Weird Weather

Watching the devastating scenes in Cornwall and Scotland had me thinking of how the great British topic of the weather and has it changed in resent years. Just going back to the mid 1980s for instance it felt like every time we had a spring tide there was a gale behind it, these two factors were behind the old Lifeboat station at Port Talbot being awash it got so bad that the boat it self was actually floating off its trailer.Ruining the electrics and some of the kit. Also there was a great deal of sand that disappeared off Aberavon Beach prior to this change in the weather you could walk down just a few steps to the sand yet after one storm we measured from the bottom step (which was unusually exposed) to the sand it was an astonishingly 7ft?

With most of the town being built on sand dunes this washing away of the sand undermined the promenade causing a large section to collapse like a pack of cards. This prompted major work on the seawall with a rock amour face built in front of the steps and an extended sea defense platform connecting the old north pier. The lifeboat has been moved to the center of the seafront next to our station. I have noticed we have not been having the storms as often as we did in the 1980s it's got hotter and wetter.

But is it that unusual in my lifetime 1976 was hotter than any resent summer, 1962 was colder than any winter since. I agree I am not exactly going in to the annals of time however as disastrous as events were in Boscastle it had happened before in 1952 with the Lynmouth disaster. It is said we have a great storm every 100 years in 1938 the town of Aberystwyth was hit by one of the worst storms in British history with the promenade washed away that day. Just type, "the great storm uk" in to Google and look at the dates from its 1,340,000 results from before 1703 to 2004? Which one was THE Great storm? The answer is easy whichever one affected that town or person.

Bad weather is nothing new. Neither is the loss of life because of it. It hasn't got to be a Great storm. Every year people get caught out at sea or on the coast don't become a victim this winter. If going boating or even walking on the coast get your local area forecast before you go make sure you have the right equipment and your crew know how to use it. Often a skipper will over look telling his mates out for a days fishing vital things such as where the flares are and how to use them etc. How to drive the vessel should the skipper accidentally fall over the side. Make a habit of telling who ever is onboard this important information. Wear a lifejacket at all times give your self a better survival chance in the winter sea Don't think it will not happen to me? Because it happens to someone in UK waters all the time so why cant it be you. People die every year in the UK that could still be alive if some minor action had been taken before hand like getting an up to date forecast.

If you have any question please contact your local Coastguard Station who will gladly give you any advice you may need no matter how small you may think it is. Coastguard stations carry many free publications covering safety on the sea why not pop in and pick a few up
Incidents around Britain are rising don't become a victim of bad weather get that advice today. Spare a thought for the emergency services that will be out this winter whatever the weather and help us by helping your self.

you can talk about this and more on the new coastguard group at