Mumblesmetdata.net

The Sun

The Sun, also known as Sol, is a star at the center of the solar system. It is a white star that gives off different types of energy such as infrared energy (heat), ultraviolet lightradio waves and light. It also gives off a stream of particles, which reaches Earth as “solar wind“. The source of all this energy is nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is the reaction in the star which turns hydrogen into helium and makes huge amounts of energy. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma.

The Sun looks yellow to people on Earth, but it is really white. This happens because the air around the Earth scatters sunlight. The blue and green colors in the sunlight spread out more than the red and yellow colors. Because of this, the light that reaches our eyes is mostly red and yellow, making the Sun appear yellow. If we were in space, where there is no air to scatter the light, we would see that the Sun is actually white.

The Sun is a star like many others in our Milky Way galaxy. The Sun is a type of star called a G-type main-sequence star based on its spectral class.[15]

The Sun is about 4.5 billion years old.

The Sun is about a hundred times as wide as the Earth. It has a mass of 1.9891×1030 kg. This is 333,000 times the mass of the Earth. 1.3 million Earths can fit inside the Sun.[16] The Sun fuses about 600 million tons of hydrogen into helium every second.

The Sun is the main source of energy for the Earth. This energy is made deep inside the Sun in a process called nuclear fusion. Four hydrogen atoms are fused together to make one helium atom. Some of the leftover matter turns into energy. This is the same way energy is released in a hydrogen bomb.

It can take between 10,000 and 170,000 years for the energy in the core of the Sun to escape.

Current conditions

13/02/2026, 10:05
10.0
°C
11.0
°C
7.7
°C
1024.2
hPa
99
%
6.0
mph
6.0
mph
max
0.0
mm/h
0.3
mm
today
Friday
February 13, 2026
Mumbles
Sunrise: 7:33 AM
Sunset: 5:26 PM

What is UV radiation?

UV radiation is an invisible form of energy from the sun and artificial sources like tanning beds, with shorter wavelengths than visible light.While it’s crucial for the body to produce Vitamin D, excessive exposure damages skin and eye cells by damaging DNA, increasing the risk of skin cancer and premature aging. Different types of UV rays (UVA and UVB) have varying effects but both are harmful, and the risk depends on factors like time of day, season, and location.  
Click here for local UV forecast.

The Moon

The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon’s orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period (lunar day) at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth. The Moon’s gravitational pull—and, to a lesser extent, the Sun‘s—are the main drivers of Earth’s tides.

The lunar surface is covered in lunar dust and marked by mountains, impact craters, their ejecta, ray-like streaks, rilles and, mostly on the near side of the Moon, by dark maria (“seas”), which are plains of cooled lava. These maria were formed when molten lava flowed into ancient impact basins. The Moon is, except when passing through Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse, always illuminated by the Sun, but from Earth the visible illumination shifts during its orbit, producing the lunar phases.[18] The Moon is the brightest celestial object in Earth’s night sky. This is mainly due to its large angular diameter, while the reflectance of the lunar surface is comparable to that of asphalt. The apparent size is nearly the same as that of the Sun, allowing it to cover the Sun completely during a total solar eclipse. From Earth about 59% of the lunar surface is visible over time due to cyclical shifts in perspective (libration), making parts of the far side of the Moon visible.

Shipping and inshore water stuff.

The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecast dates back over 150 years. There are currently two or three broadcasts per day, at 00:48, 05:34, and 17:54 (weekends only) UK local time.[1][2]

In the forecast, the waters around the British Isles are divided into 31 sea areas, also known as weather areas. The forecast begins by listing areas with gale warnings, followed by a general synopsis of pressure areas, then a forecast for each individual sea area covering wind speed and direction, precipitation, and visibility. Extended forecasts at 00:48 and 05:34 include information from coastal weather stations and an inshore waters forecast.

The unique and distinctive presentation style of these broadcasts has led to their attracting an audience much wider than that directly interested in maritime weather conditions. It is frequently referred to and parodied in British popular culture.

History of the Shipping Forecast

 

The Shipping Forecast was established by Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, the first professional weather forecaster, captain of HMS Beagle and founder of the Met Office.[3] In October 1859, the steam clipper Royal Charter was wrecked in a strong storm off Anglesey; 450 people lost their lives. In response to this loss, FitzRoy introduced a warning service for shipping in February 1861, using telegraph communications. This remained the United Kingdom’s Met Office primary responsibility for some time afterward. In 1911, the Met Office began issuing marine weather forecasts which included gale and storm warnings via radio transmission for areas around the British Isles.[4] This service was discontinued during and following the First World War

Inshore waters 0f the UK.

Click here to see the forecast then scroll down to your particular area. 

