Tidal Surge: Winter Storm 'Xaver' Batters Northern Europe

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/tidal-surge-winter-storm-xaver-batters-northern-europe-a-937576.html



A low-pressure system is bringing the worst flooding in decades to parts of Northern Europe, which is being pummeled by snow, rain and hurricane-force winds. At least three deaths have been reported.

Tidal Surge: Winter Storm 'Xaver' Batters Northern Europe
December 06, 2013 – 12:56 PM

A major storm surge threatened parts of northern Europe on Friday as a low-pressure system dubbed "Xaver" began battering the coasts with chilly hurricane-force winds. The United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia were most heavily affected by the severe storm, but cancelled flights and trains caused problems across Europe. By Thursday night, officials had reported at least three storm-related deaths in the UK and Denmark.

Thousands of residents living in the UK's eastern coastal areas were forced to spend the night in schools or emergency shelters amid warnings of flooding, which the UK's Environment Agency said could be the highest in some 60 years. Late on Thursday, authorities closed the Thames Barrier to protect London from rising waters.

The storm brought rain, hail and snow with the tidal surge, and the German port city of Hamburg has seen its worst flooding in decades, forcing authorities to close off parts of the city center on Thursday night. "We have a tidal surge the likes of which we have rarely seen in the last 10 or 20 years," said a city official on Friday. Water levels were reportedly some 6 meters (20 feet) above sea level early on Friday morning, a level last reached just twice in the early 1990s.

Strong gusts of wind of up to 155 kilometers (96 miles) per hour were reported across Germany, damaging roofs, uprooting trees and causing traffic problems. But authorities began issuing storm warnings well before the severe weather arrived, and only a handful of injuries were reported. School was cancelled for children in parts of northern Germany on Friday, as were a number of Christmas markets, despite it being Nikolaustag, a day when Saint Nicholas is honored and children receive gifts.

[dipsydoodle]

1. For anyone who has wondered the Thames Barrier operates via gates.

Details here : http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/barriertranscript.pdf

It was the events of 1953 which ultimately caused the necessary changes in the UK and even more so in Holland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953

It was inevitable the sad coincidence of timing would reoccur sooner or later - low pressure over NE Scotland , allowing the level of the North Sea to rise, meeting up with spring tides and the North Sea then acting like a funnel.

[hunter]

2. What's odd about this photo...

The lights are on!