Wind and Weather
Surf predictions
MSW is a detailed, free, long-range surf forecast, available both as a phone app and website. It provides excellent world-wide tools for checking out the surf for trip planning and before heading out to the beach. It is aimed at board surfers, but is equally useful for kayak surfing and planning sea kayaking journeys.
Weather Forecasting apps and websites
WeaWoW is the best weather forecasting app that I have found – and I’ve tried a lot of them. It provides all the basic information plus much more detailed info including cloud cover percentage – which as a photographer – I find particularly useful. You can choose from five weather forecasting providers and I have found MET.no to be the most accurate. AccuWeather, Dark Sky, Weatherbit and World Weather Online are the other choices. This is a free app and there are no adverts, the developers hope you will support them with a donation. Available on the Android Play Store and online.
This is another excellent weather app giving detailed and reliable information. It has a ‘next hour’ rain alarm, useful if you’re about to go out on your bike etc. By using the feature ‘Time Machine’ you can select a location and see what the weather has done in the past. This is particularly useful when planning future trips in unfamiliar locations. Unfortunately for us Android users, Apple has bought this app and from the 1st of June, it will only be available on Apple devices.
Live weather, 14-day Shipping Forecasts for harbours, coastal areas for UK, Europe and Mediterranean. Useful tablet and phone app too.