The inshore coastal areas of the United Kingdom are are 15 fixed stretches of coastline that are used in weather forecasting especially for wind-powered or small coastal craft. Each area is delimited by geographical features such as headlands, seaports or estuaries. When used as part of a broadcast weather forecast they are mentioned in the same order, clockwise round the mainland starting and finishing in the north west of the island of Great Britain. The Isle of Man is included in the forecasts but it is not part of the United Kingdom.

List of inshore coastal areas

  1. Cape Wrath – Rattray Head including Orkney
  2. Rattray Head – Berwick on Tweed
  3. Berwick on Tweed – Whitby
  4. Whitby – Gibraltar Point
  5. Gibraltar Point – North Foreland
  6. North Foreland – Selsey Bill
  7. Selsey Bill – Lyme Regis
  8. Lyme Regis – Land’s End including the Isles of Scilly
  9. Land’s End – St David’s Head including the Bristol Channel
  10. St David’s Head – Great Orme‘s Head including St George’s Channel
  11. Great Orme’s Head – Mull of Galloway
  12. Isle of Man
  13. Lough Foyle – Carlingford Lough (covers the entire coastline of Northern Ireland)
  14. Mull of Galloway – Mull of Kintyre including the Firth of Clyde and the North Channel
  15. Mull of Kintyre – Ardnamurchan Point
  16. Ardnamurchan Point – Cape Wrath including the Outer Hebrides
  17. Shetland Isles

The BBC’s coastal forecast splits some of these into shorter lengths of coast. The points at which they are split are Duncansby HeadFife NessHarwichThames EstuaryBeachy HeadThe SolentSt Albans HeadStart PointHartland PointHolyheadMorecambe BayFirth of Clyde. Additionally, there is a forecast for the Channel Islands.

 

the BBC inshore water forecast is issued at 18.00 each day and covers 24 hours. It starts with a general summary of conditions  then goes onto specify information from the 17 areas covered.
Click here to see the forecast then scroll down to your particular area.  

Tide related stuff

Tide Times for Mumbles.

For to day and the following 3 days.

map

February 13th, 2026

Time Type Height
03:16 high 6.95m
09:27 low 3.41m
15:51 high 7.07m
22:01 low 3.2m

February 14th, 2026

Time Type Height
04:21 high 7.58m
10:26 low 2.82m
16:46 high 7.68m
22:50 low 2.61m

February 15th, 2026

Time Type Height
05:07 high 8.2m
11:11 low 2.25m
17:28 high 8.24m
23:29 low 2.09m

February 16th, 2026

Time Type Height
05:45 high 8.71m
11:48 low 1.78m
18:04 high 8.69m

View full 7 day tide times.

Copyright 2026 © Tides Today. By using this data, you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions


Tides, an explanation.

Tides are the cyclical rise and fall of sea levels, primarily the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on Earth’s oceans.  This gravitational force creates bulges of water on opposite sides of the Earth, resulting in high tides. The Earth’s rotation then carries coastal areas through these bulges, causing the cycle of high and low tides. 

 
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
    • Gravitational Influence:

      The Moon’s gravitational pull is the primary driver of tides. The Sun’s gravity also plays a role, especially when it aligns with the Moon during spring tides. 

       
  • Bulges:

    The Moon’s gravitational force causes a bulge of water on the side of Earth closest to the Moon (creating high tide) and a corresponding bulge on the opposite side. 

     
  • Earth’s Rotation:

    As the Earth rotates, coastal areas pass through these bulges, resulting in high tides when they are in a bulge and low tides when they are in between the bulges. 

     
  • Tidal Cycle:

    Most locations experience two high tides and two low tides each lunar day, which is about 24 hours and 50 minutes long. 

     
  • Spring and Neap Tides:
    When the Moon and Sun align (during new and full moons), their gravitational pulls combine to create stronger spring tides with higher high tides and lower low tides. When the Moon and Sun are at right angles to each other (around the first and third quarter moons), their gravitational pulls partially cancel each other out, resulting in weaker neap tides with less variation between high and low tides.

Cloud related stuff

This area of the site will provide you with a relatively easy way to identify  clouds you see on a day to day basis.

A good starting point is to estimate the height of the lowest cloud, then go to the picture below, look for that particular height and see what clouds could be visible. Click on the green circle nearest to the cloud you think it could be. The link will then take you to the World Meteorological  Cloud Atlas, which will show you real examples of the cloud and more info on it.

Click a circle for a description and other info about the type of cloud.

The most well known and seldom seen visual phenomena in the UK, is the Aurora borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, it is a natural light display in the night sky caused by solar activity.

Click here to see current conditions and more info.

 
  • What causes it

    The sun releases electrically charged particles, called solar wind, which travel towards Earth. Earth’s magnetic field captures some of these particles and directs them towards the poles. The particles collide with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, which heats them up and produces light. 

