A Stormy Weekend & High Tides

This weekend (Sunday 10 August 2014) sees the remains of ex Hurricane Bertha affecting the south coast. While the exact track and the severity of the weather is still uncertain we can expect very strong winds and heavy rain, particularly on Sunday.

This stormy weather coincides with the build up of some very high spring tides, peaking on Tuesday and Wednesday. The tide heights mean that the Environment Agency will be issuing several Flood Alerts during this period, purely on the height of the astronomic tide.

What does this mean for people on the coast?

The Met Office is currently predicting quite a wet spell of weather for SW England from the early hours on Sunday morning and into the early afternoon. Some of this rain will be heavy torrential downpours, although it should become drier through the mid/late afternoon. This rain could result in localised flooding on roads, prone properties and prone land, camp and caravan sites and car parks.

The strong winds, possibly with localised gales along some coasts, may affect leisure marine events and activities. Large waves may occur through Sunday and affect many beaches facing the south, southwest and west. With the high tides there is likely to be a lot of spray and even waves breaking over sea walls and along beaches.

At this stage the Met Office has a Yellow warning in place, highlighting the risk of the heavy rain and strong winds giving a low likelihood of significant disruption.

As we go into the beginning of next week the tide height will increase until Wednesday. These spring tides will bring the potential for localised flooding along the coast and isolated Flood Alerts will be issued, particularly along the west Coast of Dorset.

Latest News

05.08.2019 - Fastnet 79 - Learning from Hard Lessons at Sea

In the 1979 Fastnet Race I was sailing on…

Read all News Stories

Shock Mitigation