On Saturday, August 9, 2014 2:45:50 AM UTC+1, jbm wrote:
There's been a fair amount of talk on the local news about the Harvest
Moon on Sat/Sun this coming weekend. Apparently - it'll be very close to
the earth so will appear very large in the sky (not that we'll be able
to see it!), it's full on Saturday night, and by all accounts it's going
to be a pretty pink colour.

So let's see if I've got this straight. A full moon creating high spring
tides - 21.14 Sunday evening at Great Yarmouth, and a deep depression
crossing the country out into the North Sea on Sunday evening with the
associated high winds and heavy rain. So why hasn't the Environment
Agency started issuing flood warnings for the east coast and river
estuaries? At the moment their forecast for Sunday along the east coast
is "low risk".

jim, Northampton

The tides aren't veryt big on Sunday, there is typically a 2 day delay after a full moon. So taking Newquay as an example, Sunday's tide is 7.3m, by Tuesday it's 7.7m.

There's also been a lot of talk about a big swell. It'll be rough, but the situation is completely wrong for a big swell, which needs sustained gales for a prolonged period over a wide area. http://magicseaweed.com/UK-Ireland-MSW-Surf-Charts/1/

Taking the tip of Cornwall as an example, the peak swell forecast for Sennen is just 10', which typically occurs several times in a normal September, twice that height occurs several times a year, and last winter exceed 30' on several occasions.

I (and another member of USW) were on a RIB off Gwennap Head one September, when the swell reached 18' at Sevenstones, it was quite fun and not in the least dangerous..

Still, lets not let facts get in the way of the latest hype.

Graham
Penzance