Low pressure will not get a full grip on the North Sea yet. However, some frontal troughs are expected to move through. Overall, relatively calm conditions will dominate this week with some exceptions here and there. Read more details below in this week’s North Sea briefing.
Low pressure is expected to move northeast across southern Finland this afternoon, before moving into northwest Russia tomorrow. An associated trough will affect the North Sea at first, but it is expected to dissipate tomorrow as high pressure over the Alps extends a ridge northwards. Meanwhile, the Iberian peninsula has warmed up a lot in the last few days. A thermal low pressure area that developed over Portugal yesterday is expected to move north into the Bay of Biscay tonight, before arriving over the southern North Sea and the Benelux countries in the night to Thursday. This may trigger some thunderstorms in the area. Low pressure is expected to move into the Baltic Sea later on Thursday, merging with another frontal trough at the same time. This frontal trough belongs to low pressure near Iceland, which is expected to remain fairly stationary until Sunday. In the wake of aforementioned frontal trough, another high pressure ridge is expected to cross the North Sea early on Friday. A secondary trough is expected to move E across the northern and central North Sea later that day. During the weekend, high pressure near the Azores is expected to build another ridge northeast into the North Sea.
The wind speed still reaches 22 – 25 knots over part of the southern North Sea today, under influence of the passing trough. The significant wave height still exceeds 2.5 meter over the northeastern North Sea, close to Norway. Winds will come down tonight and tomorrow as high pressure moves across the North Sea, dropping below 10 knots. Waves will follow and eventually drop to or just below 1.0 meter tomorrow. Winds are expected to increase again on Thursday, but will remain mostly between 10 – 20 knots across the entire North Sea. Waves area expected to fluctuate between 1.0 and 1.5 meter. Thunderstorms over the southern North Sea may result in wind gusts and a temporarily enhanced sea state, and is something to keep in mind. As another trough passes the North Sea on Friday, winds are expected to reach 18 – 22 knots over the southern North Sea and 22 – 28 knots over the central and northern North Sea. The significant wave height is expected to reach around 1.5 meter over the southern North Sea and between 1.5 and 3.0 meter over the central and northern North Sea. Over the weekend, conditions will remain unsettled over the northern North Sea, with winds increasing to 20–25 knots, and potentially reaching 30–35 knots in the far northern areas. Waves are expected to build to 2.5–3.5 meters, with localized peaks of 4.5–5 meters in the northernmost regions.
Despite some low pressure influence this week, it looks like there will still be plenty of opportunities to perform your marine operations. The northern North Sea will experience the highest winds and waves, while the southern North Sea will likely see some adverse weather in the form of thunderstorms on Thursday.
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