“The Environment Agency confirms that
the Thames Barrier will be reopened at 5.30pm, at which point the
porpoises will be able to make a break for it.…”
Latest developments
The Press Association has been speaking to the Marine Conservation
Society about the porpoises in the Thames. A spokesman for the society
said:
It is unusual for five animals to be in the river though, as porpoises tend to be seen alone, and in smaller groups.
It isn't possible to say whether the tidal surge is the cause of the
porpoises being in the river, but it could well be related, either to
the tidal movement, or as a response to the particularly rough seas
beforehand.
The outer Thames estuary would have been relatively sheltered from northerly offshore winds.
The pod should be able to navigate back to sea, and pass through the
Thames Barrier when the tide goes out and the barriers are opened.
Norfolk police have told thousands of residents that there is no longer any need for them to stay away from their homes.
A spokesman said: "The second high tide did not lead to any major
incidents so the closure of rest centres will now be staggered to ensure
residents and property owners can return in a safe manner."
The Environment Agency still has 12 severe flood warnings
in place, most of them along the east coast in East Anglia, as well as
60 flood warnings along the east coast, and 41 of the less serious flood
alerts.
The Environment Agency confirms that the Thames Barrier will be
reopened at 5.30pm, at which point the porpoises will be able to make a
break for it. There are no further plans to close it.
Updated
Fredrick McConnell has been down to the Thames on the trail of the
porpoises. The photo earlier showed a porpoise near Blackfriars Bridge,
but the Metropolitan police have told Fredrick they were last spotted
near Westminster on their way out to sea.
The problem is, though, that the Thames Barrier is closed. So how are they going to get out? More details soon ...
This map shows where the porpoises might be, and where the Thames Barrier definitely is
Updated
Last night, business owners in Boston, Lincolnshire, whose
properties back onto the river were forced to evacuate when the water
started coming over the banks, reports Laura Dixon.
Many had tried to move what they could to higher floors, but others were taken by surprise by the speed of the water.
Daniel Philpott is the owner of the Britannia pub, is dressed in a
fleece and looks exhausted. Piled outside the front door are fridges,
freezers, and bits of sodden carpet. Already they have had to clear
thousands of pounds worth of contaminated stock.
"By about 6.30, 7 o'clock, water was coming through the garden,
through the kitchen, and coming into the pub. We set up boards and tried
to barricade it, but the water was coming, we had to evacuate."
When they came back to the kitchen, they found the crockery floating around like it was in a swimming pool.
With no heating or electricity yet today, they have a fire burning,
and the pub is filled with a smoky air as they try and clean off the
grills, but they are determined to clean up in time to open tonight.
"I'll need a drink by then," he said.
Daniel Philpott, owner of the Britannia pub, in Boston, Lincolnshire, after the floods. Photograph: Laura Dixon for the Guardian
Chloe Nelson posts these pictures from Norfolk on Twitter:
One of the porpoises that may or may not have been swept up the
Thames by the storm surge has been photographed by the Metropolitan
police.
Whoever runs the MPS Marine Policing Unit Twitter account could conceivably put their talents to a better porpoise.
Laura Dixon sends this on Boston, Lincolnshire, one of the towns that suffered from the tidal surge.
The seawater was forced upstream and eventually spilled over the riverbanks.
This morning, while the water is back down to a normal level, mud and
debris on the riverside show how high the water reached. Locals said
they had not seen anything like it.
With a huge clean up under way along the riverbanks, Paul Kenny, the
mayor of the town, estimated that 1,000 properties had been affected.
"At 7pm the water was about a foot off the top of the bank. By 20
past it was as high as that wall. I was standing on the bridge and it
was like looking at a lake.
"There's probably about 1,000 properties that have been affected in
the town. It was this high," he said gesturing with his arm. "Imagine
that in your living room."
He said many of the businesses in the old town centre had fared
better than they had feared, but some had been flooded and that on one
street by the church the water was flowing "like a torrent, 18 inches
high".
"I was standing next to one of the restaurant owners, he was in
tears," he said. "I have lived here for 20 odd years and have always
heard that Boston could potentially flood. Everything that we dreaded
happened last night."
Including the two men killed in seperate incidents in the UK
yesterday, the storm has storm killed at least seven people across
Europe. The additional deaths were reported in Poland, Sweden and
Denmark.
As well as high winds and floods, northern Europe has experienced
heavy snow and ice, which have seriously affected air and road travel.
In Hamburg, a tidal surge saw flood waters rise by 4m (13ft).
In Lincolnshire, police are advising residents that they can go
home, but they are asked to talk to a uniformed officer in their street,
who will assess the risk, before re-entering their properties.
