Crane Wind Speed Limits UK: When to Stop Lifting

Ask three people the wind limit for a crane and you will get three numbers — because there is no single legal limit. LOLER requires the lift to be planned and carried out safely; the actual number comes from the manufacturer's load chart for that machine in that configuration, adjusted for the load on the hook that day. What follows are the typical figures UK planning works to, why the "sail area" of the load can halve them, and the decision framework an Appointed Person actually uses on a windy morning.

Typical In-Service Wind Limits

• Mobile cranes — most load charts permit operation up to around 9–14 m/s (20–31 mph) depending on machine, boom length and configuration; long-boom and luffing configurations sit at the bottom of that range or below it. The chart for the specific duty governs.
• Tower cranes — typically in-service up to around 20 m/s (45 mph) per manufacturer, with the crane put out of service (slew brake released to weathervane) beyond it. Site rules often stop lifting well before the machine limit.
• Telehandlers and excavators lifting suspended loads — manufacturers commonly restrict suspended-load duties to around 10 m/s; check the object-handling section of the manual, not the forks/bucket pages.
• MEWPs — most boom and scissor lifts are rated to 12.5 m/s; relevant whenever the lifting operation uses a MEWP for rigging or landing.

Treat every figure above as a ceiling for a standard load — then read on, because the load usually matters more than the machine.

Why the Load Changes the Limit

Load chart wind limits assume a load of limited surface area. Lift something with a big face — cladding panels, shutters, formwork tables, roof sheets, timber-frame panels — and the wind force on the load rises with its area while the crane's tolerance does not. Manufacturers publish de-rating tables or maximum load sail areas for this reason: a mobile crane rated to 11 m/s with a compact load may need the lift stopped at 7 m/s with a panel on the hook, or a bigger crane to keep margin. A load that starts to sail also swings, adds dynamic loading, drags the slinger on the tag lines, and lands where it wants rather than where you want.

Gusts, Means and Where You Measure

• Gusts govern, not averages. A 9 m/s mean with 15 m/s gusts is a 15 m/s lift. Plan to the gust value.
• Measure at the boom tip, not the ground. Wind speed increases with height — at 50m it is typically 1.3–1.5× the ground reading. Tower cranes carry anemometers at height; for mobile crane work, use the machine's anemometer or apply a height correction to forecasts.
• Local effects are real. Wind funnels between buildings and accelerates over slab edges — the forecast is a starting point, the site reading is the fact.
• Forecast the window, not the day. A compliant plan for a wind-sensitive lift names the forecast source, the limit for the operation, and who checks it — before the crane is mobilised, not after.

The Appointed Person's Stop/Go Framework

1. Set the operational limit in the plan — the lowest of: the load chart limit for the configuration, any de-rated limit for the load's sail area, and the site rules. Write the number down; "monitor the wind" is not a control.
2. Assign the measurement — who reads what, where, how often, and the gust value that pauses the lift.
3. Pre-agree the stop — at the limit, the lift stops without a debate; loads made safe, boom to a safe configuration. The lift supervisor holds that authority on the ground.
4. Re-plan, don't push on — if the window has gone, the operation is re-programmed. Every crane blown into the fence pushed through "one last lift".

Wind is one of the environmental factors a competent lift plan addresses alongside ground, proximity hazards and the load itself — the full contents are in our guide to what a lift plan contains, and wind-sensitive operations are a factor that can push a lift into the complex category requiring fuller planning.