May 17, 1964 Tsunami: West England, United Kingdom

Arnside (Cumbria) 17th May 1964. Arnside is situated on the Cumbrian coast of the Irish Sea in northwest England. Few details exist for this event, other than a brief mention in The Times which states that ‘‘a man and his son aged seven were swept to their deaths by a tidal wave while bathing in the Kent estuary, near Arnside, south Westmorland [now part of the county of Cumbria]” (The Times, 1964, p. 8). Although there is no mention of weather conditions in the report, the weather forecast does predict ‘‘scattered thunderstorms” in the area that day (The Times, 1964, p. 9). It is likely that this event is a meteotsunami occurrence, however, it must be noted that the Kent Estuary, where this event took place, does experience tidal bores, which presents an alternative explanation. (reference #6325)

Arnside 1964. From Haslett and Bryant (2009), there is little information about this event, only a short paragraph in The Times (1964) which mentions a father and son being swept away by a tidal wave in the Kent estuary. There were scattered thunderstorms at the time but as Haslett et al. (2009) mention, the Kent estuary… does experience tidal bores, which presents an alternative explanation. (reference #14269)