Any residents who return to properties that have flooded and have any
concerns over the safety of gas and electricity supplies should not use
them, police say.
The storm, known in mainland Europe as cyclone Xaver, seen from space.
Patrick Barkham sends this picture of the remains of the lifeboat station at Hemsby, Norfolk.
All that is left of the lifeboat station at Hemsby, Norfolk, after the storm. Photograph: Patrick Barkham for the Guardian
Suffolk police are advising residents not to return to their homes until after high tide this lunchtime.
In Scotland, ScottishPower reports that around 3,500 homes are
without power across its network area, with 46,500 reconnected since the
storm began.
Updated
Reader Colm O'Laoi submitted these images of the surge via GuardianWitness, writes James Walsh. He took them at 2.30am in Waterside, Brightlingsea, Essex.
The Thames Barrier – a set of metal plates that can be raised across
the river at Woolwich – was closed last night in response to the storm,
as this picture shows:
This morning it was due to close again.
In Britain we are obsessed with the weather.
The opening line of a BBC Timewatch documentary
about the 1953 storm. Then, floods and extreme weather killed over
2,500 people across Europe. Today, with tides in some places rising
higher than 60 years ago, modern forecasting and emergency response
services mean rural and urban communities are much safer.
The Environment Agency has put out a press release calling last
night’s flooding “the most serious coastal tidal surge for over 60
years” and warning that significant flooding is expected to continue
along the east coast today.
Parts of North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent are at greatest risk from the
combination of a large surge, high tides and large waves. The areas at
risk of flooding also include the Northumberland coastline to Redcar and
West Sussex.
Some defences could be overtopped by the combined effect of the high tides, high winds and a large tidal surge.
Jason Wakeford, an Environment Agency spokesman said:
The worst effects were in darkness overnight so it is too soon to
assess the overall picture but several thousand properties have been
affected in the biggest coastal event of the last 60 years and the
warnings we issued were in line with that risk.
Dr Paul Leinster, Environment Agency chief executive, said:
Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by flooding. We
are urging people to remain vigilant, as we expect further flooding
today along large parts of the east coast of England.
The Environment Agency estimates that at least 800,000 properties
have been protected by flood schemes in the past 24 hours. Flood risk
management assets, including the Thames and Hull Barriers, have
protected thousands of homes and businesses from sea levels higher in
some places than those that occurred during the devastating floods of
1953.
Advances in flood forecasting mean that early alerts of the tidal
surge were given to emergency services, homes and businesses, allowing
vital time to prepare.
Our teams continue to work closely with partner organisations
including the emergency services, Met Office and local authorities. Our
teams have been out in force overnight, inspecting and repairing flood
defences and barriers, monitoring sea levels and issuing flood warnings.
Police in Norfolk, where the coastal storm surge destroyed a number of homes, have released an update.
Yesterday and last night, fire and rescue services were called out to
116 incidents including nine flood rescues. Deputy Chief Constable
Charlie Hall said:
In places, water levels were higher than those experienced in the
flooding of 1953, when many people lost their lives. Thankfully that has
not been the case on this occasion ... The widespread evacuation was
based on the high risk of severe flooding and was essential in ensuring
the public’s safety.
The constabulary also offered public health advice to those affected by flooding:
• If you’re caught in a flood, do not consume food that has been contaminated by floodwaters.
• Do not let young children play in flood water and try to avoid coming into contact with floodwater.
• If you do come in contact with floo water, wash hands using clean
water and soap and be aware of young children putting their hands in
their mouth.
• Keep in touch with elderly and vulnerable friends, family and
neighbours in affected areas, ask about their welfare and offer
assistance when possible.
Updated
Reports from Kent Online show that high waters breached the River Stour in Sandwich, where the Environment Agency issued one of its most severe warnings. Flooding affected numerous other coastal towns in the area, including Margate, Dover, Faversham and Whitstable.
The picture below shows a park very close to where the Guardian's Fredrick McConnell grew up.
A flooded park in Sandwich, Kent. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Reader David Platt sends this dramatic video
of a man being rescued from the sea in Scarborough at 5.30pm yesterday.
At one point the waves wash away a JCB next to his van; after that his
car is swept away. He told Caroline Bannock:
The Scarborough police closed off a number of roads but it seems this
man had parked his vehicle on Marine Drive and nobody had spotted him.
He got into his van and tried to drive off but his vehicle came to a
halt. He got out into the water and then the JCB appeared (they had been
working on the sewers); the man then got back in his van but as you can
see he almost got swept away – it was really dangerous. Some of the
lads ran foward and helped him out of the water.
