Winter Surfing - How cold does the sea get

[Johno]

Its gone cooler and the beaches are empty ye ha, how cold does the sea get around north Wales in the winter, I have read some were that the temperature averages between 7 - 15 deg C, is this correct?

Seams a bit strange that the air temperature could be -1 deg C but the sea still 7 deg C

How cold does your surf sea get?

[Dr Rev]

Ive gone out in Feb, sea was cold, but if you wear a good winter wetsuit, gloves and boots and a hood, its not too bad at all !!!!

[drowningbitbybit]

7 - 15 deg C, is this correct?

Seams a bit strange

Thats about right - it gets down to about 7 degrees in february and up to 15 or 16 round the end of august.

Water is a lot harder to heat/cool than air so there's a delay (which is why its coldest/warmest at the end of winter/summer) and doesnt go to the extremes of the air temp.

Seven degrees in water, by the way, is VERY cold. MUCH colder than 7 degrees air temp
You'll need a 5mm suit, boots, gloves, and a hood for that.

[PapaW]

Still 16C atm, really great warmest time of year.
North Wales gets down to about 6C round jan-March. But thats never the problem its always the wind. I'll wip the heat away from you somthing cronic!
I feel sorry for the east coasters cause its warm here compaired to the North Sea. We're talking 4-5C and jsut one digit is a huge difference!

[Laguna]

Id say it gets between 8-12c in the winter usually. This time of year the sea tmeperature is warmer than the air temperature due to the gulfstream...etc
But it still is cold. I think the coldest times are at the end of winter like DBBB said, so around januaray-February where you will deffo need a hood,gloves, boots and 5mm wetsuit

[FishKid Wales]

Last saturday i surfed a rivermouth fed from mountain streams and that was mighty cold resulting in a cracking dose of ice cream head.

[PapaW]

Id say it gets between 8-12c in the winter usually.

Yeah for you in the SW !

[rich r]

Remember - the ocean is salt water, and has currents and stratifications.

Warmer water is lighter than cold water, and ocean (salt) water freezes at a lower point than fresh water.

So - in standard ocean water, as it cools, it sinks, leaving the warmer water near the surface. (note that air does the same thing, so the heavier, colder air, is near the ground)

When you add fresh water (river mouths), the river water freezes at a higher point, and doesn't have the same heat stratification as the ocean, resulting in an average temperature that is colder than the ocean water. As it flows out, it does sink, but slowly due to mixing. This makes the overall area of ocean water colder than it is down the beach at the same time.

[Johno]

I've bin sailing in winter on lakes that have had ice on them so I am used to the cold,

I have a 5/3 winter wety and some gull boots, can any one recommend some good gloves and a hood so I don't but a load ok crap

[PapaW]

they feel odd to begin with but the Mitt style or 3 finger style gloves are the bomb. Soooo warm.

[GowerCharger]

the water stays warmer than the air thanks to the lovely gulf stream, which is also why the air temp is much higher than in other places at the same latitude.

[isaluteyou]

hats off to you all. You are either brave or hardcore. to surf in the temps mentioned above i would need a thermal suit you know the kind that pumps hot water around you lol.

[silky]

Water has a much greater specific heat capacity than land so it takes a lot longer to heat up and cool down, whereas land will vary considerably from season to season.

Unfortunately, this doesn't prevent the east coast of scotland dropping into single figures at the beginning of the year ......... but it's real fun and worth waiting for

[surferdude_scarborough]

fooookin cold is the answer to that

[silky]

Late December, last year, I was out in Pease Bay. Sitting outside, the only thing I could hear was the pitter/patter of snowflakes landing on my hood

That was very surreal