Extended forecasts at 00:48 and 05:20 include information from coastal weather stations and inshore waters.

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. In the forecast, the waters around the British Isles are divided into 31 sea areas, also known as weather areas. There are currently four broadcasts per day at the following ( UK local) times: 00:48, 05:20, 12:01, and 17:54. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles. For marine weather forecasts, see Marine weather forecasting. The broadcast on Radio 4 also includes the latest available reports of wind direction and force, visibility, sea-level pressure and tendency for approximately 20 stations around the UK.This article is about the BBC radio broadcast. It includes a general synopsis, the forecast of wind direction and force, visibility and weather. The forecast covers the area up to 12 miles offshore and is for the period up to 1800 the next day. This can be heard on BBC Radio 4 at the end of programmes (approximately 0048), and on BBC Radio 3 at 0535. In addition, some bulletins include a forecast for all UK inshore waters, as distinct from the coastal waters.

If this does not coincide with a news bulletin, the warning will be repeated after the next news bulletin. In addition, gale warnings are broadcast at the first available programme break after receipt. The bulletins consist of a gale warning summary, general synopsis, sea-area forecasts and coastal station reports. Weather bulletins for shipping are broadcast daily on BBC Radio 4 at the following times:

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