Hemsby’s lost five properties in the night; five homes have literally
gone over the cliff edge, over the soft sand dunes here. About 30ft of
the coast has been chewed away by last night’s storm surge.
One resident just described how he watched his house go, and it was
literally folded over by the sea and carried away within half an hour.
And several other people were actually still living in their homes,
even though they were perched right on the edge of the sand dunes, and
they had to very hurriedly evacuate last night and remove all their
things, and they’re now coming back this morning to a scene of complete
devastation, really, of bits of timber and bits of veranda and bits of
front window left on the top of the sand dune, and the rest of the house
nowhere to be seen.
There’s an enormous swell. The North Sea isn’t known for its swells,
really. The tide’s still coming up again for another high tide this
morning that’s going to peak at about quarter to eleven.
Had the residents had enough warning to leave last night?
As far as I can tell. I haven’t spoken to any residents who said they
weren’t warned. Several of them appeared to be wanting to stick by
their homes, and almost defend their homes, if you like, so people
hadn’t left until quite late yesterday. There were actually local people
putting concrete blocks out on the beach until 5.30 last night, as a
sort of last ditch makeshift sea defence, a sort of DIY sea defence, but
they said they soon realised that this was completely hopeless when
faced with the might of the sea.
Patrick said this morning’s high tide hadn’t reached the levels of
last night’s peak. “People are quite hopeful that the worst is over,
although emergency services are still saying to people who were
evacuated that they should remain in the rest centres where they are and
they shouldn’t return to their homes until we watch to see how the high
tide goes tonight.”
Collapsed houses lie on the beach after a storm surge in Hemsby. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
I asked him about other parts of Norfolk.
There’s been damage all round the coast. A friend of mine who lives
on the cliffs at Overstrand said it was like living in a house above the
London Underground, when you hear a tube go under your house. The whole
house was vibrating with the waves pounding against the cliffs last
night.
In Cromer we’ve had burger vans disappear. The pier has taken a real
battering. Almost all the beach houses, the little wooden huts there,
have been damaged or have been blown away. There’s a lovely beach cafe
at Caister-on-Sea that’s been smashed to pieces and has disappeared, and
the owner of that cafe’s slightly upset, because she felt that the
flood defences that were put in last night actually hindered her from
taking her possessions from her cafe.
He said the evacuation had been very well-organised, and the sea defences seemed to have done their job.
Caroline Bannock has been speaking to James Hardaker, a taxi driver from Skegness who filmed the below video at 7.02pm last night. He told her:
I was at the end of Scarbrough Esplanade, Skegness, which is beside
the pier. The video was taken looking southwards along what is normally a
foreshore footpath. I took the movie on my iPhone, shortly after this
the streetlighting went out! The water has subsided this morning.
A surge results in a particularly high tide in Skegness on the
evening of Thursday 5 December 2013. This is the foreshore walk, looking
away from the Pier in the direction of Tower Esplanade, shortly before
7pm; about 40 minutes before high tide. For an indication of depth, the
object visible at the end of the wall this side of the shelter, is the
top of a litter bin.
Philip Oltermann sends more from Germany, where the
storm they are calling "Hurricane Xaver" has pummelled the north of the
country, causing extensive damage and bringing infrastructure to a
standstill.
In the country's second largest city, Hamburg, water rose six metres
above sea level – triggering memories of the great flood of 1962, which
claimed 315 lives. Several streets around the historic harbour area are
still flooded this morning. More than 130 flights in and out of the city
have been cancelled, and schools have remained closed across north
Germany.
In Hanover, one man was seriously injured when a minibus full of
children was caught by a gust of wind and pushed into oncoming traffic.
In Stralsund in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region, the wind tore off the
roof of a supermarket. The North-Sea islands off the coast of
Schleswig-Holstein are currently cut off from the mainland.
The storm also left its mark in the country's capital. Outside
Berlin's Palace Bellevue, the residency of German president Joachim
Gauck, the wind knocked over a 13-metre Christmas tree.
Patrick Barkham is in Hemsby, Norfolk - he sends this report:
In Hemsby, 30ft of sand dune and cliff was washed away by the storm
surge. Robin Adams watched the property, which he rented out, collapse
at 8.30pm last night. He said:
In half-an-hour the sea had lifted the bungalow up and folded it over and carried it away.
The house after the surge. Photograph: Patrick Barkham/GuardianRobin Adams outside all that remains of his house. Photograph: Patrick Barkham/Guardian
Updated
Here are a couple of dramatic pictures from yesterday sent in by readers via GuardianWitness.
