Aberystwyth's Wales, Traveller Information

Aberystwyth's climate is dominated by the sea. The Gulf Stream warms the whole of this region making the UK warmer than its latitude would suggest. The prevailing winds are from the west, bringing in warm, damp air from the Irish Sea. If the air is not already raining as it strikes land then it is cooled by being pushed up over the local hills and mountains. These buffering factors come together to make Aberystwyth remarkably equable - the variation in the average temperature between summer and winter is less than 10°C. (Plynlimon, just 15km east of Aberystwyth, is the wettest place in Britain and an area close by has been given planning permission to for one of Europe's largest windfarms.) Even if it's snowing just a km inland, the warming effect of the sea make snow and frost rare in Aberystwyth. What's gained in warm air is lost in wind-chill and the public litter bins around town tend to be jammed with 'dead' umbrellas even after mild storms. Aberystwyth has long been promoted for its clean, fresh and bracing air. The storms of Autumn and Winter start to break up with the changeable weather of Spring leading warmer and dryer spells of Summer.

Apart from the Harbour Trap, Aberystwyth has another few surfing spots further up the bay towards the top end of North Beach, just under Constitution Hill.

The area around Queens' Rocks is best. There are two or three breaks along here and all break onto either pebbly beach or rock.

The breaks can be easily spotted by walking along the promenade, past the sweep of hotels and student halls which are dotted along the seafront.

It takes a good sized swell to get these spots working but they can be a useful alternative if The Trap becomes crowded or too big!

A white railed, wide promenade is built up off the beach to protect the buildings from the storms in the Irish Sea which are vigorous enough to reach into Cardigan Bay. In winter these can be spectacular - with waves slam into the 'prom wall' splashing higher than the seafront houses and dumping the beach across the width of the prom and onto the road. (This is particularly evident at the north end of town. This was once a salt water marsh and the storm waves used to break where there are now houses. Sea walls have been made larger and larger over the years to keep the sea out, but from time to time a powerful storm puts the salt water back.)

Surfing
The Mid Wales coast from Borth northwards to the 3 miles long strand at Harlech has some of the finest surf in the region, parrticularly when a stiff west to south-west wind has piled up the Western Approaches. These great walls of water should be tackled when the worst of the wind is over and the great foam heads are beginning to space themselves out with long platforms of water in between. The great advantages of the Mid Wales beaches to the surfer is their extreme length. North Cornwall, South Pembrokeshire; these are coasts with a bigger constant swell, but few coasts have room as Mid Wales has. This does not signal complete abandon, and when there is a chequered flag flying - and when there is not - complete lane discipline and care with escaping boards should be maintained.

Ynyslas Beach
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