Live Lighthouse Webcams

Lighthouse webcams look at the towers that guard coasts: on rocky capes and cliffs, on small islands offshore, at harbour entrances and at the far end of breakwaters. Some cameras watch the tower from the shore, others are mounted on the lighthouse itself and look out over the water it protects.

Every light has its own signature. The number of flashes, their colour and the pause between them are fixed precisely, so a navigator can tell one lighthouse from another in the dark. On camera this shows as a beam sweeping across the frame or a lamp blinking in a steady rhythm. By day the same towers are recognised by their paint: spiral stripes, horizontal bands, a lantern in a contrasting colour. Most lights now run automatically, and many keepers’ houses have become museums.

The most striking moment is twilight, when the lamp is already lit and the sky still holds some colour. Winter brings the storms, with spray rising over the tower and swell bursting on the rocks below. In fog the tower can vanish completely.