UK Tidal Predictions with AI: ADMIRALTY High and Low Water Workflows
TL;DR
- The UKHO Tidal MCP server covers 607 ADMIRALTY tidal level stations around the United Kingdom — high water and low water predictions for today plus six days ahead.
- Ask for tides by place name or station and get quoted times and heights from official data — not tide-table guesswork from a language model.
- Built for marina operators, sailing clubs, harbour teams, coastal walkers, and location scouts who need reliable schedules with Crown copyright attribution preserved.
Coastal planning questions are easy to ask and easy to answer badly.
"What time is high water at London Bridge on Saturday?" "Can we enter the harbour after lunch?" "Which tidal station covers Falmouth?"
A language model alone will invent tide tables or blur GMT with British Summer Time. The UKHO Tidal MCP server resolves the station first, pulls official ADMIRALTY predictions, and returns high water and low water events with heights — with the required Crown copyright line intact.
Pick the station before the schedule
Most tide prompts start with a place, not a station id. "London Bridge", "Plymouth", "Dover" — the agent should search the station catalog, confirm coordinates and station type, then pull the tidal events for that id.
That order keeps harbour names from turning into the wrong stretch of coast. Some stations only report high water; some south-coast locations show four high waters in a day. A useful agent names the station it chose and carries the caveat forward.
"Find tidal stations near Plymouth and show the best match with coordinates."
High and low water for the week you actually need
Predictions cover the current day plus six days of high water and low water events. Ask for a duration — today only, the next three days, or a full week — and the agent returns structured times and heights instead of a prose summary.
For operational planning, ask for both HW and LW in one pass so entry windows are visible:
"For London Bridge, list high and low water events for the next seven days with predicted heights."
GMT is the contract — not local summer time
ADMIRALTY predicted times are published in GMT only. British Summer Time is never applied upstream.
That matters every spring and summer. A marina gate that opens on "local" clock time needs an explicit conversion step in the answer. Good agents quote GMT from the data, then translate when the user is planning around BST.
"What are high and low tides at Dover tomorrow? Quote GMT times and note the BST equivalent."
Follow-up questions should remember the harbour
Once an agent has resolved a station, follow-up tide questions in the same session should not force the user to repeat the harbour name. The server remembers the last station for a day — so "what about tomorrow?" continues the same place.
"After checking London Bridge this week, what are tomorrow's high and low water times?"
Good answers carry attribution and limits
Useful tidal research says which station was used, that times are GMT, how many days of predictions were returned, and that Channel Island stations are excluded. Every response includes Crown copyright attribution — preserve it when quoting data to people or downstream documents.
This is planning and research data — not a substitute for chart work, pilotage, or safety-critical navigation decisions at sea.
What to try first
"What are the high and low tides at London Bridge this week?"
"Find tidal stations near Falmouth and pull this week's high and low water schedule for the best match."
"For station 0113, list high and low water events for the next seven days with predicted heights."
Reference docs and example prompts: UKHO Tidal MCP server.
FAQ
What UK tidal data can agents retrieve?
Station metadata for 607 UK tidal level stations, plus high water and low water predictions with times and heights for today and six days ahead.
How do I get UK tidal predictions in chat?
Connect the UKHO Tidal server in your workspace and ask for tides by place name — for example, high and low water at London Bridge this week.
Are times in GMT or BST?
GMT only from the predictions. Convert to BST in the answer when users plan around local summer clock time.
How many stations are covered?
607 Standard and Secondary stations around the United Kingdom. Channel Island stations are not included.
Is this enough for navigation at sea?
No. It is authoritative prediction data for planning workflows — not a replacement for charts, pilotage, or safety-critical decisions on the water.