Cleveleys Weather

Whether you plan to visit or make the move to live here you’ll be interested in Cleveleys Weather. Today, generally and in the past – with some freak conditions and unusual phenomenon!

Cleveleys Weather Today

The best way to see what the weather is doing is to look out of the window! That’s not practical if you want to know what the weather’s like miles away. So we’ve tried to gather together all the available information in one handy place for you.

On our Visit Fylde Coast website there’s a page with everything you need to get an idea of the weather today in Cleveleys. Including:

• Fylde Coast Webcams
• Detailed Cleveleys weather now and local forecasts
• Cleveleys Flood Alerts
• Cleveleys Tide Times
• Weather Warnings

Cleveleys Weather Generally

The Cleveleys Microclimate

Various parts of the UK coast enjoy their own little microclimate. It’s not a proven fact but locals would probably agree that bad weather forecasts often seem to miss this area. It’s not unusual for weather maps to be covered in dark clouds and rain drops but in real life the sun is shining!

Winter frost, ice and snow is also much less common than it is further inland. And when there is wintery weather it usually disappears as quickly as it came. This means that tender plants can be overwintered more often in sheltered gardens and you won’t need de-icer quite so often. But if you do like snow the downside is that you won’t see it quite so often either! When it does happen though the beach looks quite unusual, covered in snow!

Never short of Wind!

Cleveleys weather might not extend to frost quite so often but one thing it’s never short of is wind! If you don’t like wind, don’t come and live on the Fylde Coast. It doesn’t blow a gale all the time – it just feels like it does! After all, there isn’t a great big and growing offshore wind farm for nothing.

The best advice is to buy coats with hoods – because you won’t be able to use an umbrella. And make sure that everything in your home and garden is well fastened down because otherwise it might blow away!

The Famous Sea Foam

When the wind blows from a particular direction and conditions are just right, it whips up the sea to create sea foam. Huge amounts of this thick creamy coloured froth gather on the top of the waves, blowing off in snowball sized clumps onto the beach. The wind carries on blowing it, up and over the footpath and sea wall onto the road where it can get 3-4′ deep. It’s especially bad outside The Venue and at the car park at Rossall Promenade.

But be warned! Although it’s simply decaying algae which acts as a foaming agent, the bubbles also carry sand. It makes an awful mess of clothes and cars so if you come sight-seeing be prepared for a clean-up operation afterwards!

Standing Water

The Cleveleys weather can be responsible for delivering a lot of rain at times and when it does it often results in standing water.

There’s a lot of clay in the ground which holds onto water as it slowly drains away. Plus, most of the area is at sea level which also makes drainage more challenging. Add lots of houses with lots of solid gardens, driveways and patios and the rainwater can’t get away without forming puddles. Big ones in some cases! There’s quite a bit you can do to help yourself though, including having permeable gardens which allow the rain to drain away.

Unusual Cleveleys Weather Events

Stormy weather

Cleveleys (and Fleetwood) is fortunate to have well maintained sea defences. Defences are both hard (concrete) and soft (beaches) depending on their location and the prevailing weather. But that doesn’t stop storms, the sea coming over and some localised flooding on occasion.

Sea defences will never entirely prevent the sea from overtopping, especially if conditions combine to create a perfect storm. Gale force winds blowing in the wrong direction are bad enough. If that’s combined with high water – and even worse low pressure – some overtopping is inevitable.

That’s why the concrete seawalls at Cleveleys and Larkholme/Fleetwood include stepped levels and wide footpaths. Each part is critical in slowing and catching the waves, returning the water to the sea. Fascinating to watch but always do it from the landward side of the rear sea wall!

It’s also why the Wyre Beach Management Scheme is underway at Cleveleys (and Rossall Point) to stabilise beaches. A combination of rock groynes and rock armour protect the existing sea walls and allow beach levels to build up naturally. And a high beach is the best sea defence that you can have.

Shipwrecks

The most obvious reminder of extreme weather is probably the number of ships which have wrecked off this coastline. When the Cleveleys weather is bright and sunny it’s hard to picture conditions which led to the huge Riverdance cargo ferry being washed ashore in January 2008.

Where Cleveleys promenade meets Blackpool you’ll find the Shipwreck Memorial. It’s a huge tribute to all those vessels which came a cropper through the centuries – including Riverdance. Look southwards through the porthole with the tide out and you’ll see the remains of the Abana – one from many years ago.

Please don’t take the Pebbles…

This might seem unrelated to the Cleveleys weather, but please don’t take the pebbles off the beach! They’re a vital part of the sea defences and important during these extreme weather events. The pebbles absorb the energy of the waves as they’re rolled around, stopping large waves from rolling over the wall.

Not only is it unethical to take pebbles it’s also illegal. So if you take a few bags and buckets full, don’t be surprised to get a call from the council or police. People love Cleveleys and expect everyone to respect it – so you never know who’s watching you!

…and clean up after your dog!

Just a reminder, wherever your dog does it’s business, make sure you bag it and bin it. Any bin will do! And remember that the main beach against the stepped sea wall is subject to a dog ban from 1 May to 30 September.

Up in the Sky!

Of course the things that deliver much of our weather are the clouds – they certainly deliver the rain! With big skies and a flat landscape the clouds can be spectacular at the seaside. Look upwards and watch how they scud across the sky – different layers moving at different speeds.

It’s also a great place to spot some unusual types, shapes and formations too. When we catch an unusual cloud we like to add them to our catalogue!