On the 1st November this year, Storm Ciarán battered the UK, causing widespread flooding and damage, with the south of England being the worst affected. Locally, windspeeds were recorded reaching gusts of 78mph and along Chesil Bank, huge nine metre waves crashed into the shingle barrier. Huge pieces of peat ripped up from the seabed of Lyme Bay, some two metres across, were thrown over the crest of the bank.
During such storms, seawater from large waves and swell pass through Chesil, creating large hollows known as canns. During this most recent storm, more canns were created and those already existing were made even larger, making the bank potentially weaker.
