The Visit Score (0–100) is a single number summarising how good conditions are right now for visiting. Higher is always better.

The score draws on multiple real-time factors — weather, wind, tides, path grip, air quality, visibility, sea state, temperature, and more. Each factor is weighted specifically for this terrain and location.

The exact formula is carefully calibrated and not published — but it's the result of significant thought and tuning to be as accurate and meaningful as possible for coastal cliff walking. We want you to trust the number.

Tap "How is this calculated?" under the dial to see each factor's contribution as a percentage bar, where higher % = better for that factor.

Below the main score you'll see four small colour-coded cards showing the predicted score at +3, +6, +9, and +12 hours from now.

Use these to find the best window for your visit. A rising score means conditions improve later; a falling score means go sooner.

Cards use the same green / amber / red colour scale as the main dial. They're calculated from forecast weather and expected tidal conditions.

Shows current temperature, feels-like, wind gusts (mph), and rainfall (mm) at the coast.

The 12-hour bar chart shows precipitation probability hour by hour — taller blue bars = more likely to rain. A "Best: HH:mm" chip appears when there's a clear dry window ahead.

Weather data is from Open-Meteo, updated each page load. Wind gusts are the primary wind safety signal.

Shows current tide direction (rising / falling) and a beach access indicator: Full, Partial, or Limited — based on current tide height.

Below that, today's high and low tide times with heights are listed. At the Seven Sisters, high tide covers the beach completely — plan beach access around low tide windows.

Data from the nearest UKHO Admiralty tidal station. Cached server-side for 3 hours to reduce API load.

The key safety signals at a glance:

• Air Quality — AQI 1 (excellent) to 5 (very poor)
• Visibility — how far you can see, in km
• Sea State — live wave height from the nearest marine buoy
• Pollen — low / moderate / high / very high

The Path Grip timeline (Dry → Danger) is based on recent rainfall, forecast rain, temperature, and wind-drying. The coloured blocks show how grip will change over the next 8 hours.

The Wind Safety bar maps current gusts to: Safe (0–25 mph) · Caution (25–35) · Risky (35–45) · Danger (45+). Always stay well back from cliff edges regardless of the reading.

Beach water quality (where shown) is from the Environment Agency's official seasonal bathing water data.

Shows today's sunrise, sunset, and total daylight hours, plus a live countdown to sunset.

The Photo windows section shows Golden Hour (warm directional light, ideal for photography) and Blue Hour (cool soft light) times, morning and evening.

Quick tiles for UV Index, Visibility, and Humidity give a snapshot of atmospheric conditions.

The moon section shows current phase, illumination %, and moonrise/moonset — useful for evening visits and astrophotography.

Aurora — live KP index from NOAA SWPC. A KP of 5+ can make the Northern Lights visible from southern England on a clear, dark night. Look north from the clifftop.

Planets — which planets are visible tonight and where in the sky to look. Calculated entirely in your browser using the Astronomy Engine library — no API key or network call needed.

Meteor showers — upcoming annual showers with peak dates. Best viewed after midnight from a dark site away from light pollution.

Live departure boards for nearby bus stops and train stations. Tap each row to expand — times load on demand when you open a stop. If data looks stale, tap the Refresh hint that appears on the stop row.

Direct timetable links are shown so you can check full schedules outside the live window.

Powered by TransportAPI. Transport data is fetched on demand to conserve API quota — it does not auto-refresh with the rest of the page.

Tap 5-Day in the bottom navigation to plan future visits. Each day card shows: high/low temperatures, precipitation probability and amount, wind speed, and a weather icon.

Forecasts beyond 3 days become less reliable — always check again the day before you travel.

Tap Map in the bottom navigation to explore the area. Use the Outdoor / Satellite / Dark layer buttons to switch map style.

Tap "Find me" to show your GPS position — your browser will ask for location permission. Trail cards below the map show each route's difficulty, distance, and terrain.

The fullscreen button (⤢) expands the map for easier navigation. Tap again to return to normal view.

Each card on the Today tab has ↑ ↓ arrow buttons in its top-right corner. Tap to move a card up or down. Your layout saves automatically.

Tap the coloured icon in the top-left corner of any card to collapse or expand it — useful for hiding sections you don't need right now. Collapsed state is saved per device.

The Score card always stays at the top. The Weather and Tide cards always move together as a pair.

Layout is stored in your browser. Clearing site data or using "Clear all cached data" below resets to default order.

Tap the ⚙ Settings cog in the navigation bar for quick access to Dark Mode, Refresh Data, and page translation.

The Accessibility Settings card on the Today tab offers a text size slider — drag it to scale all card content from compact to large — and High Contrast mode for better readability in bright sunlight.

The Translate option uses Google Translate to render the page in another language. The translation script loads only when you choose a non-English language. Score values and some live data may remain in English.

Cookie Preferences — CoastMetric only loads analytics (Google Analytics) if you explicitly accept. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time from this setting.

Pull to refresh — scroll to the very top of the page, then pull down. A green bar appears at the top of the screen. When it shows "Release to refresh", let go — all live data reloads in place without a full page reload.

You can also tap ⚙ Settings → Refresh Data for the same in-place update.

CoastMetric also refreshes automatically every 5 minutes while the page is open. Use "Clear all cached data & reload" at the bottom of this page only if you suspect stale data.

CoastMetric pulls live data from multiple trusted sources each page load:

• Open-Meteo — weather, marine waves, air quality
• UKHO Admiralty — tide predictions (3 h server cache)
• Environment Agency — water quality & flood alerts
• TransportAPI — live bus & train departures
• NOAA SWPC — live aurora KP index

If a source is unavailable, the Visit Score redistributes weights across the remaining factors — it never uses made-up data.

Use "Clear all cached data & reload" below, or the Refresh button in Settings, to force a full data refresh.

The Visit Preparation widget builds a personalised checklist based on today's live conditions — adjusting in real time for rain, wind, temperature, tide, and sea state.

Each item shows a clear recommendation or warning: essentials to bring, clothing suggestions, and specific hazard callouts when conditions warrant extra care (e.g. strong gusts near cliff edges).

The checklist refreshes with the rest of the page. Items appear and disappear dynamically — a stormy day will surface different warnings than a calm, sunny one.

The Road Traffic widget shows live driving conditions on the main routes to Seven Sisters — the A259 coastal road and A27 inland approach.

Each route shows current travel time and a status badge: Clear, Slow, or Delays. Tap a route to open live directions in Google Maps.

Traffic data refreshes with the rest of the page. Public holiday weekends and summer school holidays typically bring heavier congestion on both routes.

If you're at the coast right now, tap "Visiting today?" at the bottom of the screen. Your feedback helps other visitors know whether current conditions match what the app shows.

You can confirm things look accurate, or tap Conditions differ to flag specific discrepancies — wind, path grip, visibility, and more — using the quick-tap chips.

Reports are anonymous. No location data or personal information is collected. Submissions are reviewed and used to improve the scoring model over time.