Skelton Webcam – Cleveland Fields and Offshore Turbines

The Skelton Webcam belongs to a home weather station in Skelton-in-Cleveland, North Yorkshire, and looks across a grass field edged with hedgerows, with a metal field gate in the far hedge. A low ridge runs in from the left, and on a clear day a row of white turbines stands on the horizon: the Teesside Wind Farm, out in the North Sea off Redcar, about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) away. Nearly half the frame is sky, so this is a camera for watching the weather arrive. Showers, high cloud and flat grey ceilings all cross it in turn, and flocks of birds can wheel over the field when they lift off the grass.

About Skelton-in-Cleveland

Skelton-in-Cleveland is a small town in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Middlesbrough and 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) inland from the pier at Saltburn-by-the-Sea. It had 6,535 residents at the 2011 census. Skelton Castle was built in the 12th century by the de Brus family, a name better known today as Bruce. The town has two churches dedicated to All Saints: the old church, mostly rebuilt in 1785, and the new All Saints’ Church, built in 1884 to a design by R.J. Johnston of Newcastle.

The camera is run by Skelton Weather, whose dashboard pairs it with an Ecowitt station. Live readings cover temperature, wind speed and gusts, barometric pressure, rainfall, lightning, UV and solar levels, air quality, and soil temperature and moisture, with a switch between UK, US, metric and Scandinavian units. The video is hosted by the streaming service Camsecure, and the stream carries its own date and time stamp, handy for judging how long ago a shower passed through.

The turbines on the skyline are the 27 machines of the Teesside Wind Farm, Siemens models of 2.3 megawatts each for 62.1 megawatts in total. They stand in up to 16 meters (52 feet) of water about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) north of Redcar, near the mouth of the River Tees. The farm was commissioned in 2013, officially opened in April 2014, and is operated by EDF Renewables.

Weather and Climate in Skelton-in-Cleveland

Skelton sits a few kilometers from the North Sea, which keeps the extremes small. Averages for 2016 to 2025 put January highs near 7 C (44 F) and lows around 2.5 C (36 F). By July and August afternoons reach about 19 C (66 to 67 F), and nights stay near 13 C (55 F). April is usually the driest month, with roughly 48 millimeters (1.9 inches) of rain, while September, October and November are the wettest, at about 80 to 87 millimeters (3.1 to 3.4 inches) each.

Spring warms slowly, with April highs around 11 C (52 F) and May near 14 C (58 F). Autumn cools from about 17 C (62 F) in September to 10 C (50 F) in November. With so much sky in shot, the seasons show here mostly through cloud: towering cumulus on a showery afternoon, low stratus through the winter, and long hedge shadows when the sun stays low. Daylight swings widely at 54.6 degrees north, from about 7 hours 15 minutes in late December to roughly 17 hours 15 minutes in late June, so in midwinter the field is lit for only a short stretch around midday.

Things to Do Near Skelton-in-Cleveland

Saltburn-by-the-Sea is the obvious first stop. Henry Pease set out the plan for the Victorian resort in 1858, and its Grade II* listed pier, opened in February 1869, is the only pleasure pier on the North East and Yorkshire coast. The Saltburn Cliff Lift, opened in 1870, is one of the oldest water-powered funiculars in the world and has used an electric pump since 1924. Behind the seafront, the Valley Gardens lead to the Italian Gardens and woodland walks, and the 15-inch gauge Saltburn Miniature Railway runs about 800 meters (half a mile) inland from Cat Nab to Forest Halt. National surfing events come to Saltburn in autumn and winter.

About 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) east, Skinningrove was a center of ironstone mining and iron smelting, and the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum there takes visitors into a former haulage drift. Cattersty Sands, Skinningrove’s beach, is a short drive from Skelton. The Cleveland Way National Trail, 180 kilometers (110 miles) from Helmsley to Filey Brigg and open since 1969, crosses the A171 at Slapewath and meets the sea at Saltburn, then follows the cliffs through Skinningrove, Staithes, Runswick Bay and Sandsend. A popular circular walk links Saltburn’s cliff tops with Skelton Valley Park. Guisborough is 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) southwest, and Whitby about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) to the east-southeast.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

For more of northern England and the open country further north, try these cameras.

• Whitby Webcam
• Hawes Webcam
• Isle of Skye Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Skelton-in-Cleveland located?

Skelton-in-Cleveland is in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, in northeast England. It lies about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) south of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, 8 kilometers (5 miles) southeast of Redcar and 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Middlesbrough.

What can you see on the Skelton Webcam?

A grass field ringed by hedgerows, with a metal gate in the far hedge, a low ridge on the left and a wide sky above. On clear days the turbines of the Teesside Wind Farm show on the horizon, and flocks of birds can cross the field.

What are the wind turbines on the horizon at Skelton?

They are the 27 turbines of the Teesside Wind Farm, about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) off Redcar and roughly 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from Skelton. EDF Renewables operates the 62.1 megawatt site, which opened officially in April 2014.

What is the weather like in Skelton-in-Cleveland?

Mild and changeable. Winter highs sit near 7 C (44 F) and summer highs near 19 C (67 F), with rain spread through the year and the wettest spell from September to November.

Is there a live weather station in Skelton-in-Cleveland?

Yes. Skelton Weather, which runs this camera, also runs an Ecowitt home station, and its dashboard shows current temperature, wind and gusts, rainfall, pressure, lightning, UV, air quality and soil readings.

How far is Skelton from Saltburn-by-the-Sea?

About 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the town center to Saltburn Pier. A circular walk links the two, using the clifftop path into Saltburn and returning through Skelton Valley Park.

When is the best time to watch the Skelton Webcam?

Daylight hours, when the field, the ridge and the turbines are visible. In midwinter that means late morning to mid-afternoon, since the sun is up for only about 7 hours 15 minutes, while in June the view stays lit from early morning until late evening. Showery days with fast-moving cloud are often the most interesting to watch.

Source: Skelton Weather