North Sea weather: High pressure dominates over the North Sea

A low-pressure system over Iceland will move northeast, with an associated frontal trough passing over the northern North Sea on Tuesday.

At the same time, a high-pressure system over the United Kingdom will slowly shift northeast over the North Sea on Tuesday. As the northeasterly winds funnel through the southern North Sea and the English Channel, wind speeds of 25-30 knots can be expected in the area (see Figure 1). Regarding wave heights, waves up to 2 meters are likely over the southern North Sea and the English Channel.

Figure 1: Wind speed in knots according to the American GFS model on Tuesday, September 17^th, at 18UTC.

Conditions will improve as the high-pressure system moves further northeast, reaching southern Scandinavia by Thursday, where it will linger until Friday before dissipating. Meanwhile, another high will develop southeast of Iceland on Thursday, shifting northeast and dissipating over the Norwegian Sea on Friday. A remaining ridge will extend over the central and northern North Sea and Scandinavia afterwards.

While high pressure continues to dominate most of the North Sea, a low-pressure system will develop over the Bay of Biscay on Friday. This low will slowly move north, with an associated trough extending towards the southern North Sea from Friday onward. The trough is not expected to significantly impact the weather conditions.