title: A user-friendly database of coastal flooding in the United Kingdom from 1915-2014.
abstract: Coastal flooding caused by extreme sea levels can be devastating, with long-lasting and diverse consequences. Historically, the UK has suffered major flooding events, and at present 2.5 million properties and £150 billion of assets are potentially exposed to coastal flooding. However, no formal system is in place to catalogue which storms and high sea level events progress to coastal flooding. Furthermore, information on the extent of flooding and associated damages is not systematically documented nationwide. Here we present a database and online tool called 'SurgeWatch', which provides a systematic UK-wide record of high sea level and coastal flood events over the last 100 years (1915-2014). Using records from the National Tide Gauge Network, with a dataset of exceedance probabilities and meteorological fields, SurgeWatch captures information of 96 storms during this period, the highest sea levels they produced, and the occurrence and severity of coastal flooding. The data are presented to be easily assessable and understandable to a range of users including, scientists, coastal engineers, managers and planners and concerned citizens.
authors.affiliation: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, European Way , Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK ; School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering and the UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Ivan D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Haigh
authors.affiliation: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, European Way , Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Wadey
authors.affiliation: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, European Way , Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
authors.forename: Shari L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gallop
authors.affiliation: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, European Way , Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Loehr
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton , Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Nicholls
authors.affiliation: National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building , 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L3 5DA, UK.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Horsburgh
authors.affiliation: National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building , 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L3 5DA, UK.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: British Oceanographic Data Centre, Joseph Proudman Building , 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L3 5DA, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bradshaw