Storm tides of the North Sea are coastal floods associated with

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of ...

s crossing over the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, the severity of which are affected by the shallowness of the sea and the orientation of the shoreline relative to the storm's path, as well as the timing of

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

s. The water level can rise to more than 5 metres (17 ft) above the normal tide as a result of storm tides. Northern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

are particularly susceptible to storm tides. The coastline of the German Bight forms an L-shape facing northwest. Also vulnerable are the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where the sea shallows and is funnelled toward the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. Storm tides are a regular occurrence in the North Sea basin; several form each year. Although most do not cause significant damage, the impact of some has been devastating. During one, the February flood of 1825, the Danish coastline changed, as the North Jutlandic Island became separated from the Jutland Peninsula.

Major storm tides

* 838, December 26, Netherlands, more than 2,400 deaths * 1014, September 28, Netherlands, several thousands of deaths * 1099, November 11, The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

'' states, that in London "On the festival of St Martin, the sea flood sprung up to such a height and did so much harm as no man remembered that it ever did before". * 1164, February 16, ''Saint Juliana flood'', Netherlands and Germany, several thousands of deaths * 1170, November 1, All Saints' Flood, Netherlands, marks beginning of creation of

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...

* 1206, Netherlands, 60,000 deaths * 1219, January 16, ''Saint Marcellus flood'', Netherlands and Germany, 36,000 deaths struck West Friesland * 1248, a year with three storm tides in The Netherlands with major inundations * 1277, Netherlands and Germany, formation of

Dollart The Dollart (German name) or Dollard (Dutch name) is a bay in the Wadden Sea between the northern Netherlands and Germany, on the west side of the estuary of the Ems river. Most of it dries at low tide. Many water birds feed there. Gaining ...

* 1277, Netherlands and Germany, formation of Lauwerszee * 1282, Netherlands, separates island of Texel from mainland * 1287, December 13, Saint Lucia flood, Netherlands, formation of Waddenzee and Zuiderzee, 50,000–80,000 deaths. Major impact on Cinque Ports in England. Erschrecklichewasserfluth

* 1288, February 5, ''Saint Agathaflood'', Netherlands, several thousands of deaths * 1322, Netherlands and Belgium,

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

loses all coastal islands, many deaths especially in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

, Zeeland and Flanders * 1334, November 23, Netherlands, several thousands of deaths Great Storm 1703 Goodwin Sands engraving

* 1362, January 16, '' Grote Mandrenke'' (big drowner of men) or ''Saint Marcellus flood'', Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, created a great part of the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

and caused the end of the city of

Rungholt Rungholt was a settlement in North Frisia, in what was then the Danish Duchy of Schleswig. The area is today located in Germany. Rungholt reportedly sank beneath the waves of the North Sea when a storm tide (known as ''Grote Mandrenke'' or ''D ...

; 25,000 to 40,000 deaths, according to some sources 100,000 deaths * 1404, November 19, first Saint Elisabeth flood, Belgium and Netherlands, major loss of land * 1421, November 19, second Saint Elisabeth flood, Netherlands, storm tide in combination with extreme high water in rivers due to heavy rains, 10,000 to 100,000 deaths * 1424, November 18, third ''Saint Elisabeth flood'', Netherlands * 1468, ''Ursula flood'', should have been more forceful than second Saint Elisabeth flood * 1477, first ''Cosmas- and Damianus flood'', Netherlands and Germany, many thousands of deaths * 1530, November 5,

St. Felix's Flood The St. Felix's flood (in Dutch Sint-Felixvloed) happened on Saturday, 5 November 1530, the name day of St. Felix. This day was later known as Evil Saturday ''(kwade zaterdag)''. Large parts of Flanders and Zeeland were washed away, including the ...

