Storm Season: When To Paddle Out And When To Put The Kettle On

From now until March, a named storm on the news means two things to a UK surfer. Somewhere, in a day or two, there's going to be swell. And right now, it's probably not the time to be in it.

Storm season gives you the best surf of the year and the worst conditions to be in the water, often in the same week. The skill is telling them apart before you've driven an hour and pulled the wetsuit on.

The storm and the swell aren't the same day

A storm is a lot of wind in one place. Swell is what that wind leaves behind once it's travelled. When the storm is on top of you, you get the wind with none of the organisation: big, messy, short-period sea, blowing onshore or sideshore, breaking everywhere at once.

As the low moves away, the wind drops or swings round, and the swell it made keeps arriving. That's the window. Cleaner lines, longer period, lighter winds. On the west coast it's often the day after a front has passed, when the wind goes north-west and settles.

Our guide to reading a UK surf forecast covers period and wind direction, which are the two numbers that tell you whether a storm swell is going to be worth it.

Reasons to put the kettle on

Watch from the car for ten minutes before you decide. These are the signs it's a day for watching:

• It's closing out. Whole sets breaking top to bottom across the bay with no shoulder. Nothing to ride, a lot to get hit by.
• You can't see a way out. If the white water is continuous from the shore to the outside, the paddle out is going to take everything you've got, and there's nothing left for the waves or the way back.
• The channels have gone. Rips that you'd normally use to get out are being swamped by the sets, or are pulling far harder than usual.
• Big swell on a big tide. A large swell on a spring high tide, especially with a storm surge, can push water up beaches and over sea walls. The shorebreak gets heavy and the way in disappears.
• You're asking whether you should. If you need to ask, you already know.

Where the good bits hide

On the days when the open beaches are too much, the sheltered spots get their turn. Bays tucked behind headlands, corners of beaches the swell has to wrap into, and coasts facing away from the wind. The same south-westerly gale that blows out Cornwall can be offshore on the North Sea coast, as our Tynemouth guide explains.

Expect everyone else to have had the same idea. Sheltered spots on storm days are busy. Be patient.

After the storm

The swell isn't the only thing a storm leaves behind.

• Water quality. Heavy rain can mean sewage overflows and run-off into the sea for a day or two afterwards. Surfers Against Sewage's Safer Seas & Rivers Service will tell you about alerts for your beach before you go.
• Debris. Logs, rope and bits of other people's fences come down rivers and wash up in the line-up. Look before you duck dive.
• The banks have moved. A big storm can rearrange a beach. Your usual peak might not be there, and the rips may be somewhere new.
• The paths are a mess. Cliff paths get slippery and occasionally fall in. Take the long way down.

Before you paddle out on a big day

• Check your leash. Look at the string, the swivel and the cuff. Storm swell finds the weak part.
• Don't go alone. Most lifeguard patrols have finished for the winter. Surf with someone, or at least tell someone where you are and when you'll be back.
• Pick your way in before you go out. Know where you're coming back to the beach, and have a second option.
• Come in early. Cold and big surf together wear you out faster than you think. The wave you fall on when you're tired is the one that holds you down.

If you see someone in trouble in the water, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

And if you're watching

Watching a big swell from the cliff is part of the season too. Bring a flask. Wear the heavy stuff. A beanie, a proper heavyweight hood and a coat over the top. Check the forecast for tomorrow. It's usually better.

And if the sea has won for the week, it's a good time to read up. My book, How to Surf, is a complete guide to wave mechanics, paddling and riding, written with cold-water surfing in mind. It's out now on Amazon in paperback, hardback and Kindle.

The short version

• Storm day and swell day are rarely the same day. Wait for the wind to drop or swing.
• Closeouts, no way out, swamped channels or big swell on a big tide: watch instead.
• Sheltered spots and the opposite coast are your friends.
• After heavy rain, check water quality before you go.
• Check your leash, don't go alone, and come in early.

For what each month of the season brings, see what changes in November and the UK surf season guide.

Kit built for exactly these conditions, not the brochure version. svrf.uk