Sig Storm Surge Event underway for UK and Europe.

[stu]

Tropical watchers may be interested to know that right now a classic storm surge event is unfolding in the North Sea (East of the UK). A 974mb low has tracked just North of Scotland towards Norway with the resulant back wash winds pilling surge down the East coast of England. The London river Themes flood barrier has been closed and a number of Coastal comunites on the East Side of the Uk have been evacuated.

Currently a 15 foot surge (media report) is being reported which is significant for our part of the world.

UKMO fax chart (time sensative)
http://meteonet.nl/aktueel/brackall.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7085394.stm

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23420144-details/Tidal+wave+heading+for+England%27s+east+coast+poses+%27extreme+danger+to+life%27/article.do

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/s...062088,00.html

[stu]

Good update from here...

This is actually a rare occurance for the UK!

http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/default.aspx

[Sanibel]

I saw a program on TV about this once. These surges have killed before. They are the reason the gates were built on the Thames.

[stu]

Yes - in 1953

307 were killed in the UK while 1835 were killed in europe!!!

Bascule Bridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953

[hiflyer]

BBC reporting the Dutch are closing down their gates for the first time in awhile....

[angelwing]

North Sea surge brings flood risk

The barrier protecting Rotterdam has closed for the first time ever
A storm in the North Sea has left Britain and the Netherlands facing the worst flood threat in decades with tidal surges predicted early on Friday.
Flood defences have been put on alert on the entire Dutch coast and flood warnings are in place for the eastern and northern coasts of Britain.

A tidal wave in 1953 killed more than 2,000 people in both countries.

Oil platforms have been closed off the Norwegian coast and gales are expected in Germany and Denmark.

The Dutch transport ministry said this was the first time since 1976 the whole North Sea coast was under alert.

Maritime traffic in Rotterdam was halted, as the authorities closed the giant Maeslant barrier that guards entrance to the largest port in Europe for the first time since its construction in the 1990s.

It took half-an-hour for the two doors of the barrier across the Nieuwe Waterweg to meet, spanning a channel 360 metres wide.

Rotterdam will remain closed until 1700GMT on Friday, a port spokesman said.

One-third of the land mass of the Netherlands is under sea level.

Flood warnings

In Britain, the Thames River and Dartford Creek barriers are being shut as waters are forecast to surge 1.5 metres (5 feet) above normal sea levels.


Families along the Norfolk coast have been protecting their homes

UK government warned large areas of Norfolk and Kent coasts were at risk of severe flooding and the Met Office warned of gusts of up to 145km/h (90mph) for the Orkney and Shetland islands in Scotland.

The storm surge is expected to peak around dawn on Friday, and several hundred people have left their homes near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.

Severe gale warnings were issued in Germany and Denmark, with wind gusts of up to 125km/h (80mph) expected.

In Germany, regions around the Elbe and Elm rivers were under flood warnings.

The North Sea storm affected oil industry in Norway, the fifth largest exporter of crude in the world, with the closure of oil platforms off its coast.

Norway's oil production of 220,000 barrels per day is expected to be slashed by 10% possibly leading to increases in the price of crude, already at record levels, experts say.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7086175.stm

[HURAKAN]

[Cyclone1]

Shouldn't this be in Global Weather, not Talkin' Tropics? Just bringing it up.

[Sanibel]

TWC said 20 foot surge on Thames coastal area.

[Chacor]

TWC nonsense, no significant flooding occurred in the end. Also consider that the 1953 flood wasn't more than 11 ft. 20 feet is a joke.

[Squarethecircle]

20 foot surge is a feat usually reserved for powerful tropical cyclones (which brings to mind the question of why this is here anyway). A surge of below 10 feet seems a lot more likely, and still fairly dangerous. What kind of damages are being reported, anyway?

[Category 5]

This is a dumb question but.

Does any of this have to do with Noels remnents?

[DPTX]

I believe this extreme weather is from the remnents of Noel.
DPTX

[HenkL]

It was a new extratropical low that developed just south of Greenland last Wednesday. Nothing to do with the remnants of ex-Noel (already on the Norwegian coast at that time).

[HurricaneBill]

This storm was named "Tilo".