What is a storm surge? Video by Shari Gallop.

Dr Shari Gallop is a research fellow in Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton. In this video she describes what a storm surges is.

A storm surge is a large scale and temporary rise in sea level caused by: (1) strong winds pushing sea water towards the coast where it ‘piles up’; and (2) low pressure at the centre of storms which ‘pulls’ the sea surface up by about 1 cm for every 1 millibar. Often, the worst coastal flooding occurs when the timing of the peak storm surge coincides with high spring tide. Storms can also produce large waves, which can overtop coastal defences and cause erosion.