North Kent’s go-to spot when the wind goes northerly. Best in NW, N, and NE — NW and N are the sweet spot. SW is specifically flagged as UNSAFE here — do not launch in a southwesterly. Works at both high and low tide in the right conditions. Flat-to-chop, small waves in stronger northerlies. Suitable for most levels when conditions are right.
Public-model blend: Met Office UKV 2km (direct), Met Office Global 10km (direct), AROME-FR, IFS-HRES, ICON, GFS (via Open-Meteo) and MET Norway, averaged across every model that covers each hour, out to day 7; temperature from the Met Office feeds
Last updated
Page rebuilt: 21 September 2026 23:32 BST Forecast data: 21 September 2026 23:30 BST Tide data: 21 September 2026 23:30 BST
📏 Tide heights — next 7 days(chart datum at Sheerness)
No measured beach/groyne height for this spot yet — log a beach report to add one.
🧭 Wind directions
Minster Leas, Isle of Sheppey, faces ~N into the estuary. Onshore is the NW–NE quadrant; S winds are offshore over the island. HARD NO 2.5 h either side of HW (groynes, no beach).
green = works (brightest = side-on) · blue = cross-shore · orange = side-off / unproven (care) · red = offshore, never · grey = excluded locally
Next 7 days at MinsterLighter option: Wed 23 Sep ~13 kt — marginal — larger kites (14 m+). AROME and UKV 2km agree (within ~4 kt) over the next 60 h — confidence good (lead model here: UKV 2km).
Windguru forecast
7-day forecast
Wind scale:<1010–1112–1314–1516–1920–2930+ kt ⚠
Public-model blend, for the full 7 days: The Met Office UKV 2km and Global 10km runs are read directly from the Met Office open-data feeds; AROME-FR 1.3km, IFS-HRES 9km, ICON and GFS come via Open-Meteo, plus MET Norway. Direction is a circular mean; gusts average only the models that publish an hourly-maximum gust. These numbers are raw model output with no coastal correction, so in the same weather they can read a little lighter than a coastally-corrected forecast — treat them as a floor rather than a ceiling. Temperature is from the Met Office runs (interpolated between 3-hourly steps on later days). No sea-state data is available. Tides from UKHO Admiralty (BST, 7-day window). The Windguru widget above is the unmodified Windguru forecast and is a useful cross-check.
Marginal — ~12 kt, big kites only. Peak ~12 kt NW in the tide window. marginal — big kites (15 m+)/foils — most riders won't get planing; 15 m+/foil specialists only. ★ Gets dark at 18:55 — window trimmed to daylight (17:00–18:55 BST); the wind carries on past sunset if you are happy riding into dusk.
Best window detail — 14:28–18:55 BST (UKV 2km hourly)
Hourly UKV 2km wind for the 2-hour tide window (★) plus an hour either side, averaging ~11 kt in the low-tide window. Late-evening session — fine in summer, but a late drive home from London.
TimeWindGustDir
14:0012 ktg17W
15:00 ★15 ktg21WNW
16:00 ★12 ktg39NNW
17:00 ★16 ktg23NW
18:00 ★15 ktg24NW
Time
Wind
Gust
Dir
Cloud
Temp
06:00
5 kt
9 kt
↑ S
91%
16°C
09:00
6 kt
10 kt
↗ SSW
88%
18°C
12:00
7 kt
12 kt
→ W
67%
21°C
15:00
10 kt
19 kt
↘ NW
75%
20°C
18:00
12 kt
20 kt
↘ NNW
58%
18°C
21:00
13 kt
19 kt
↓ N
71%
16°C
Thu 24 Sep
LW 05:40 1.4mHW 11:55 5.3mLW 18:15 1.0m
Sub-kiteable — peak only 6 kt. Peak wind only 6 kt from SSE in the tide window. Below the kiteable threshold for almost every rider.
Pick a past day to compare three things: the forecast we published (frozen before each hour, never revised afterwards), the wind that actually happened (Open-Meteo reanalysis, hours 05:00–21:00 UK), and what the live weather stations near the spot actually recorded (amber, from 2 Aug 2026). You can go right up to today — today shows the forecast and the live stations; the reanalysis for today lands tomorrow morning.
Important: Forecasts are model-derived and may change. Always verify on Windguru and check local tide tables before you go. LKSA accepts no liability for decisions made based on this forecast.
