After making the decision to go on a cruise, the first time traveller then wonders about the weather. Will it be hot or will it be cold? And what about becoming seasick? After all, if that happened it could completely ruin the entire holiday.

As the first day at sea draws nearer, more and more attention is given to the weather forecast, and in particular the maps with the isobars on.

Most people know that the closer the isobars are together, the stronger the winds. For a cruise you ideally need light winds which are generally close to an area of high pressure.

High pressure, too, brings the sunshine especially if the winds are blowing off the land. The other thing to note is in the northern hemisphere, winds blow clockwise around an area of high pressure and anti-clockwise around a low or depression.

For a cruise up the Norwegian fjords to the North Cape to see the midnight sun, for example, the ideal weather conditions are high pressure off northern Norway, with dry, sunny winds blowing off the land.

The things to avoid when going further south into the Mediterranean are areas of low pressure. In summer you will often see a low pressure on the weather map over Spain. Don't worry about that particular one; it's formed because it is so hot and the winds around it are very light.

The lows to be wary about are those that develop in the Atlantic and move in across the Bay of Biscay because even in summer they can bring some very stormy winds. Some storms can blow up off southern France too and make it very choppy, but the ship's captain will be well informed of their presence.

In summer much of the Mediterranean for most of the time is fine and sunny. But do remember when you are sunbathing on deck it could be quite windy if the ship is cruising along at 20 miles per hour. This picture of singer Jane McDonald who featured in the BBC documentary 'The Cruise', illustrates this.

And wherever you go you will most definitely need some warm clothes for the evenings if you want to spend any time on deck looking at the stars. One consolation though is that if the weather does become very rough, the modern ships have great stabilizers that actually reduce the roll, heave and pitch of the ship to an acceptable level.

However, one place where it can become frightening is close to a tropical storm. Next week, I shall be writing about how they form and where you could meet them.

Related Links:

- Check the World Weather forecasts before you go
- Sailing and Weather
- Our Top 10 Winter Sun Spots 2001/02