Saturday
Weather
It’s not that either day is going to be fantastic this weekend, but one of them is looking wetter and slightly windier than the other, and that day is Saturday. Showers will be frequent and squally, most probably with a mix of rain and hail, but they will all be brief, as they are driven eastwards by the force 6-7 WSW’ly wind. Max temperature… j8-9°C, but generally feeling much colder than that due to the wind-chill. However, there will be some sunny intervals, especially in the afternoon, so sheltered areas such as Fermain will still feel pretty pleasant.
Surf and the Water
Huge west-coast waves, which will be completely ravaged by the wind. Maybe try Pembroke for something small and manageable. However, even there, the wind will be quite hard to handle so it will be best left to more experienced surfers. As for swimming, extreme shelter will be required, so the only sensible options will be in the Fermain area. Very big tides, with highs shortly after dawn and dusk. Check the tides page on this site for the details, as well as the Guernsey Met Twitter page for alerts and warnings.
Sunday
Weather
A much drier day than Saturday, but not without the risk of one or two brief showers. The wind will have reduced to just a fresh force 5 WNW’ly, but this will still be strong enough to have a significant chilling effect on the 9-10°C. The morning is looking like the best time to catch some sunshine. The afternoon is less certain, but it’s most likely going to be cloudier, ahead of a weak cold-front crossing the Channel during the night.
Surf and the Water
Surfers might find some novelty fun at Petit Bot (mainly for bodyboarding or bodysurfing), but there will be little else on offer besides a big frothy west-coast mess. Swimmers should once again stick to the Fermain area for the smoothest waters, although Saint’s Bay and Moulin Huet will be almost as sheltered. Very big tides again, with highs shortly after dawn and dusk. Check the tides page on this site for the details, as well as the Guernsey Met Twitter page for alerts and warnings.
Monday and Tuesday
Weather
A high pressure system will be building over Biscay and then Ireland, pushing the weekend’s low-pressure system eastwards into Scandinavia. In-between these two weather systems, there will be a moderate to fresh NW’ly airflow, which will bring a mixture of cloud and sunshine and sunshine to the islands. We are also likely to cop a few showers, but they will only be light and isolated, so it should definitely feel like an improvement on the weekend, with daytime max temps of about 11°C.
Surf and the Water
The tidal range will be just as large as the previous couple of days, but the reduction in wind and swell will mean that the breakfast-time highs are less troublesome. Surfers will have to either settle for a medium-sized west coast mess or something much smaller but super-clean along the south coast. Swimmers will also find the smoothest water along the south coast, but the northern end of the west-coast bays will also offer a few sheltered nooks around the times of high water.
The Rest of Next Week
Weather
As that high pressure system builds over the UK, we will notice that the wind changes to a marginally cooler NNE’ly, but apart from that, it’s not going to be vastly different... the sky a mixed bag of cloud and sunshine and the showers only very light and isolated.
Surf and the Water
The tidal range will continue to shrink, until the Friday high is less than 8m. As for the waves; they will be 1-3 feet and their quality will depend on the strength of the cross-shore wind. Most of the time, the wind will make them too messy to be worth a lot of effort, but there will undoubtedly be a few glassy moments for keen-eyed surfers to take advantage of.
The next forecast update will be on Sunday evening…
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