August 5, 1938 Tsunami: Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Bridlington 1938. Haslett et al. (2009) describe what they call …undoubtedly a meteotsunami…, which occurred at Bridlington on the coast of Yorkshire. They reference the The Times (1938) article which mentions the sea receding …15 ft., leaving vessels high and dry…, later …refloat other craft farther up the harbour, which is consistent with a meteotsunami. There were thunderstorms on the same day, which appear linked to the event; so again supporting a meteotsunami. (reference #14269)

2.4. Bridlington (Yorkshire), 5th August 1938. This account describes what is undoubtedly a meteo-tsunami that occurred at Bridlington on the coast of Yorkshire in northeast England. It represents the first record of any meteo-tsunami, that the authors are aware of, occurring in the North Sea basin. The Times (1938) report states that ‘‘at Bridlington a tidal wave swept into the harbour. Although it was 4 h from high water the sea receded suddenly for about 15 ft (4.57 m), leaving vessels high and dry, only to return with renewed force and refloat other craft farther up the harbour. A small fishing boat which was returning to harbour when the storm broke was swept against the south pier by the wave, carried out again, and brought into the harbour again by the sea. Mr. Herbert Hutchinson, a member of the lifeboat’s crew, was rowing up the harbour with some empty petrol tins when his boat was left high and dry. ‘The water,’ he said, ‘went down about 4 ft (1.22 m) in a minute. It swept out of the harbour like a mill race and then came back. Ships that were high and dry were immediately refloated.’ The wave brought into the harbour large quantities of flat-fish, which were left wriggling on the shore.” (The Times, 1938, p. 10). This occurrence of a meteo-tsunami at Bridlington is directly linked to thunderstorms that severely affected the region on the day. Indeed, it appears that a thunderstorm occurred around the same time as the wave in Bridlington harbour. The detail in the vivid description of the wave is typical for a tsunami, where the sea recedes prior to the arrival of the tsunami wave crest, and the stranding of numerous flat-fish suggests effective onshore transport processes entraining material, including fish, from the sea-bed. (reference #6325)