Hail, snow and (more) gales rolling across the Firth of Clyde towards Gourock
Updated
Summary
Here is a summary of this morning’s news:
• Loss of life and property was minimised despite
“record-breaking” sea levels along the east coast of Britain last night
because of beefed-up defences and flood warnings, according to the
Environment Agency. Following a meeting of the government's
Cobra emergencies committee, environment secretary Owen Paterson warned
that the danger was not over. "There will still be exceptionally high
tides today and tomorrow and I would ask everybody to pay very close
attention to advice from the Environment Agency and also to follow
instructions from the police, local government and the emergency
services," he said.
• Although floodwaters were reported to be receding, the Environment Agency
still had 28 severe flood warnings ("danger to life") in place and 141
flood warnings ("immediate action required") – mostly along almost the
whole east coast. The agency also had 63 of its less serious
flood alerts in place, along parts of the south coast of England, and
the north and south coasts of Wales.
• Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes after
the largest North Sea surge for more than 60 years hit the north Norfolk
coast last night and headed south. • Two people were killed as the storm battered Britain yesterday.
A lorry driver died in West Lothian when his HGV toppled onto a number
of cars as high winds and gales battered Scotland, while a second man
was killed by a falling tree in Retford, Nottinghamshire.
• The Thames Barrier, which protects London, was shut
overnight and faced the biggest tide since it began operating in 1982.
It was then reopened, but will be closing again at 11.15am.
In England and Wales, the Environment Agency
still has 28 severe flood warnings ("danger to life") in place and 141
flood warnings ("immediate action required") – mostly along almost the
whole east coast. The agency also has 63 of its less serious flood
alerts in place, along parts of the south coast of England, and the
north and south coasts of Wales.
Environment Agency flood alerts today. Click here for latest. Photograph: Environment Agency
Video from a German weather station shows the path of the storm, known there as Hurricaine Xaver, across northern Europe.
Updated
Flood warnings have been lifted across Scotland after yesterday's storms.
Transport links were returning to normal on Friday morning after the
entire rail network was shut down. ScotRail said it expected a full
train service to operate but travellers might still face some
disruption.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) lifted the majority
of flood warnings – which indicate that flooding is expected and
immediate action is required – on Friday morning. One remains in place
for the Eyemouth coastal area.
Norway, Denmark and Germany were also hit by the storm. In Hamburg,
Germany's second-biggest city, the water rose about 13 feet (4 meters)
above average flood levels Friday, hitting heights rarely seen and parts
of the city's busy port were shut.
German weather service meteorologist, Andreas Friedrich, said:
The truly dangerous thing about this storm is that the winds will
continue for hours and won't let up. The danger of coastal flooding is
high.
Hamburg fish market was already under water last night. Photograph: Christian Charisius/DPA/Corbis
Updated
Hamburg is heavily flooded after last night's storm, Philip Oltermann
reports from Berlin, with this picture of two workers in a miniature
museum doing the rounds on German social media. This tweet reads: "The
storm surge is whatever you make of it. Here are the guys from the
Miniature Wonderland."
The storm surge left thick debris along the promenade in New Brighton, Merseyside.
Updated
Sandwich, in Kent, escaped lightly, reports Andrew Culf, despite having a severe flood alert warning of danger to life.
About 20 homes closest to the Quay, where the flood defences are
currently being improved in a £21m scheme, are thought to have suffered
flooding when the defences were overtopped. About 178 properties were
evacuated, with some residents spending the night in a local leisure
centre. Strand Street, one of the main streets in the centre of
Sandwich, remains closed where Environment Agency staff set up a
temporary barrier. On Thursday night residents queued for an allocation
of 10 sandbags per house, some using borrowed shopping trolleys to carry
them. Householders have been warned the emergency is not over, with a
second high tide forecast for around 1pm.
A woman hurries home with sandbags in a trolley, to protect her home in Sandwich, Kent. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Another of the homes in Hemsby, Norfolk that did not survive last night's high tide.
Updated
A woman and baby have been rescued from floodwaters, Essex fire service says.
Firefighters were called to reports that they were stranded at
Brightlingsea Marina at about 1.44am. "They were safely back on dry
ground by 1.53am," a spokesman said.
John Harvey tweets a picture of the Marina:
Updated
The BBC is reporting that five homes in Hemsby, Norfolk, have been
lost to the sea. Further high tides are due in Cromer and Great Yarmouth
later this morning.
Updated
BBC Linconshire's Rod Whiting was forced to broadcast from a
pop-studio at a listener's house due to flooding in Boston. Waters also
reached the historic St. Botolph's Church, known as the Boston Stump.
