In Camera...Storm Eleanor's rough seas

The coastline at Crosby at high tide, the morning after the worst of Storm Eleanor had passed over. The seas were still high enough to swamp the promenade. The head of an iron man is just visible in the sea on the right of the image.

Just three days into January and Storm Eleanor passed over the UK, Scotland and Northern Ireland suffered the brunt of the storm but there were still 60mph winds along the Sefton coast. These images were taken at high tide around 11.45 the morning after the worst of the storm had passed over. The iron men were covered by the rough high seas and the promenade battered by the wind driven waves.

An apt warning for the stormy conditions

The head of an iron man becomes visible in a trough between the waves.

The fast moving clouds were torn apart at times so that bursts of sunlight swept across the seas...

...rainbows came and went in the bursts of light that caught the showers.

Spray from the sea filled the air

Showers sparkled in the flashes of sunlight.

In Camera...Winter Light

Yesterday was dark and grey with strong gusting winds and wintery showers. Snow fell in many parts of the country and was forecast for the North West, but the forecast snow did not materialise in Crosby and by around 15.30 the sky was clearing from the north west. The cloud was breaking and revealing patches of blue and I decided to head down to the beach to see if there was any chance of a dramatic sunset.

Down on a cold and deserted Crosby beach, the sand surface near the promenade was very smooth and polished looking, a result of the strong cold winds blowing in from the Irish Sea.

The Clwydian hills to the West lay blanketed with snow under a thick bank of dark grey cloud over Wales but the sky above was streaked with orange tinted cirrus clouds glowing from the last light of the sun, reflecting light into the tidal gullies of water left on the beach by the receding tide.

A truly bleak, but somehow beautiful, raw winter evening where there were only the solid silhouettes of the iron men to share with me the appreciation of nature in this wonderful glowing light at the end of a stormy day.

In Camera ... December Storm

Thursday 5th December saw a major storm passing over Northern England and Scotland, Crosby was on the edge of the amber wind warning but still experienced wind speeds of 70mph. The high winds coincided with an extremely high tide at 12.30 which lead to flooding along many parts of the coast as the winds pushed the waters even higher than usual. The promenade at Crosby beach was completely awash and the RNLI Portakabin near Hall Road Coastguard station was wrecked by the high seas.

Somewhere out there are the iron men, submerged under the rough seas.

Ah! There's one of them, his head a black dot emerging at times above the waves.

A few people braved the conditions for a bracing walk in the wind and spray

but it was not a day for sitting in the sun.

Several low lying areas in the sand dunes adjacent to the promenade were awash with sea water.

In Camera ... High Winds and High tide

This last week has seen some strong winds that have coincided with high tide at Crosby beach, the iron men have received a pounding from the waves, no wonder some seem to be sinking into the sands.

This iron man has sunk quite a depth into the sands,

he appears to be be sitting in the sea, enjoying the waves.

Rough weather for humans, dodging the spray at Hall Road.

In Camera ... Wind Torn Sky and Sea

September also bring the first storms of Autumn, strong winds mean that the iron men on Crosby beach 

are pounded by heavy seas at high tide whilst the skies are filled with swift moving clouds.

In Camera ... Stormy Days at the Beach

The last few weeks have brought some magnificent stormy skies over the beach at Crosby.