Winter Storms 2013/14 One Year On Portreath Storm Waves 05/02/2014 Photo: James Archibold Mark Wiggins

Overview Winter 2013/14. Reports – Post Storm and Recovery. One Year Recovery? Examples - Fistral - Sennen - Sidmouth Summary.

Winter 2013/14 Lyme Regis 05/02/2014 Photo: PCO

Winter 2013/14 October 2013 to March 2014. Up to 8 storms recorded at some PCO Wave Buoys. Largest storm waves recorded since deployment. By 25th feb, New records have been set for many parts of the UK, with southeast and central southern England having seen well over double the rainfall expected in a normal winter. It has also been the wettest winter in the long running  England and Wales Precipitation (EWP) series going back to 1766, with 435 mm of rain being recorded up to 24th February. This beats the previous record of 423 mm set in 1915.

Perranporth Wave Buoy 09/02/2014 Photo: twitter.com/malpracticesurf

Reports Post Storm Report. June 2014

Results Most beaches lost material. Overall volumes similar to 2007. Prior to the 2013/14 winter storms, most beaches had accreted. Damage to dunes and sea defences, despite low volume losses.

Reports Recovery Report. September 2014

Results Resurveyed throughout summer. Over half the beaches showed recovery. Some beaches had eroded further. Latest data required.

One year later. Have any of the sites shown recovery?

One year later.

Examples Fistral Beach (Newquay) Sennen (Cornwall) Sidmouth (Devon)

Example 1 Fistral Beach (Newquay)

Baseline Survey at Fistral 21/03/2012 Photo: 40Seven Ltd.

Example 1 Fistral Beach (Newquay) Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 958,682m3

Storm Damage at Fistral 12/01/2014 Photo: 40Seven Ltd.

Example 1 Fistral Beach (Newquay) Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 958,682m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Jan 2014 = 867,728m3

Example 1 Fistral Beach (Newquay) Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 958,682m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Jan 2014 = 867,728m3 Has the beach recovered?

Recovery Pre-storm Post-storm

Example 1 Fistral Beach (Newquay) Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 958,682m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Jan 2014 = 867,728m3 Has the beach recovered? Autumn 2015 Beach Volume = 957,996m3 99.9% of pre-storm beach volume.

Example 2 Sennen Sennen Cove 12/01/2014 Photo: 40Seven Ltd.

Example 2 Sennen Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 704,471m3

Example 2 Sennen Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 704,471m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Jan 2014 = 602,477m3

Example 2 Sennen Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 704,471m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Jan 2014 = 602,477m3 Has the beach recovered?

Pre-storm Post-storm Recovery?

Example 2 Sennen Pre-Storm Beach Volume Sep 2013 = 704,471m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Jan 2014 = 602,477m3 Has the beach recovered? Autumn 2015 Beach Volume = 558,684m3 79.3% of pre-storm beach volume.

Example 3 Sidmouth, Devon. Sidmouth 10/01/2014 Photo: Plymouth Coastal Observatory.

Example 3 Sidmouth, Devon. Pre-Storm Beach Volume Oct 2013 = 204,354m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Feb 2014 = 195,657m3 Has the beach recovered?

Recovery Beach Recycling Pre-storm Post-storm

Example 3 Sidmouth, Devon. Pre-Storm Beach Volume Oct 2013 = 204,354m3 Post-Storm Beach Volume Feb 2014 = 195,657m3 Has the beach recovered? Summer 2015 Beach Volume = 211,066m3 103.3% of pre-storm beach volume. Recycling of beach material. Jan 2015

Not the whole story Thurlestone has recovered 104% of pre-storm beach volumes…

Not the whole story Thurlestone has recovered 104% of pre-storm beach volumes… Damage to dune face etc. will take much longer. Continued monitoring is required. Possible intervention to restore previous profiles.

Summary Large losses in Winter 2013/14 Summer 2014 – Some recovery. Autumn 2015 – Volume recovery at some sites. Damage to beach features still present. Continued monitoring required.