Updated
In Boston, Lincolnshire, 200 homes were flooded last night and 223 people evacuated to emergency accommodation. Here is a list of schools closed today.
Updated
The BBC's Simon Jones tweets a picture of Sandwich, Kent, which he
says is breathing a sigh of relief after missing the worst of the surge.
He also tweets a picture of the flood barriers still in place in Sandwich.
Updated
Transport update
The storms are continuing to cause travel chaos, with some roads flooded and trains disrupted.
• A number of Greater Anglia
services are not operating, and some Norwich to London trains have been
cancelled. There will be no service on the Ipswich-Lowestoft route
until at least 2pm.
• First Capital Connect has reduced the number of trains running between Stevenage and London Kings Cross/Moorgate via Hertford North.
• There are delays of up to 40 minutes on Southeastern.
• Arriva Trains Wales says services will be suspended until at least Saturday between Chester and Rhyl.
• Most Scottish rail services are running again after Thursday's virtual shutdown.
Among the roads closed are the A12 in Blythburgh in Suffolk, the A16
in Boston in Lincolnshire, the A63 in Hull and the A178 in Hartlepool.
Some roads in Kent are flooded. The Highways Agency
says extra staff are being deployed to help keep trunk roads in East
Anglia clear of debris. It advised motorists to avoid the A47 and A12 if
possible.
More on the Environment Agency's weather warnings. In an update on
Thursday night it said strong to gale-force winds were expected to
continue on Friday along the east coast. It said:
There is a high likelihood of severe coastal flooding impacts along
parts of the North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire,
Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex coastline on Thursday and Friday. There is
also a high likelihood of severe coastal flooding impacts along parts of
the Kent coastline on Friday.
My colleague Patrick Barkham, who is in Norfolk, writes:
As the sun comes up over Norfolk it appears that most of the defences
built after the catastrophic 1953 floods have done their job 60 years
on. Up to 20,000 people have been evacuated but so far just 60 homes are
reported to be flooded. Last night's tidal surge has carved into
Norfolk's fast-eroding cliffs, and five homes have fallen over the cliff
in Hemsby. Witnesses watched the lifeboat station destroyed by one
enormous wave.
High tides are expected again this morning and tonight, with
evacuated people advised to stay in the rest centres – closed schools –
until tomorrow.
I'm heading to Hemsby now but tweet me @Patrick_Barkham if there are other flood-affected places in Norfolk I should visit.
Updated
Send us your photos and video of the extreme weather through GuardianWitness here.
Updated
ITV is reporting that the Thames Barrier is going to close again this morning.
Norfolk police are warning that the danger is not yet over, with high tides expected at 8am in King’s Lynn, 8.30am at Cromer, 8.41am at Wells and 10.44am at Great Yarmouth. They say there is particular concern in the Hunstanton
area, where some of the shingle bank has been swept away, and there are
reports that Mundesley Cliff Vale Road car park has been washed into
the sea. Road closures are in place.
Police warn against "sightseeing" too close to rivers and breaking waves, saying people run the risk of being swept away.
Updated
The BBC is reporting that Owen Paterson, the environment secretary,
is to chair a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee at
8am.
Good morning. Parts of Britain are waking up to discover what damage
has been left by a tidal surge reported to be the worst for 60 years.
The North Sea surge hit the north Norfolk coast on Thursday evening
before moving south.
• Thousands of homes have been evacuated along the east coast.
In Norfolk, 9,000 homes were evacuated, mainly around Great Yarmouth.
In Boston, Lincolnshire, more than 250 people were taken to evacuation
centres, and 200 were reported to be at a centre in Clacton-on-Sea in
Essex.
• More than 100,000 properties have been hit by power cuts as winds of up to 140mph hit powerlines.
• Soldiers were drafted in to help emergency efforts. The Ministry of Defence said 60 Light Dragoons, based at the Swanton Morley Army base in Norfolk, were involved.
• Parts of the country said the floods had not been as bad as feared.
Northumbria police tweeted: "Early indications are that the tidal
surges in our area this morning are less than what we saw yesterday."
Essex police downgraded a severe flood warning to a flood warning.
• Two lives were claimed by the storm on Thursday. A
man died after he was struck by a falling tree in a park in Retford,
Nottinghamshire, and a lorry driver was killed when his HGV toppled on
to a number of cars in West Lothian. Here is our latest news story on the weather.
COPY http://www.theguardian.com/uk
Live
Thousands evacuated from their homes, with weather warnings still in place in some areas
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