    The are a host of other visual phenomena which can be experienced. Click her to explore a Wikipaedia page, which goes into more detail.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_optics

     

Visual phenomena

Towering Cumulus

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Lightning

 

What causes lightning?

As warm air rises it cools and condenses forming small droplets of water. If there is enough instability in the air, the updraft of warm air is rapid and the water vapour will quickly form a cumulonimbus cloud. Typically, these cumulonimbus clouds can form in under an hour.

As the warm air continues to rise, the water droplets combine to create larger droplets which freeze to form ice crystals. As a result of circulating air in the clouds, water freezes on the surface of the droplet or crystal. Eventually, the droplets become too heavy to be supported by the updraughts of air and they fall as hail.

As hail moves within the cloud, it picks up a negative charge by rubbing against smaller positively charged ice crystals. A negative charge forms at the base of the cloud where the hail collects, while the lighter ice crystals remain near the top of the cloud and create a positive charge.

The negative charge is attracted to the Earth’s surface and other clouds and objects. When the attraction becomes too strong, the positive and negative charges come together, or discharge, to balance the difference in a flash of lightning (sometimes known as a lightning strike or lightning bolt). The rapid expansion and heating of air caused by lightning produces the accompanying loud clap of thunder.

Where do thunderstorms form?

Thunderstorms are common occurrences on Earth. It is estimated that a lightning strike hits somewhere on the Earth’s surface approximately 44 times every second, a total of nearly 1.4 billion lightning strikes every year.

Owing to the fact thunderstorms are created by intense heating of the Earth’s surface, they are most common in areas of the globe where the weather is hot and humid. Landmasses, therefore, experience more storms than the oceans and thunderstorms are also more frequent in tropical areas than the higher latitudes.

In the UK thunderstorms are most common over the East Midlands and the southeast.

Info supplied from the Met Office.

Click here for thunderstorms in the UK. 

Thunder storms can be very exciting to watch, they can also cause severe damage and can be a serious threat to life. Luckily, this country does not suffer thunderstorms on a regular basis. Click …here… for live , UK thunderstorm locations.
The following link will take you to The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation …click here…  which will give you some more facts about thunderstorms in the UK.

rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the Sun. Rainbows can be caused by many forms of airborne water. These include not only rain, but also mist, spray, and airborne dew.

Rainbows can be full circles. However, the observer normally sees only an arc formed by illuminated droplets above the ground, and centered on a line from the Sun to the observer’s eye.

In a primary rainbow, the arc shows red on the outer part and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being refracted when entering a droplet of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it.

In a double rainbow, a second arc is seen outside the primary arc, and has the order of its colours reversed, with red on the inner side of the arc. This is caused by the light being reflected twice on the inside of the droplet before leaving it.

Mirage

A mirage is an optical phenomenon that creates a distorted or displaced image of a distant object, often appearing as a pool of water in the desert or a ship floating in the sky, caused by light rays bending (refracting) through layers of air with different temperatures and densities. There are two main types: inferior mirages where hot air near the ground bends light upwards (like a road mirage), and superior mirages where cool air trapped below warmer air bends light downwards, making objects appear elevated.  

 
How Mirages Form
  1. Temperature Inversion: 

    Light bends when it passes through air layers of different densities, which are caused by temperature differences. 

     
  2. Light Refraction: 

    The heat near the ground or the inversion of air layers causes the light rays to refract, creating a visual effect that can be steady or wavering. 

     

Types of Mirages 

 
  • This common type happens when the ground is heated, and the warmer, less dense air just above the ground bends light upward, making it look like there’s a pool of water on a hot road.
  • This occurs when a layer of cool air is trapped above warmer air, causing light to bend downwards and making distant objects appear elevated, floating, or distorted. A famous example is the Fata Morgana, which can look like distant buildings or islands in the air.
Common Examples
  • Road Mirages: The classic shimmering “water” seen on a hot road or pavement. 
     
  • Distant Objects: A ship may appear to be floating in the sky, or a distant object can seem to be upside down or repeated. 

Sun (light)  pillar

A white luminous pillar, appearing as a broken or continuous trail of light and also known as a light pillar, may be observed vertically above and below a light source, such as the Sun or Moon. Light pillars may occasionally be observed above terrestrial light sources, and on rare occasions, small light pillars may be seen extending above and/or below a bright planet, such as Venus. When the Sun is the light source, the phenomenon is known as a Sun pillar. A pillar above the light source is an upper pillar, and below the light source is a lower pillar. Lower pillars are best seen from a hill or mountain, or an aircraft, when there is ice cloud, freezing fog or ice crystals such as diamond dust below.
Image of light pillar click 

This area of the site will give you access to various broadcast stations, which transmit weather forecast and other weather related information.


Weather from the BBC for Mumbles,
Met office weather forecast
Windy.com
Time and Date

Air pressure stuff