, Belgium and Netherlands, many towns disappear, more than 100,000 deaths * 1532, November 1, ''All Saints flood'', Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, several towns disappear, many thousands of deaths * 1570, November 1,

All Saints flood All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

, Belgium and Netherlands, several towns disappear, more than 20,000 deaths * 1571–72, unknown date, marine flooding on the Lincolnshire coast between Boston and Grimsby resulted in the loss of "all the saltcotes where the best salt was made". * 1634, October 11–12, '' Burchardi flood'', broke the Island of Strand into parts ( Nordstrand and

Pellworm ( da, Pelvorm; North Frisian ''Polweerm'') is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The municipality is located on the island of Pellworm – one of the North Frisian Islands on the North Sea coast of ...

) in

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; da, Nordfrisland; frr, Nordfraschlönj ), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the exception o ...

* 1651, February 22 in Germany, March 4–5 Netherlands, '' St. Peter's Flood'' * 1663, December 7, The diarist

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

noted "the greatest tide that ever was remembered in England to have been in this river, all

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

having been drowned." * 1686, November 12, ''Saint Martin flood'', Netherlands, 1586 deaths * 1703, December 7, Great Storm of 1703, England, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, many thousands of deaths * 1717, December 24, Christmas flood 1717, Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia, more than 14,000 deaths * 1810, November 10, In

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hull ...

up to 10 deaths are thought to have occurred in the town due to a storm surge. * 1825, February 3–5, February flood of 1825, Germany and Netherlands, 800 deaths * 1916, January 13–14, Zuiderland flood Netherlands, 16 casualties and ~300 km2 flooded around the

this flood led to the construction of the Afsluitdijk, creating the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

. * 1949, January 8, Storm disturbance in the North Sea. * 1953, January 31 – February 1,

North Sea flood of 1953 The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, causing extensive flooding. The storm and flo ...

, most severe in the Netherlands, leading to the Delta Works, 2533 deaths * 1962, February 16–17, North Sea flood of 1962, flooded one fifth of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and claimed 315 lives * 1976, January 3–4,

Gale of January 1976 The Gale of January 1976, widely known as the "Capella" storm in Germany and the Ruisbroek flood in Belgium, was one in a series of extratropical cyclones and storm surges, which occurred over January 1976. The gale of 2–5 January 1976 ...

* 1978, January 11–12,

1978 North Sea storm surge North Sea flood of 1978 was a storm surge which occurred over 11–12 January causing extensive coastal flooding and considerable damage on the east coast of England between the Humber and Kent. Higher water levels were reached than during the de ...

, East coast of England. * 1981, November 24–25, North Frisian Flood, severe surge with dike breaches in Denmark. * 1982, December 19, the largest negative surge recorded in the North Sea coincided with a high tide, water levels dropped rapidly posing a navigational hazard. * 1993, February 21, an internal surge in the North Sea and high waves brought flooding to the Norfolk Broads. * 1999, December 3, Cyclone Anatol * 2007, November 8–9,

North Sea flood of 2007 Cyclone Tilo (also known as Cyclone Andrea in Norway) was a European windstorm which affected northern and western Europe in early November 2007. Combining with the remnants of Hurricane Noel, Tilo's storm surge led to the North Sea flood of 2007, ...

(Tilo) * 2011, November 24–27, Cyclone Berit (Xaver) and "Lille Berit" (Yoda). * 2013, October 10, east coast of England surge (Xenon), Environment Agency warning of minor flooding and disruption, tide passed without major flooding. *2013, December 5–7, On 4 December the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

released a warning to communities along the East Coast of England to prepare for the most serious tidal surge in 30 years, with a significant threat of coastal flooding, associated with Cyclone Xaver. *2017, January 4–5, storm Axel. *2017, January 12–13, (incl. Vidar NO).

Recent storm tides

The flood of 1976 and the "North Frisian Flood" of 1981 brought the highest water levels measured to date on the North Sea coast, but because of sea defences such as improved warning systems and

dikes Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes, ...

built and modified after the flood of 1962, these led only to property damage.

Comparative table of surge heights along the east coast of Britain

References

External links

Munich Re Historical storm surge eventseSurge Surge Event Database: North Sea
European windstorms

Major storm tides

Recent storm tides

Comparative table of surge heights along the east coast of Britain

See also

References

Further reading

External links