North Wales Storm Surge - Dec 2013

Raging north-westerly winds, a high spring tide and an extremely high storm surge brought destruction to many parts of the UK during the 4th-6th December 2013. The coast of North Wales took a beating with a storm surge adding a full metre on top of high tide, flooding out a few hundred homes in the Rhyl area. We set up to film the incoming storm surge in Colwyn Bay. Whilst this area had some protection from the north-westerly wave trains, meaning that the waves themselves weren't huge, the shear elevated height of the sea surface poured over coastal defences.
To address a few points before they're inevitably raised:
We are aware that filming during large waves and storm surges is very dangerous. We took all precautions to plan escape routes and avoid high risk but accept there will always be dangers.
There was a 60-70mph wind which was impossible to cut out of the footage without making it silent. The wind-noise may therefore annoy you!
We know that salt water wrecks cars - a nice jet-wash sorted that out later.
Filming storm damage and flooded properties carries a moral risk. We were discrete in our filming and also lent a hand in the clean-up, wherever we could.
Music at the end is a short section of "Heart in the pipes" (Kauf Remix)

[@kjbaker8722]

Fabulous footage of the power of nature - great job. Hope you didn’t get to wet and cold!

[@MrDazP1adv3ntures]

Very good footage. Thanks for sharing.

[@juliadalope993]

MrDazp1 christy

[@EggnogonthebogProductions]

This was well filmed. The wind & high tide helps. Some impressive footage.

[@jesslouise9756]

God, it's weird seeing somewhere so close to home. Also the first two smallish waves can happen quite often in bad weather.

[@kacieblair1455]

I also remember this happening in Rhyl too. I was driving past there at the time as well. I lived in Rhyl at the time but not that area. Then the asda in Kinmel bay flooded and I lived down the road from there and loads of people from my school got taken out to go to their houses and prepare incase of flooding. We had dozens of sandbags and it actually nearly flooded our house. I remember my mum kept panicking about the furniture because we'd only just moved in.

[@salomebholaram8136]

😘😘😘😘😘

[@yeda458]

​@@salomebholaram8136ye dirty nonce

[@TheDyIan]

I love seeing the storms, beautiful views of the sea only problem is that ugly watersports building.

[@TheDyIan]

Good job on the video.

[@Snowwie88]

Why do people park their cars like that? It's not that they do not know a storm is coming. Salt water and cars are bad combination.

[@Will170392]

Remember driving to work along this very road on that very morning. Scary stuff.

[@kengbrissy3074]

The speed the tides comes in, you almost forget which part didn't have water before...

[@metafis2490]

great footage!..and very well shot. Are you a professional?..or a very good amateur?.

[@H9Gamings]

I feel bad for all them cars being parked there during that storm, that will reduce their live expectancy :(

[@ruwaabufarsakh1325]

I do too

[@preimmerr732]

Then how do people wash the cars lol

[@pelkiuknyslys7324]

@@preimmerr732 its salt you fuckng idiot

[@vaux7154]

@@preimmerr732 with a hose

[@jackwatsonepic626]

To me they shouldn't be parked there , it's common sense

[@notsure1115]

Great video. It sorted of looked like Galveston Texas 12 hours before Hurricane Ike came ashore. Never seen surge like that in GB and I was born in Cardiff. I now live 20 miles north of Galveston, Tx.

[@skyhelper2755]

I feel soooooo bad for the cars parked sooo close there :’( 😢

[@peppiposha2500]

Well done for being there at the right place at the right time ready and prepared. :)

[@didibolter9362]

I so love your precious and beautiful kitty! Please give him /her lots of hugs and kisses for me, thank you! ❤ 😍😚😙🐈😻❤💋💋

[@RichieRouge206]

God bad news leaving a Merc Vito anywhere near saltwater - they're rotboxes in dry air!! Know Colwyn Bay very well

[@StevenBaileyZurgena]

Great bit of historical record. Well done!

[@mark1968]

This is so cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@Katie-pg2ts]

Amazing footage you were very dedicated to stand in the cold and get it! :)

[@kris8742]

They would have rusted to nothing by now

[@ДжакетиЛув]

I used to walk home every day from Eirias along that prom, only once do I ever remember it like that, must have been 2009

[@kacieblair1455]

I remember driving past there. It scared the crap out of me and my nan kept saying "we're going to be swept away! We need to leave now!"

