Source

The storm developed from a low pressure system situated off southwest Greenland, and started to move eastwards from southeast Greenland on 9^th January 1978, and passed south of Iceland and southeast towards Scotland on 10^th January 1978. At approximately 18:00 10^th January 1978, whilst located northwest of Scotland, the storm veered in a southwest direction and passed over the Wash in Lincolnshire at 06:00 11^th January 1978. By midnight, it reached Hamburg, then moved eastwards and had largely dissipated by noon on 12 January. The minimum pressure reached was 976 mbar, and north to north-easterly winds reached 45 knots [23 m/s] with gusts of up to 70 knots [30 m/s] (Steers et al., 1979). Eden (2008) reports gusts of 77 knots [40 m/s] and 72 knots [37 m/s] in central London and Manston (Kent), respectively.

The storm generated a 0.98 m skew surge at Immingham and a 1.18 m skew surge at Lowestoft (these are the only two North Sea sites from our database that were recording data at the time). A sea level return period of 1 in 27 years was recorded at Immingham and 1 in 7 years at Lowestoft. Other reports indicate that on parts of the UK coast (Lincolnshire and Humber regions), the high water was higher than in 1953, for example a high water height of 5.92 m (above Ordnance Datum Newlyn) was recorded in Kings Lynn compared with 5.65 m in 1953 (Steers et al., 1979). Conditions in the Wash (Lincolnshire) were worse than in 1953; since the wind and surge were locally magnified by this feature (Steers et al., 1979).

We are unaware of any sources describing the wave conditions during this event.

Pathway

There was widespread damage to defences along the east coast during this event, and the main flood pathways was overtopping and breaching.

Receptor and Consequence

Most coastal damage was on the east coast of England, mainly in Lincolnshire and East Anglia during 11^th January. In King’s Lynn, around 400 residential properties were flooded, and 22 children were evacuated from a hospital (The Times, 1978a). In Cleethorpes, about 1,000 houses were seriously flooded over a 5 km² area (Grimsby, 2010). About 1,000 people were evacuated in Wisbech when the Nene overflowed its banks, with flood water reaching 5 ft. [1.5 m] deep (The Times, 1978a). A 70-year-old woman here was found dead in her home (The Times, 1978a; Lamb, 1991). The railway between Grimsby and Cleethorpes was closed for 8 days when 100’s tons of ballast were washed onto the coast (Steers et al., 1979). Workshops at Grimsby’s Royal Dock were damaged (Grimsby, 2010) and 28 houses and 8 business premises were flooded in Sandilands and Mablethorpe; as well as chalets and caravan sites at Trustthorpe and Ingoldmells. There was considerable coastal erosion in many locations (Steers et al., 1979). This event also impacted several Scottish towns (Hickey, 1997). In Buckie, many residential properties were inundated, and overtopping of defences along a stretch of 50 m carried debris to 5 m inland. There are reports of flooding for several other areas, including locations along the Grampian coastline where defences failed. Serious coastal erosion was reported in Findhorn and Burghead Bay, in places up to 12 m. Along the south coast, there was flooding in Sandgate, and in the Solent (The Times, 1978b; Zong and Tooley, 2003; Ruocco et al. 2011). The conditions at Bembridge were the worst in living memory. London came within 0.5 m of flooding, and the flood gates installed at London Docks in 1972 were closed for the first time (Met Office, 2014).

Northumberland County Council (2015) reported that in January 1978 (unspecified date) that there was flooding in coastal areas of Northumberland – this is most probably the event of 11^th January (since there were no other large storm surges recorded in the tide gauge data that month). Local roads and properties were inundated, and parts of the Quayside in Blyth was flooded by a depth of upto 1 ft. [0.3 m]. Other locations listed as impacted were Alnmouth, Amble Harbour, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Blyth.

Summary Table