Clifftop gives way after storms batter UK coastline
Police confirm there is a ‘very good chance’ that six properties in Norfolk will collapse into the sea
A CLIFFTOP street began to crumble into the sea last night as Britain’s coastline was battered by wild weather.
One homeowner described feeling a sudden tremble like an “earthquake” as the cliff gave way. A garden shed and an oil tank plummeted into the sea after days of high winds and waves eroded the sandstone.
The area in Hemsby, Norfolk, has been deemed “too dangerous” for the residents of 13 chalets who have been evacuated and may lose their homes, according to police who say there is a “very good chance” that six of the properties will collapse into the sea.
Homeowner Stephen Chadwick described the cliff falling at around 7.30am on Saturday. “I bought it for sea views, and now the sea’s taking it away,” he told the BBC. “I woke up this morning, had a cup of coffee, and I felt… it was like an earthquake, and the cliff just went. I’m in total shock.”
Paul Ray and other residents were forced to flee their homes overnight as five properties were considered to be of the highest risk, with one “teetering on the edge”, the local inshore lifeboat rescue service said.
Great Yarmouth borough council is working with the Environment Agency to decide which residents can return to their homes. The local coastguard has also warned the public to keep clear of the area.
Tidal surges in 2013 saw three homes in the area fall into the sea and a further seven badly damaged. Despite a bid for £2.3 million for government-funded flood defences, residents failed to secure funding. But in 2015 residents raised enough money for partial sea defences and honeycombed concrete blokes were installed in sand dunes.
Meanwhile, in Minehead, Somerset, a family are concerned that their 16th century hotel may collapse into the sea, after huge cracks appeared metres from their door in the wake of Storm Emma. But hotelier Cara Strom, 42, and her partner, Marcus Kravis, 49, have refused to give up serving food and drink, despite having been forced to cancel overnight stays.
It is feared the cracks could become worse as the South-west has been issued with a yellow warning for snow and ice, with forecasters warning of strong winds. The family, who took over the hotel 18 months ago, said they knew coastal erosion was a risk, but had no idea they’d lose ground so quickly. As the so-called “Mini-beast from the East” cloaked much of Britain in a blanket of snow over the weekend, there were warnings that rural communities could be cut off.
Forecasters said temperatures would feel as low as -10C across the country for the start of the week. High pressure is then expected to lift temperatures to around 5C.