[@rainbowofficial7824]

🤣🤣🤣🤣😭😭

[@Oloszq]

Really Great Video!

[@fp30e]

Excellent video. Thank you. Spoolbox.

[@KRABI_TM]

That's an interesting video. Thanks Bren.

[@wavehorsee81]

I really adore this vid!! beautiful:) gud man, well done!! I love it!!

[@johnwilliams3667]

I live at Pensarn and the sea was 12 to 15 feet higher than normal. I walk my dog there most days

[@milkoverdose4156]

Very good footage but why would you just stand there?

[@MikeBuckley]

I was at Parkgate on Wirral. Never seen it that bad in many a year!!

[@ronbronb]

person A: did you go to the ocean? person B: no, but the ocean go to me...

[@dawnbetts400]

beautiful video of the sea at its worst

[@petertunny]

Brilliant footage brenpebbs

[@cindygoodwin1]

Great footage thanks stay safe

[@StealthyyyHD]

Best footage right here

[@ithewonder]

I remember watching this on Rhyl seafront. Never saw anything like it, it was chaos !

[@kombajn-narezki]

1:05 😱

[@andykelly7367]

Excellent footage matey! Cheers for ya efforts! Hopefully you didn’t get too wet? 🤞👍 Andy Kelly 🇬🇧

[@helenshan1497]

This is a well good capture

[@CheshireCat6639]

Ty for sharing ❤

[@me2tez230]

Love that coast line

[@topseyshakehands]

cracking footage boyo,,it was just as bad in rhos on sea town,,,,,,,,,,,wish..

[@npdoughty1405]

Wonder if they'll ever do anything with that pier, such a shame seeing it like this. I remember it when i was a kid, it was nothing special, but nevertheless, it needs to be fixed up.

[@didibolter9362]

INCREDIBLE!! 🤗

[@Aini11Messi87]

Scary but beautiful. Like fountain

[@therickman1990]

That poor Vito van though :( That generation of Vito starts to rust in the showroom, can't imagine what it would look like 2 weeks after this storm

[@hebneh]

That was exciting to watch, but it certainly seems to me that the area should've been entirely closed off - no pedestrians and no traffic. One unexpectedly large wave can knock people down immediately and injure or kill them, particularly because the water is so cold. Anyone ignorant enough to have left a parked car there - well - too bad for them. Presumably this surge was forecast in advance.

[@brenpebbs]

I'm personally glad the area wasn't totally sealed off to pedestrians (that would be impossible to achieve anyway). Life is full of risks and the day we try to remove all risk by way of some omnipotent governance is the day we stop living. This storm was superbly forecast and gave everyone who witnessed it a marvel at nature (except the Mercedes van owner who clearly missed the memo...)

[@brenpebbs]

Make sure you keep that in mind next time you cross a road on a shopping trip.

[@thewilks3005]

hebneh

[@cumbrianrailspotter6154]

The drain is moving because it leads to the sea and when a wave hits the water backfires!

[@sammyboiii2703]

Wyt ti'n siarad cymraeg?

[@Aaron-oq1sp]

Use ddiolch sut Wyre ti

[@ladyflibblesworth7282]

think this time was the last time I saw snow in winter, we drove to London in half the normal amount of time and spent the whole day mildly drunk and stoned in every London museum staring at exibhits for far too long and laughing at the slipping ducks, getting attacked by a quirrel, watching cars sliding and crashing with 6ft snow drifts all the way there only to just write a rude name in the snow upon arrival.....was a genuinely fun day

[@QCV_QBS]

OMG!!!😱😱😱😱

[@oliverwilson183]

I remember this storm well it sounded like a ghost outside. I was only 8 but i don’t remember bryn williams being built that early on

[@anni50ful]

''I think we should go' was good advice ..

[@wavehorsee81]

love this vid:):)

[@kerry4257]

Where was that in Wales

[@randaneure]

man ..! im glad I turn the sound down during the political ads here is Australia!

[@ratatouille4487]

I live in aus

[@Etiennenchasse]

Music in the end of video?

[@georgebamber6871]

Wow the pier was still there

[@DogSerious]

Any one remember the Towyn flood from back in the eighties?

