Guernsey Weather Fox

Tuesday

Weather

With a top temp of 8-9°C and a light force 3 ENE’ly breeze (perhaps moderate force 4 late afternoon), this will stand out as the least cold and uncomfortable day of this week. It would therefore be good to seize the moment and go for whatever walks/runs/bike-rides that you have perhaps been putting off lately. The weather should be mostly dry, apart from when a band of showers crosses the island southwards. Timing is a little uncertain, but this looks most likely to be around lunchtime, so it might be wise to take a brolly to work with you, even if it’s looking dry when you set off in the morning. Overnight temperatures will fall to around 4-5°C and growers should be aware that a ground frost is likely in places.

Surf and the Water

Flat surf. Best conditions for cold-water swimming will be along the west and south coasts towards the end of the day. Low tide will be around 11:30am and high tide will be around 5:30pm (8.5m).

Wednesday

The wind will veer NE’ly and remain on the cusp of light force 3 and moderate force 4. Temperatures will be a tad lower than on Tuesday (max 7-8°C, min 3-4°C), but the chance of catching a shower will be much lower and the skies might be fairly bright at times. So, all-in-all, it’s still going to be reasonably good for outdoor activity, providing that you are wearing a few layers. Best of all along the south-coast cliff paths, or even down on the beaches there, due to the convenient timing of low tide, right in the middle of the day.

Surf and the Water

Flat surf. Best conditions for cold-water swimming will be along the south coast around the beginning and towards the end of the day. Low tide will be around midday, and the high tides will be shortly before dawn and shortly after dusk (8.7m and 8.6m respectively).

Thursday and Friday

Weather

Wintry showers will wanders southwards across the Channel (a mix of rain, sleet, hail and possibly a little snow). However they will be quite brief and sparse, possibly missing the islands altogether, so it’s safe to say that it will be dry for the vast majority of this time, with skies even becoming sunny or starry at times. So these are likely to be the most beautiful days of the week, but the air will be really cold, with temperatures only peaking around 6°C by day, then falling right down to 1 or 2°C in the night time. Winds will only be light force 3… NE’ly on Thursday, backing N’ly on Friday, then NW’ly on Friday night. Definitely best along the south coast if you’re going for a walk, and be sure to take your camera because the visibility will be fabulous.

Surf and the Water

Flat surf again. Best conditions for cold-water swimming will be along the south coast around the beginning and towards the end of each day. Tides will be fairly large, with highs ranging between 8.6m and 8.9m, shortly before dawn and after dusk.

The Weekend

Weather

Saturday looks like the most shower day of the week. Not only do the showers look frequent, but they are likely to be quite heavy, readily turning from rain into hail or sleet. The wind will be a moderate force 4 NW’ly (perhaps occasionally fresh force 5 and gusty), gradually backing to a WSW’ly direction through the day, then holding that direction and decreasing light force 3 on Sunday. With that new wind direction, Sunday should see a slight recovery in temperature, meaning that the few showers that we catch are much less likely to be wintry. Max temperatures should be around 7°C on Saturday, then 8-9°C on Sunday. Min temperatures will be dependent on overnight wind-strength and cloud-cover but I’m pretty sure that it will be cold enough for ground frost to develop in places.

Surf and the Water

Some big swell is expected next week and there’s just a chance that it will start to show itself before the weekend is over. Saturday will most likely be tiny choppy and very uninviting. Definitely worth keeping an eye on Sunday though. Tides will be medium-large, with highs ranging between 8.1m and 8.8m soon after dawn, and with lows in the early afternoons.