Where Local Matters: Impacts of a Major North Sea Storm Surge

Storm surge impacts on low‐lying coasts threaten vulnerable human communities on a global scale. On 5–6 December 2013, the margins of the southern North Sea experienced the most significant storm surge in 60 years. Detailed ground surveys immediately following the surge documented considerable variability in inundation levels, with implications for surge forecasting and societal responses to extreme coastal floods.