Does the rest of the world know about tides in Britain. In fact do British people know about tides in the rest of the world. The average tidal range in the British isles is like 5 metres. The average range in the USA is like 1. The highest is I think the Severn estuary which hits 15 metres?? The Mediterranean is like 30cm. Why is this island doing this to us (rhetorical don’t make me get into wavelengths)??? The tide in Morecombe Bay has a top speed of 10mph or 30mph in the surge channels (it kills people). Do people know about this?? I just assumed the whole world was like this you mean the rest of you don’t get drilled on looking up the tide times before you go to the beach???
Oh interesting! I (Aus) do pay attention to tide times because the shoreline in my hometown is a lot of shallow flat that isn’t swimmable at low tide.
At the surf beaches I grew up near you do keep some awareness of the tide (particularly at what point the turn from high tide is obviously what’s causing the undertow), but it’s not a hazard in itself- it’s the interaction between tide, wind and seasonal factors creating rips that you worry about. Unless you’re a surfer, the lifeguard designated swimming area will have marked out a safe spot.
I just checked, the biggest tidal difference at my favourite beach is 2m.
Huh.
And then there's the Bay of Fundy, 16 meters average tide
My favourite (and nearest) beach - Buck Beck beach near Cleethorpes, has a horizontal tidal range of 1.5 miles.
(I love going out there at low tide because the constantly shifting sands throw up old wrecks from the Humber Estuary, the occasional car, and one time a downed WW2 plane
The vertical tidal range is around 6 meters, but when the tide comes in its fast and you can easily get trapped on one of the many sandbanks. In the spring we get high tides of around 7-8 meters
Which is why there's no buildings or paved roads within a couple of miles of the beach
