St. Cuthbert's House

The weather does what it will

It's absolutely imperative that you abide by the safe crossing times when planning to visit Lindisfarne. Please, do heed them. A couple of these pictures to the left show what to expect if you don't. The tide, and the weather, play a significant part in the rhythm of life on the coast.

High and low tide times can be checked here. (North Sunderland is the proper name of our harbour.) You can walk most of the beaches at all but the very highest Spring tides, but there may not be much sand to walk on when the tide is up. The weather forecast is further down this page.

The Met Office website has very detailed information about Britain's regional weather variations. They show that Northumberland receives an average of 600mm of rainfall per year, whilst the west coast of England (Lake District) receives an average of 3000mm, the coastal areas of Devon and Cornwall receive around 1000mm, and the wettest parts of the UK, in the Scottish Highlands receives around 4000mm. Here's a couple of direct quotes from that site:

'There is a decrease (in rainfall) as the land falls eastwards, such that the east coast is one of the driest parts of the UK with less than 600 mm on the Northumbrian coast...
Average annual sunshine durations range from almost 1500 hours on the Northumberland coast.. compared with values of 1750 hours along the south coast of England...'

So although it can certainly be cooler 'up north' it's no wonder we're so cheerful - we get almost as much sunshine as the south coast, but only about half as much rain. Why would you go anywhere else?!

OK, we know it's sometimes cold, and wet! And because we're a coastal community, the weather and the sea play a large part in the rhythm of the place, even if this is less marked than when life revolved entirely around the harbour.

But just as the most beautiful people are often at their best when they're not even looking at the camera, we think you get to see a different side of Northumberland - just as beautful in its own way - when the weather is rumbling. Our beaches may be golden and their waters frequently turquoise, but they're a delight even when skies are low, and when the sea is grey-green and whipped by the wind into dramatic frothy peaks and hollows. You'll almost certainly have it to yourself, and if you return feeling braced and wind-lashed, and that you really deserve the first drink of the day, then so be it...

Here are a couple of weather forecasts from different agencies - you can choose to take notice of whichever one you like best!

There's an interesting site to waste a few minutes with here. It shows live shipping information, and we like to see what ships are sailing by. Maybe you will too. The red 'exclamation marks' are lighthouses, and the coloured arrows are ships. Click on them to see details.