A legal battle whereby the UK Hydrographic Office forced a US University that was publishing free online tide timetables to withdraw the facility from its website was the catalyst for the UKHO offering free access to seven-day tidal information. However, public pressure mounted for free access to short-term tidal information, and realising that there’s wide range of people that use tidal information to an extent that does not justify buying a full annual volume, but is important information nonetheless, the UKHO have reached a compromise.

Part of the Ministry of Defence, the UKHO has to cover the costs associated with collecting the tidal information, and are known to guard their copyrights with an iron fist. Nevertheless, the UKHO has announced that next month it will launch a new website, easytide.com, which will have a seven-day listing of tides.

For more comprehensive, 14-day tidal predictions check out ybw’s almanac, where you not only get the best tidal information on the net, but also detailed weather forecasts.