News
-
Historic events: Severe coastal flooding and damage in central London on 6th and 7th January 1928
By Shari L. Gallop Disaster struck the streets of central London on 6th and 7th January 1928, when a North Sea storm surge combined with high tide and high river flows to cause severe coastal flooding (The Capricornian, 1928). Leading up to this event, Christmas 1927 saw heavy snowfall in the Cotswolds, and when it melted in early January 1928 it was said that the sudden…
-
The 3rd November 2005 – long period waves hit the south coast
Ten years ago, on 3rd November 2005, regions on the English south coast were impacted by long period Atlantic swell waves (period >18s) which overtopped and eroded defences. There were incidences of flooding despite that the sea level (for example at one of the impacted locations Eastoke, Hayling Island) was only of an annual return period. This event highlighted how energetic swell…
-
Supertides – again!
Flooding at Quay Road, Christchurch 09:45 (approx. 10 minutes after high water) 28th October 2015 (taken by Matthew Wadey). Air pressure ~1007mb, predicted tide: 1.9mCD During 27th-28th October 2013, the so-called ‘St Jude Storm’ registered gusts of over 100mph at the Needles, Isle of Wight. Surprisingly, this storm caused flooding at nearby Yarmouth (surprising, because flooding coincided with small or…
-
Hurricane Patricia: strongest ever in western hemisphere
Hurricane Patricia has recently been making headlines as the strongest on record for the Pacific, but early indication of the aftermath suggests that fortunately it will not be remembered for unprecedented damage and losses. Patricia broke two records: it became the strongest tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere in terms of minimum barometric pressure (880 mb), and also the strongest globally in terms of…
-
Weather Game - online game designed to investigate probabilities and decision-making
Decision-making is often confounded by uncertainty. To help with this, information can be presented using confidence scores, such as probabilities. Weather data is a good example of information that is usually communicated using probabilities. The Interaction Lab, School of Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University have revived the Weather Game – an online game designed to investigate how probability information regarding the weather can be best presented.
-
UK storm names revealed
Last month the Met Office, together with Met Eireann announced plans to name UK storms in an attempt to raise public awareness of severe weather. In an announcement made yesterday, the full list of names has now been revealed. Having received thousands of responses from members of the public, a few of the selected names are Desmond, Eva,…
-
Steart managed realignment scheme - one of the largest in the UK
The Steart marshes – one of the largest managed realignment sites in the UK – were exposed to the sea for the first time ever over one year ago, and have recently been in action against the highest tides in over a decade. WWT Steart Marshes at high tide. The Bristol Channel is to the left and the River Parrett to the right. (c) Sacha…
-
The killing storm of 2005: a tragedy 10 years on
On 11th January 2005, a storm with hurricane force winds tore through the Hebrides Islands. Tragedy struck when a family of 5 were swept away while driving across a causeway fleeing for safety, causing the highest number of fatalities during a single coastal flooding event since the east coast disaster of 1953. 10 years on, in an article published by The Guardian, residents of…