Abstract
Abstract. Storm Tilo on 8–9 November 2007 ranks among the serious winter storms in northern Europe over the past 30 years. Its low pressure centre passed across the northern North Sea, and this led to a cold air outbreak in northwest Europe. Strong north winds across the North Sea contributed to a high storm surge that was serious for coastal regions in eastern England, the Netherlands and Germany. Storm winds and unusually high waves caused shipping accidents and damage to some offshore energy infrastructure. This report presents an outline of the met-ocean conditions and a short overview of storm impacts on societal and energy infrastructure. The progress of the storm surge around the North Sea is analysed using data from the national tide gauge networks. A spectral analysis of the water level data is used to isolate the long period storm surge and short period oscillations (i.e., <4.8 h) from the tidal signal. The calculated skew surge is compared with literature reports for this storm and also with another serious North Sea storm from 31 October–1 November 2006 (Storm Britta). The short period oscillations are compared with the platform and shipping incident reports for the 2 d storm period. The results support previous reports of unusual wave and water level dynamics during some severe regional winter storms.
Highlights
Winter storms in northern Europe are a potentially serious hazard that can interrupt and damage societal and energy infrastructure
The maximum water levels for these series are shown by red crosses, and these highlight the progression of the tide and storm surge peaks around the North Sea
Offshore platforms for petroleum production and wind energy research were damaged during this storm by the wind and wave field
Summary
Winter storms in northern Europe are a potentially serious hazard that can interrupt and damage societal and energy infrastructure. On 27 December 1999 the Le Blayais nuclear power station in the Gironde estuary of western France was forced to shut down as the result of seawater flooding caused by a breach of dyke defences by the combined action of a sea surge and high waves during an intense storm (Salomon, 2002; de Fraguier, 2010). For both events but at Le Blayais, the action of the wave field on the sea walls may have been important for the ultimate flooding event. These accidents highlight that extreme coastal flood levels were not fully appreciated in the initial design criteria of the power stations in the 1960s and 1970s
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