I'm probably a bit slow, and may have missed it somewhere, but can anyone explain how the flooding is expected to be bad along the East Anglian coast, seeing as the wind is blowing from the West? I could understand it if it was coming the other way, but surely the wind is blowing the sea away from the coast????
I'm probably a bit slow, and may have missed it somewhere, but can anyone explain how the flooding is expected to be bad along the East Anglian coast, seeing as the wind is blowing from the West? I could understand it if it was coming the other way, but surely the wind is blowing the sea away from the coast????
Something to do with a 'storm surge'. Read about it on the BBC earlier but I don't really understand the science.
It's to do with the movement of the low pressure causing the strong winds, it's the perfect track for surges. It's a deep low pressure so the sea isn't 'pushed down' much creating a big bulge of water. This then gets funnelled southward down the North Sea, nowhere to go but up and onto the land....obviously combine this with a high tide and it's devastating.
Just checked the high tide times at Yarmouth and it's about 2200, the environment Agency have models they use for this kind of thing hence all the warnings. Hopefully people at risk are aware of the warnings, best check the Environment agency page for details.
I'm probably a bit slow, and may have missed it somewhere, but can anyone explain how the flooding is expected to be bad along the East Anglian coast, seeing as the wind is blowing from the West? I could understand it if it was coming the other way, but surely the wind is blowing the sea away from the coast????
The wind will change direction to a southerly direction as the storm heads over the north sea pushing the tide south. But its the narrowing of the channel that makes it worse and the water gets backed up.
Something to do with a 'storm surge'. Read about it on the BBC earlier but I don't really understand the science.
It's not just the winds but also a combination of high tides, air pressure and the geography of the North Sea/English Channel. Water from the deep North Atlantic is forced south in the shallow and narrow North Sea. The water has nowhere else to go apart from onto the land.
A storm surge is possibly one of the most dramatic weather events for the east coast. These are caused when deep depressions track east from the Atlantic, passing close to the north of Scotland. As the depressions move across the ocean the lower pressure causes the sea level to rise - for each 1 hPa drop in pressure sea levels rise by up to 1 cm - and the winds push the surface waters of the sea forward, a motion known as 'wind drift'.
On reaching the relatively shallow North Sea this water is forced southwards, eventually causing a pile up of water in the south. This is because the water cannot escape through the narrow Dover Strait and the English Channel and so gets trapped in the southern North Sea. The effect is enhanced by the strong northerly winds experienced on the rear flank of the depression as it continues eastwards.
Tides at Eastern England ports (currently near low tide) are about 1 metre lower than normal!
Aberdeen is at High tide though and is 1 metre above normal so.... water's been sucked out of the Southern North sea and will no doubt return with a vengeance later! :eek:
NW England is at high tide now and it's about 1 metre higher than normal Spring tides.
I've got a day off today, and was going to go out shopping, but won't do now due to the strong wind and the way many of the trees near by look like they are going to be blown over at any moment!
I've already put my wheelie bins in the garage as no doubt tomorrow morning I'd find them and their manky contents strewn across the driveway.
The storm appears to have ceased here which is a relief as I have spent half the morning chasing my bin down the street! Luckily the bin men have now been to collect what little rubbish still remained in the bins I guess the need to pick up most of the bins is what has caused them to be late.
Now I've tucked two bins in the alcove by the front door and the third bin is pulled in as far as it will go. Hope no one tries to get to my front door!
Oh if anyone comes across a green bin with a black Lid could they point it in my direction. This is the second time that I've lost a bin to the wind! Only had it for a couple of weeks as well. It's going to be quite embarrassing telling the council that the new bin they supplied a couple of weeks ago has gone missing. Could someone be nicking them? Is there a Phantom bin nicker roaming the north east looking for small boxes to put their Christmas presents into or something?
I do love threads like this when people say "its like this here, its like that here" without saying where they are. You don't need to give your street but a county would do!
I do love threads like this when people say "its like this here, its like that here" without saying where they are. You don't need to give your street but a county would do!
Here in my part of South Cheshire (Nantwich area) it has gone quite quiet, it has been blowing really hard
I have plant pots and empty petrol containers all over the back lawn.
The sky this morning was beautiful lots of red which according to an old rhyme means ' Red sky in the morning shepherds warning'
Blue with white clouds now.
Crazy wind in leics, loads of fallen trees and my garden furniture has been blown around all over the place...far winder here than the last storm predicted.
I wonder if the lack of wall to wall coverage in the build up will have caught some off guard - if you compare it to the build up of he storm in October.
Comments
*resists the urge to make a joke about that *
Something to do with a 'storm surge'. Read about it on the BBC earlier but I don't really understand the science.
Just checked the high tide times at Yarmouth and it's about 2200, the environment Agency have models they use for this kind of thing hence all the warnings. Hopefully people at risk are aware of the warnings, best check the Environment agency page for details.
The wind will change direction to a southerly direction as the storm heads over the north sea pushing the tide south. But its the narrowing of the channel that makes it worse and the water gets backed up.
It's not just the winds but also a combination of high tides, air pressure and the geography of the North Sea/English Channel. Water from the deep North Atlantic is forced south in the shallow and narrow North Sea. The water has nowhere else to go apart from onto the land.
More info here: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/in-depth/1953-east-coast-flood
Aberdeen is at High tide though and is 1 metre above normal so.... water's been sucked out of the Southern North sea and will no doubt return with a vengeance later! :eek:
NW England is at high tide now and it's about 1 metre higher than normal Spring tides.
The storm appears to have ceased here which is a relief as I have spent half the morning chasing my bin down the street! Luckily the bin men have now been to collect what little rubbish still remained in the bins I guess the need to pick up most of the bins is what has caused them to be late.
Now I've tucked two bins in the alcove by the front door and the third bin is pulled in as far as it will go. Hope no one tries to get to my front door!
Oh if anyone comes across a green bin with a black Lid could they point it in my direction. This is the second time that I've lost a bin to the wind! Only had it for a couple of weeks as well. It's going to be quite embarrassing telling the council that the new bin they supplied a couple of weeks ago has gone missing. Could someone be nicking them? Is there a Phantom bin nicker roaming the north east looking for small boxes to put their Christmas presents into or something?
I have plant pots and empty petrol containers all over the back lawn.
The sky this morning was beautiful lots of red which according to an old rhyme means ' Red sky in the morning shepherds warning'
Blue with white clouds now.
We had no heating or water (borehole pump).
We Will Rebuild.
-Deleted