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  • 449 years ago today (5th Oct 1571), a major coastal flood impacted the coasts of Lincolnshire and Kent

    449 years ago today (5th Oct 1571), a major coastal flood impacted the coasts of Lincolnshire and Kent

    Exactly 449 years ago today, a major coastal flood impacted the coasts of Lincolnshire and Kent. The village of Sutton-on-Sea was greatly affected by this disaster, where the church and a large part of the village were destroyed. The flooding also led to the loss of ‘all the saltcotes where the best salt was made’. Furthermore, the gale and flood killed 20,000 cattle and sheep, destructed…

  • 41 years ago today (11th Nov 1977), a major coast flood impacted the Lancashire and Cumbrian coastline

    41 years ago today (11th Nov 1977), a major coast flood impacted the Lancashire and Cumbrian coastline

    Exactly 41 years ago today, a major coast flood impacted the Lancashire and Cumbrian coastline. The town of Fleetwood, just north of Blackpool, was seriously flooded. Regretably, one person was drowned during the event. A further 3,600 people were evacuated. Over 5,000 properties were flooded. Photos of the event cab be seen here and here. You can read more details about the event here.

  • Wallets open Dikes closed: Memories of the 'Big Flood' of 31st January and 1st February 1953

    Wallets open Dikes closed: Memories of the 'Big Flood' of 31st January and 1st February 1953

    65 years ago today the most severe coastal flood of the late 19th, 20th and early 21st centuries occurred. It became known as the ‘Big Flood’ and resulted in the deaths of more than 300 people in England, and at least 2,000 people in the Netherlands and Belgium. This landmark event lead to the establishment of the Flood Forecasting Centre in the UK and resulted eventually in the…

  • The story of an entire village lost to the sea

    The story of an entire village lost to the sea

    by Sebastian Pitman On this day, 101 years ago, a large storm irreversibly destroyed a South Devon village. The Hallsands disaster is a poignant reminder of the power that nature can bring to bare, especially in storm conditions. In one night, 29 homes were destroyed and an as the sea swallowed large parts of Hallsands, the entire village was abandoned.

  • East Coast Flooding: Four years on and £50m later, what's changed?

    East Coast Flooding: Four years on and £50m later, what's changed?

    by Sebastian Pitman On this day four years ago, Storm Xaver generated surges of up to 2m in the North Sea, with the net result being the mass inundation of land along the UK’s East Coast. Official estimates  put inundation of residential property at 2,800 houses, with the evacuation and rescue of 18,000 individuals. This was reportedly the worst coastal flooding event in the UK…

  • A wartime invasion of a very different nature back in Blighty

    A wartime invasion of a very different nature back in Blighty

    by Sebastian Pitman The 5th November 1916 is best known as the date that marks a switch in focus of the German Navy during World War I, from pursuit of naval supremacy to the targeting of commercial vessels in the North Sea. However, on this day back in the UK, there was an invasion of a very different nature, as large…

  • Event in Focus: October 1927 - Fatalities in a flooded hospital

    Event in Focus: October 1927 - Fatalities in a flooded hospital

    by Sebastian Pitman During this week 90 years ago a sever flood and storm event directly claimed six lives around the UK coastline, including 3 bed bound hospital patients. The overall reported death toll attributed to the storm (though not directly attributed to flood water) exceeds thirty people. During 27th October 1927, the storm began to form over the central North…

  • Storm Brian

    Storm Brian

    Hot on the heels of Hurricane Ophelia, storm Brian is approaching. We are keeping a close eye on the event, given it is occurring on high spring tides. The Met Office surface weather charts predict the low pressure system, will be over Ireland on Saturday morning. The strong westerly winds to the south of the storm will generate a storm surge and waves along the southwest coast.