Abstract
Coastal flooding caused by extreme sea levels can be devastating, with long-lasting and diverse consequences. Historically, the UK has suffered major flooding events, and at present 2.5 million properties and £150 billion of assets are potentially exposed to coastal flooding. However, no formal system is in place to catalogue which storms and high sea level events progress to coastal flooding. Furthermore, information on the extent of flooding and associated damages is not systematically documented nationwide. Here we present a database and online tool called ‘SurgeWatch’, which provides a systematic UK-wide record of high sea level and coastal flood events over the last 100 years (1915-2014). Using records from the National Tide Gauge Network, with a dataset of exceedance probabilities and meteorological fields, SurgeWatch captures information of 96 storms during this period, the highest sea levels they produced, and the occurrence and severity of coastal flooding. The data are presented to be easily assessable and understandable to a range of users including, scientists, coastal engineers, managers and planners and concerned citizens.
Highlights
Background & SummaryFlooding of low‐lying, densely populated, and developed coasts can be devastating, with long lasting social, economic, and environmental consequences[1]
As mean sea level continues to rise due to climate change[9,10], and as coastal populations rapidly increase[11], it is important that we identify which historic storm events resulted in coastal flooding, where it occurred, and the extent and severity of the impacts
The issue of coastal flooding was brought to the forefront by the ‘Big Flood’ of 31 January–1 February 1953, during which 307 people were killed in southeast England and 24,000 people fled their homes[16,17,18], and almost 2,000 lives were lost in the Netherlands and Belgium[19]
Summary
Flooding of low‐lying, densely populated, and developed coasts can be devastating, with long lasting social, economic, and environmental consequences[1]. The issue of coastal flooding was brought to the forefront by the ‘Big Flood’ of 31 January–1 February 1953, during which 307 people were killed in southeast England and 24,000 people fled their homes[16,17,18], and almost 2,000 lives were lost in the Netherlands and Belgium[19] These events led to widespread agreement on the necessity for a coordinated response to understand the risk of coastal flooding, and to provide protection against such events[20]. While the UKCMF produces forecasts of storm surge events four times daily[25], and continuously monitors sea levels across the National Tide Gauge Network; no nationwide system is currently in place to: (1) record whether high waters progress to coastal flooding; and (2) systematically document information on the extent of coastal floods and associated consequences. The results are accessible and understandable to a wide range of interested parties
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