Huge Storm Surge Threatens UK Coasts - Worst since '53

The flood threat to England and Wales
Flood warnings are in place in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England, as a tidal surge builds in the North Sea.
Coastal areas are facing an increasing threat of flooding, according to environmentalists and other scientists.

Tidal Surge Threatens U.K. Homes; Severe Flood Warnings Issued

By Kari Lundgren and Shelley Smith

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 10,000 homes on the east coast of the U.K. could be affected by severe flooding after a storm in the North Sea is expected to create waves up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) in height.

There are eight severe flood warnings in place, according to the British Environment Agency. Another twelve flood warnings have been issued and 24 sites are under observation.

``Water is only nine inches from the top of the flood barrier here,'' Janet Barney, owner of The Anson Arms, in Great Yarmouth, said in a telephone interview, adding that people have been advised to evacuate. Four of the eight severe flood warnings issued by the Environment Agency are for the Great Yarmouth area.

November 9, 2007

Fear of biggest surge since 1953Paul Simons: Analysis
The storm that battered Scotland yesterday will set off a huge storm surge down the North Sea today. Flood warnings have been issued for the coast of East Anglia, although the larger threats will face the North Sea coasts of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.

Fierce winds gusted up to 174km/h (108mph) and brought mayhem across northern Scotland, although this was not an unusually intense storm for the region.

Although the worst of the storm has moved across to Scandinavia, it has left a dangerous legacy. Strong northerly winds dragged down along the rear of the depression are aimed straight down the North Sea, causing a spectacular storm surge.

This vast bulge of seawater is whipped up by the storm's winds and low barometric pressure, and raises sea levels to dangerous heights. As the storm surge is rammed southwards down the North Sea it rises higher in a bottleneck formed between the coastlines of eastern Britain and the Continent. The seabed also becomes shallower there, raising seas higher. According to the Met Office, today's highest sea levels could reach more than 3m (10ft), with possibly another 20cm added on for high waves. However, adequate warning of the surge was given four days ago using a new forecasting model that gives probabilities of how severe the high tides could be.