Wind limits for marquees and tents
There is no single wind figure for a marquee. The limit belongs to the structure and is set by its design. This guide sets out what the MUTA Best Practice Guide 2026 says and where to find your figure.
Why there is no standard figure
How much wind a marquee can take depends on its design and on how it is anchored and set up. The MUTA Best Practice Guide describes wind as potentially the biggest adverse weather threat to temporary fabric structures.
This guide gives no typical mph figure for marquees on purpose. A figure that is right for one structure can be wrong for another.
Source: MUTA: Best Practice Guide 2026
Find the figure for your structure
MUTA says the client should be told the design wind load of the fabric structure and given instructions to evacuate if that load is in danger of being reached. It also says the client should be told the maximum in-service wind speed.
That figure is on your structure's design certificate. If you do not have the certificate, ask the supplier or contractor for it before the event.
MUTA also says a wind management plan, incorporating wind action levels, should be developed and provided to the user.
Source: MUTA: Best Practice Guide 2026
When to act
MUTA says wind management plans should be in place to evacuate fabric structures when wind speeds approaching the maximum service gust speed are forecast.
The same guide says to refer continually to weather forecasting services, particularly for structures erected in winter or on exposed sites. For more complex structures, on-site wind monitoring devices should supplement remote forecasts.
If a structure cannot be protected or strengthened to withstand the forecast wind, MUTA says it should wherever possible be made safe by lowering or removing covers. The covers are reinstated after an inspection, once the danger has passed.
Source: MUTA: Best Practice Guide 2026
Anchorage and ballast
MUTA says pull testing is typically used to check that fixings reach the manufacturer's requirement for the structure to withstand the published maximum wind gust speed. It calls pull testing good practice that should be done where possible.
Where stakes cannot go into the ground, heavy ballast weights can resist the uplift. MUTA notes that the ballast requirement is often underestimated and can be several tonnes per anchorage point.
It also says anchorage should always follow the manufacturer's instructions and be enough to resist the maximum uplift force expected.
Source: MUTA: Best Practice Guide 2026
Tipis and stretch tents with the sides up
MUTA says only the contractor can raise and lower the sides of tipis and stretch tents. If the sides are left raised the contractor must have suitable active systems in place to continuously assess the wind conditions at each site. It must also act early to send staff to lower the sides if necessary.
Source: MUTA: Best Practice Guide 2026
How Gustline helps
Enter the maximum in-service gust speed from the design certificate as the structure's limit. If your wind management plan sets a lower action level, enter that instead. Gustline warns you when a forecast gust comes within 5mph of it, days before the event, which leaves time to act on your plan.
Gustline checks the Met Office site-specific forecast for the point you pin on the map, every six hours from a week out and every hour in the final three days. It compares the forecast gust with the rated limit you enter for each structure and checks the weather alerts you leave on for the event. When a level changes it emails and texts the people you choose. Every alert is logged with a timestamp.
Gustline is an early warning for planning. It does not replace checks on site on the day, the official warnings or your event's own plans.
Plans start at £19 for one event. A season pass is £99 a season and a year pass is £179 a year. It covers the UK only.
Set up alerts for your next eventCheck the next 7 days of gusts at your site against a marquee limit, free
Sources
Last updated 4 October 2026.
Read next
- How to write a wind management plan
What UK guidance says a wind management plan should hold: a limit for each structure, action levels, who decides, how wind is measured and a log.
- Wind limits for stage roofs, screens and temporary structures
How wind limits work for stage roofs, screens and temporary structures: the IStructE design gust, why sheeted roofs differ and example action levels.
- Snow on marquees and event sites
MUTA says very few fabric structures can take a snow load and that they should be heated to 12°C when snow is possible. HSE advice on gritting.
- Gusts or mean wind: which number to plan around
Forecasts give a mean wind speed and a gust speed. Why structure limits are gust limits, how load rises with the square of speed and what to compare.