WalkHilbre update
How the crossing window is calculated, now published
A new page sets out the rule, the data sources, what it can’t account for and a change log.
How it works now sets out how WalkHilbre calculates the crossing window. The window opens three hours after predicted high water and closes 3.5 hours before the next. WalkHilbre treats that close as the latest time to be back on the mainland at Dee Lane. The page also lists the data sources, explains what the window cannot account for and keeps a change log. From 20 October 2026 it also shows a calculated leave-by time, 60 minutes before the window ends, alongside “back on the mainland by”, the window end; earlier versions showed only the window end.
What the page covers. WalkHilbre starts from the National Tidal and Sea Level Facility’s predicted high and low water for Hilbre, fetched at most every 12 hours. If those predictions are more than 36 hours old, or any other check fails, no window is shown rather than a guess. Weather and observed water levels are shown for context and are never added to a predicted time. Forecast warnings are shown alongside a window and never change it, and adjustments can only make a window shorter, never longer.
The window is a planning estimate, not permission to cross. Follow the Dee Lane noticeboard and read the safety guide before you set out.
This is a summary in our own words. We link to the original and never publish names or details of the people involved.