Weather Forecast Areas

METAREAs

METAREAs or NAVAREAs  are regions of the oceans for which specified nations have the responsibility for the co-ordination of the provision of meteorological and other marine safety information.  For METAREAs see the INMARSAT coverage map which shows all METAREAs worldwide. METAREAS I, II, III and IV, covering the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean are the responsibility of the UK, France, Spain and the USA respectively.

METAREAs are usually divided into sea areas for weather forecast broadcast 

using INMARSAT-C, NAVTEX, VHF, MF and HF/SSB radio. Co-ordination of the definition and naming of sea areas come sunder the IMO NAVTEX Co-ordination Panel. 

Some guiding principles are that a sea area should not straddle two or more  METAREAs and that names of sea areas should, as far as possible relate to well known geographical locations or areas. Although the names as used by the various Met services might differ due to national spelling, they should be recognisable.

Harmonisation of Sea Areas

In  February, 2002  several changes took place in METAREAs I and II Sea Areas.   This is similar to the harmonisation implemented by countries bordering the North Sea some years previously. For the most part this was a tidying up operation designed to remove inconsistencies in sea areas used by different countries and for different purposes. At the time this caused a furore in the British press because of the "loss" of sea area Finisterre from the shipping forecast.

There were, for example, three different sets of forecast areas for the Bay of Biscay.  The UK had one area, the Spanish had  three. The French used a different set of three areas and complicated matter further by using different names in the bulletin au large on NAVTEX from those used in the bulletins

au grands large INMARSAT METAREA II forecasts.  Some areas used in forecasts by Radio France Internationale were different again.  These anomalies have now been removed.  See Martin Stubbs' FAQ for more background.

The boundaries between Sole and Finisterre and between Plymouth and Biscay were aligned along the border of METAREA I and II ie along 48 27' N.   

METAREA I - UK Sea Areas for NAVTEX and INMARSAT-C broadcasts

The name Fitzroy is an exception to the general rule for naming sea areas because there are no geographical features or locations in this area suitable for the purpose. Exceptionally, therefore the UK now uses the name of its first Director and a founding father of marine weather prediction.

Note that the rule about common sea areas is broken by the UK for its areas within METAREA II.  The UK has not harmonised in this area with the other countries because this would have involved using more areas and resulted in the

On the right hand side is a chart of the North Atlantic areas for which the UK Met Office  issues forecasts on the INMARSAT-C  SafetyNET^TM for the areas shown. The dotted area shows the extent of the area for which the UK is responsible ie that part of the whole that is within METAREA I. The UK High Seas forecast covers  the slightly larger area shown by the solid lines. 

NAVTEX broadcasts from Valentia and Malin Head include the texts for the East Central Section (Valentia) and the East Northern and Central Sections (Malin Head).  See the NAVTEX page.

The BBC Weather site shows texts of all UK NAVTEX forecasts as well as much other useful marine weather information.

METAREA II -  Sea Areas used for INMARSAT-C, NAVTEX, VHF, MF and HF/SSB broadcasts

A common set of sea areas is used by France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco in METAREA II, the eastern North Atlantic, south of .48 27' N.

A point worth emphasising here is that French and Spanish forecasts for Biscay should be more specific than the BBC Shipping Forecast or the UK NAVTEX since they divide the area into 3 parts. Similarly for the new FitzRoy which is divided into two by French and Spanish forecasts.  The BBC broadcast for FitzRoy and Biscay should, therefore be seen as a back-up if reception by NAVTEX, for example, has failed.  However, the BBC shipping forecast is still worth monitoring because it is written anew every 6 hours using all the latest data and the latest computer runs of the numerical weather prediction models.  It can, thus, give early indication of changes to forecast development. 

NAVTEX Areas used on INMARSAT-C and by Monaco 3AC on HF/SSB are shown on the Météo France website and copied elsewhere on this site.

Sea areas used by Météo France in their Bulletins au Large on Radio France Inter (162 kHz) and the France Bleu network of medium wave stations are shown at METAREAS I, II and III.  This shows, also, the French names for Sea Areas in the English Channel (la Manche). For a chart showing the all the Atlantic areas used by the Spanish Met service click here

Areas used in broadcasts by Radio France Internationale on HF voice radio use areas are shown at Western Europe to the Caribbean.

METAREA III Sea Areas used for INMARSAT-C, NAVTEX, VHF, MF and HF/SSB broadcasts

Common sea area names are used by France and Spain in the Western Mediterranean. The names are recognisable even if spelt a little differently eg Sardaigne and Cerdeña;  HOWEVER, Italian NAVTEX areas are not the same as those used by other Mediterranean countries. Conformity is not in the Italian psyche.

The chart at METAREA III shows sea areas use in the Mediterranean by INMARSAT-C forecasts produced by France and Greece.  Subsets of these are used in NAVTEX broadcasts by France, Greece, Spain, Crete and by Monaco 3AC on HF/SSB. The same areas are used by most VHF forecasts, the Italians being an exception..................... r

Texts of Forecasts

It can be useful to see texts of forecasts for all these areas.  Partly this can help to be prepared for what you will read or hear later.  In the case of forecasts broadcast in French or Spanish, it can help to be aware of the terminology. 

Texts can be found from my  GMDSS page .  A fairly comprehensive list of  French weather terms is also to be found on another page of this site.