Storms at Cleveleys!

Added 14 November 2010

About once a year there is a howler of a storm on the north west coast and Cleveleys took its annual battering during this week.

The wind started to get up on Wednesday and by the evening it was getting up to about 40 or 50mph - in context that's the sort of weather where it's difficult to stand up and the house starts to move and you can't hear the TV!

The council put the storm boards in the sea wall - they 'weren't expecting floods' and fortunately for this section of coast we are reasonably well protected from overtopping because of the design of the new sea defences and the high beach on the northern section. The boards were to keep the public off the promenade and safe during the high winds.

On Thursday things got, shall we say, hair raising! I was seriously concerned that I wouldn't be able to get out and into the car to go to a meeting at lunchtime, it was so bad.

North Promenade, Cleveleys, 3pm Thursday 11.11.10

High tide was at about 2pm, and an hour later the foam was flying on the beach! In certain very rough conditions the water agitates a foam on the surface which is laden with sand and salt, and it flies over the sea wall (as you can see above) onto the road where it often reaches several feet in thickness.

Look at this video to see the storm for yourself!
(apologies for the quality of the video, it's not easy in a storm!)

This photo (above) was taken in a 2009 storm when the sky was a bit brighter - this was actually taken in May! You can see how deep the foam is as the cars try to drive through it. Last year it was so deep that the police closed the promenade.

There has been extensive damage from this storm all along this coast. One of the sails has been blown of Lytham Windmill, the scaffolding and tent on Blackpool Tower has been ripped off and damaged, and a number of the illuminations tableaus at Bispham have been damaged beyond repair which is a terrible shame. Plus of course all the aerials and roof tiles that have been blown away to Kansas!

It's all calm again now on the western front, and all the foamy snowballs can be cleaned up and the damage repaired - until next time!