Winter Storm Watching

Pembrokeshire faces west into the Atlantic with nothing between it and America, so when a low pressure system tracks in, the coast puts on a show. February is the month people forget about and it produces some of the best of it.

Newgale is the obvious one. The two-mile shingle bank has been thrown across the road more than once and the council closes the coast road when a big swell coincides with a spring tide. From the car park at the north end you get the whole sweep of it. Freshwater West takes the swell head on and is the loudest place on this coast in a westerly. Broad Haven and Little Haven are more sheltered but the spray still comes over the sea wall.

The rules. Never stand on a slipway, harbour wall or rock platform with waves breaking over it. Waves come in sets and the seventh one is bigger than the six you just watched. People are killed doing this every winter somewhere in Britain, almost always by standing in a spot that was dry a minute earlier. Watch from above and behind, keep dogs on leads and keep back from cliff edges, which are wet and undercut.

Making a day of it. The Coast Path is at its best in a gale as long as you stay away from the edge, and the reward is that everything is empty. Most seaside cafes shut for parts of the winter — the towns with year-round pubs are Tenby, Narberth, Fishguard and Haverfordwest.