Marine Radio - Broadcasting Gale/Storm Warnings Page 1 of 4 Marine Radio - Broadcasting Gale/Storm Warnings Warnings are issued by the Met Office when winds of Force 6 or above are expected in UK sea areas The warnings are referred to as: • Strong Wind Warning - winds of F6 to F7 • Gale Warning - winds of F8 to F9 • Storm Warning - winds of F10 to F11 • Hurricane Warning - winds of F12 and above This page describes how and when HMCG broadcast Gale Warnings and above For information on Strong Wind Warnings (F6 - F7), see Weather Information Contents Wind Warnings - Gale and Above First Issue In Force Renewals Updates Definitions Related Links Marine Radio - Broadcasting MSI Weather Information Weather - Met Office - Marine Glossary Wind Warnings - Gale and Above Gale, Storm or Hurricane Warnings These warnings are valid for 24 hours, unless cancelled. Any warning still in force after the 24 hour period will be renewed Warnings may be: • First issue - New Gale, Gale Expected https://mcga.sharepoint.com/sites/OmS/SOP/Pages/Marine-Radio-Broadcasting-Stor... 01/11/2017 Marine Radio - Broadcasting Gale/Storm Warnings Page 2 of 4 • In Force - unchanged within 24 hours of first issue • Renewal - still in force after 24 hours of first issue - i.e. Continuing • Update - i.e. Increased, Decreased, Ceased, Not Now Expected First Issue The first issue of a new Gale Warning must be broadcast on receipt as a Securite message, preceded by a DSC Alert, as soon as possible after receipt If a 'First Issue' warning is received within 15 minutes of a scheduled MSI broadcast, they can be broadcast together - see below DSC Alert and Securite Announcement DSC Alert The DSC Alert should be an ‘All Ships Safety Call’ and can be sent from multiple or individual aerials, depending on the warning coverage Multiple Aerials The response box should be set to ‘Ch16’ as this is where the information regarding the channel on which the broadcast will be made for different geographical areas is provided Single Aerial The response box should be set to the channel on which the broadcast will be made Securite Announcement The appropriate aerial for the warning coverage area is selected and the Securite announcement made on Channel 16 Example Broadcast ​SECURITE​-​SECURITE​-​SECURITE​ ALL​STATIONS​-​ALL​STATIONS​-​ALL​STATIONS This​is MIlford​Haven​Coastguard,​Milford​Haven​Coastguard,​Milford​Haven​ Coastguard For​a​new​Gale​Warning​for​the​sea​areas​Lundy​and​Fastnet Listen​VHF​CH23 This​is​MIlford​Haven​Coastguard,​Out The announcement will tell vessels what VHF channel to listen to, which will depend on the geographical area in question Broadcast Channel(s) The channel used to broadcast the actual warning should be an appropriate VHF working channel or one of the standard MSI broadcasting channels 10, 23, 84 or 86 and be appropriate to the subject area First Issue Receipt Coincides with Scheduled MSI Broadcast https://mcga.sharepoint.com/sites/OmS/SOP/Pages/Marine-Radio-Broadcasting-Stor... 01/11/2017 Marine Radio - Broadcasting Gale/Storm Warnings Page 3 of 4 If a 'First Issue' warning is received within 15 minutes of a scheduled MSI broadcast, the two can be amalgamated. In this instance a preceding DSC safety call should be made for the warning (as above) and the Channel 16 announcement include information regarding both Example Announcement on CH16 ​SECURITE​-​SECURITE​-​SECURITE ALL​STATIONS​-​ALL​STATIONS​-​ALL​STATIONS This​is MIlford​Haven​Coastguard,​MIlford​Haven​Coastguard,​MIlford​Haven​Coastguard For​a​new​Gale​Warning​for​the​sea​areas​Lundy​and​Fastnet​and​a​Maritime​ Safety​Information​broadcast​ Listen​VHF​CH23 This​is​MIlford​Haven​Coastguard​Out MSI Broadcast Content The weather elements of the MSI broadcast may or may not include reference to the new warning. If it doesn't, then sensible written adjustments should be made in the text to make reference where appropriate In Force In-force warnings are to be included as part of the routine MSI broadcast Renewals Renewed warnings are to be included as part of the routine MSI broadcast Updates The Met Office will issue a new warning if there is a significant change in the wind severity and/or direction in an existing warning area Increased Updates where the severity of a previously issued warning has increased or the wind direction is expected to back or veer by 45 Degrees or more should be treated as First Issue warnings and broadcast as such Decreased Updates where the wind force has decreased need only be included in the next MSI broadcasts Ceased / Not Now Expected These warnings need only be broadcast once, in the next scheduled MSI broadcast Definitions See the Met Office page Marine Forecasts Glossary for definitions of terms etc. Printed from OmS at 16:36 on the 01/11/2017 Revision: 1.0 - Published: Once printed this document is not considered the latest version by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Copyright Maritime and Coastguard Agency https://mcga.sharepoint.com/sites/OmS/SOP/Pages/Marine-Radio-Broadcasting-Stor... 01/11/2017 Marine Radio - Broadcasting Gale/Storm Warnings Page 4 of 4 https://mcga.sharepoint.com/sites/OmS/SOP/Pages/Marine-Radio-Broadcasting-Stor... 01/11/2017.