[@plasticpinoccio]

One good parking spot>>>> 1000 waves

[@dylanstockdale5624]

Did you see how the water lifted up in the back

[@baypiano4526]

2:38😁

[@jackolinefowler8995]

I went there last week!

[@telemachus53]

And I'm just about to order 5 days at Rhyl Travelodge.

[@mbcmediagrupcorp3602]

the devastating storm north of wales resembles a tsunami wave

[@imperiozacatecanozacatecan1732]

1:04 Sewerage:Ah Sh*t 1:14 Sewerage:Here We Go 1:43 Sewerage:Again

[@martinthatsall1518]

Brenbobs. Taping a blob of cotton wool over the microphone aperture would have killed the wind noise. Great video though, so much better than most with there OMGs and other inane comments. Why the horrible, distorted music towards the end?

[@kacieblair1455]

The weather is always bad in Wales

[@sammyboiii2703]

Kacie Blair no it's not

[@stanfemalesonly745]

DSB Vlogs lol yes it is

[@superstarwarrior4978]

@@stanfemalesonly745 no it's not

[@harrybates8804]

Not really in the summer

[@jordanjones7172]

Wales has the worst weather

[@Greatbritan7599]

Soaking a car in sea water is a sure way to cause rust.

[@Lesloi6227]

Wow thats massive isn't it? Amazing they built a road so close to the sea. I'd hate to see what happens in a king tide. It gave those streets a bloody good wash down anyway. Here where I live in Australia we won't drive thru 6 inches of running water because we know we will get washed away.

[@Lesloi6227]

ps bloody great vid thanks for sharing with us all.

[@gennarobasile2771]

Potremmo sapere il posto

Dude from Japan: Nice spritz.

[@makingithappen5178]

It looks a bit windy eeí.

[@diasjoelalberto]

Some of a "don't waste your money in a cleanup when bringing a sponge is enough?"

[@aaronparkin1191]

In Towyn where I live all the house's got flooded

[@Cherie-c8m]

My home town

[@ilovebusesfromkue8342]

That's like a car going in high waves

[@danelysdelcarmenortegabedo8622]

En qué país es ? España .Canadá o.francia?

[@jogadordepubg8882]

brazil

[@danelysdelcarmenortegabedo8622]

@@jogadordepubg8882 ok gracias después de 2 meses de espera jaja XD 🤭 saludos

[@stridersstuff665]

Sadly, the pier is going to be demolished :(

[@LaneyBaby1980]

I’d park my car there. Get a free car wash out of it.

[@am0804]

Free rust as well by the Salt of the ocean over all the metal

[@superzeros316]

I remember this I live in Colwyn bae I love floods

[@josephhiar6767]

2020 ?

[@xxstranger._.thingsxx1303]

I have been there! The waves where massive when I went aswell that's why I KZbind it

[@FUBAR762]

I hear the rust on those cars.

[@toxichastegmaing]

😲🤯 This is nature fighting back

[@FABCLOCKGAMERYTOFI]

My God!!! That is a safety place...😬😳🥶😱

[@danw1374]

1:04 The drain lid said "Sod this"

[@075kzt2]

merci ;-)

[@ethangoddard1105]

looks scary as hell

[@wavehorsee81]

i LOVE this vid:)

[@rob3518]

Watching this in 2023 , those cars are now rust buckets.

[@spiceitup5407]

4:43 Wave: imma follow this bitch

[@itzhannah8993]

I Was 8 at this time

[@djk2509]

Its safe enough but when the water gets to a point it will move the parked cars.

[@mandyjb65]

The earth and the oceans are fighting back

[@tomdavies4828]

Get storm serge every year I see waves like that lot around north Wales

[@brenpebbs]

Don't confuse storm surge with waves. The video isn't showing impressive waves, they're pretty small in fact. It's the height of the tide itself that is very unusual, overtopping the walls even without any waves on top. Storm surge is the elevated height of the tide and nothing to do with waves themselves.

[@myspinup8782]

Scammers keep advertising on KZbin with fake voices over the top of well known celebrities trying to steal your money !

[@keirangeorge9046]

Ronnie Pickering at 03:17

[@FABCLOCKGAMERYTOFI]

Its mean a level tsunami!!!😳

[@AG-636]

Need a dinghy to go to Asda

[@seec0202]

5:46 mazda rx-8…

[@jerogamer4280]

Enviame

[@maximus1891]

Colwyn bay! Yay