Morecambe Bay Tidal Bore
Morecambe Bay is the largest continuous intertidal bay in the whole of Britain covering an area of 186 square miles and consists mainly of intertidal sandflats and mudflats.
The Bay is broad and relatively shallow with a large tidal range of up to 10.5 metres at spring tides and a flood tide that rushes into the Bay with the speed of ‘a good horse’.
Tidal bores can reach speeds of up to 9 knots and can cover an area the size of a football pitch in minutes.
There are many vantage points to watch this twice daily spectacle with Grange-over-Sands and Arnside particularly good places to watch from a safe distance. Any safe part of terra firma on the shores of the Bay will give you a good view.
Tide time tables can be bought locally from many shops or if you have a smart phone you can download the UK Tide Times app for your phone.
NB.- Please do not walk across the ‘sands’ and marshes unless you have a guide with you. The sands change daily with the tides and I’m sure you’ve all heard about the treacherous quick sands that are a real danger.
Please note that the tide will start coming in up to 3 hours before high tide and the bore is usually about 2 hours before high tide depending on where you are and the weather conditions and time of the year.
The bore isn’t quite high enough to surf but record bores of over 2 meters have been recorded in adverse conditions.
