National Tidal and Sea Level Facility (NTSLF)

Highest tides for 18.6 years

‘Supermoon’ seen from Canary Wharf 2014

Many places along the UK coastline will experience the highest tide for 18.6 years between the 19th and 30th of September, as a result of the co-incidence of a series of astronomical factors. Watch a video of Professor Kevin Horsburgh explaining this using a football and a tennis ball.

Saturday’s ‘supermoon’ will cause exceptional high tides

‘Supermoon’ seen from Canary Wharf, 2014 (credit: Matt Buck)

‘Supermoon’ is a term widely used to refer to when either a full or new moon coincides with the closest approach the Moon has to Earth in its elliptical orbit.

Storm surge hits UK Coastline

A storm surge on 3 Jan 2014 in the Irish Sea (similar to the recent one on 5 December 2013) raised the sea surface above the astronomical tide level by 0.75 metres to 1 metre over a large area.

NOC secures UK contract for tidal ‘early warning system’

Half tide bubbler

The contract to inspect and maintain the United Kingdom’s network of tidal gauges – the country’s early warning system for coastal flooding – has been won by the National Oceanography Centre.

The contract, worth £1,080,000 over four years, was awarded by the UK’s Environment Agency.

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