 26, Tarifa 21

Sometimes there are extra broadcasts to this schedule, in English, announced on Ch 16. As ever, it pays to keep a listening watch.

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