Reading the sea before the weather arrives

Winter on the North Yorkshire coast has its own rhythm. Between November and March, a deep Atlantic low can swing across the country and drag a stiff north-easterly down the North Sea, pushing water ahead of it like a slow, heavy hand. Combine that with a spring tide and a long swell running in from the north, and you have the recipe for a storm surge.

The physics are worth understanding, because they explain why our coast behaves the way it does. Low pressure lifts the sea surface by roughly a centimetre for every millibar it drops below average. A deep winter depression can add half a metre or more before the wind has done anything at all. Add the wind-driven pile-up funnelled down the coast and the surge arrives as a raised sea that rides in on top of an already high tide.

From Staithes and Runswick Bay down through Whitby, Sandsend, Robin Hood's Bay, Scarborough and Filey, the effect varies with every headland, harbour wall and slipway. High water reaches different places at different times, so a surge travelling down the coast can arrive at Scarborough well before it reaches Filey Brigg or the Esk. Local knowledge matters far more than any national picture.

Check the warnings, know your tide

Before anything else, sign up for the free flood warning service and register every address you care about — your home, a relative's bungalow, the boat shed. The warnings come in three tiers: a flood alert meaning be prepared, a flood warning meaning act now, and a severe flood warning meaning there is a danger to life. Know which one you are under before you start moving furniture.

• Keep a paper tide table alongside the app on your phone. Screens fail, batteries die and signal drops in the steep streets of the old towns.
• Note your local high water time and add the surge. A metre of surge on a big spring tide is the difference between a wet promenade and water in the ground floor.
• Watch the swell forecast as carefully as the wind. A two-metre swell with a long period carries far more energy than a short chop.
• Check the harbourmaster's notices for anything affecting piers, slips and moorings.

Securing the house, the garden and the boat

Most storm damage on this coast is caused by things that were never meant to fly. Spend an hour outside before the wind arrives.

• Bring in or lash down garden furniture, planters, bins, trampolines and recycling boxes. Wheelie bins are the classic projectile.
• Move cars off low quaysides and out of seafront car parks onto higher ground.
• Fit flood gates, airbrick covers and non-return valves if you have them, and have sandbags ready rather than hunting for them in the dark.
• Know where your electricity, gas and water stopcocks are, and how to isolate them.
• Photograph rooms, contents and any valuables now, while everything is dry.

For boats, check mooring lines and double up on warps, allowing for the rise and fall of tide. Protect against chafe where ropes cross a fairlead or a rough strop. Strip sails, sprayhoods and loose covers from a laid-up yacht, and lift tenders and outboards clear of the quay. If you keep a dinghy on a drying mooring, move it up the slipway well before the tide begins to build.

Stay off the promenades when gales meet high tide

This is the one piece of advice that saves lives every winter. When a gale coincides with a high tide and a big swell, the sea wall is not a viewpoint. Waves throw shingle over the top of defences, and green water can sweep across a promenade in seconds. Scarborough's South Bay, Whitby's piers and the exposed stretches at Sandsend and Filey all see this.

Never turn your back on the sea to take a photograph or steady a dog. Keep well back from the edge, and stay off exposed piers, breakwaters and undercliffs entirely. If you see someone in difficulty in the water, do not go in after them — dial 999 and ask for the coastguard, and keep them in sight from a safe place.

Winter sailing on the Yorkshire coast

Winter sailing is rewarding and quiet, but it is not the season for surprises. Check the forecast for gusts, sea state and swell period as well as wind direction, and be honest about whether the passage is worth it. Cold water shock can rob you of strength and breathing in under a minute, so wear a well-fitted lifejacket, layer properly and carry a means of calling for help that works when your hands are cold.

Leave a passage plan with someone ashore and speak to the harbour office before you leave. Passage along this coast offers few easy bolt-holes when the weather turns, and a northerly that was forecast to ease has a habit of not easing.

After the storm: checking the coast and its heritage

Once the warning has passed and the wind has dropped, take a walk and look at what has moved. Report erosion, damaged sea defences, blocked drains and anything unsafe on the foreshore. Our maritime heritage is fragile in exactly this weather — the cobbles and slipways at Robin Hood's Bay, the old walls and boat sheds, the stonework around the harbours. A few photographs and a quick report to the relevant authority can help get repairs started.

Then check on your neighbours, particularly older residents and anyone living at ground level. Coastal communities here have always looked after each other through the winter months, and that habit is the best defence of all.