Extraordinary storms

Old newspapers, which can be viewed on microfilm at Brighton History Centre, offer a fascinating record of storms that have visited Brighton in the past. In June 1910, The Evening Argus described a thunderstorm lasting several hours that was accompanied by ‘electric flashes’ of lightning: ‘Every few seconds, the sky was illumined by a purply flame that shot across and left behind it black darkness, and with the darkness there came a thunderclap that seemed to shake the earth.’ Even allowing for some poetic licence, this was clearly no ordinary storm – a villa near Withdean was struck by lightning and subsequently destroyed by fire, while a farm near Race Hill also went up in flames.

Sixty years earlier, in July 1850, The Brighton Herald published a story about a violent storm that flooded Pool Valley with nearly six feet of water. Torrential rain swept down the narrow streets of the Old Town and, despite the best efforts of their occupants, many buildings were wrecked. According to the newspaper report, ‘The surface water poured into houses through the doors and windows, vainly closed to keep it out, while the drains beneath burst…and shot their contents like a jet into kitchens and cellars.’

Another extraordinary incident took place in the summer of 1929, when early evening bathers were overwhelmed by a tidal wave sweeping on to Brighton’s beaches. News reports describe ‘dull and heavy-looking clouds [that] crept over the sky,’ followed by a wave that ‘dashed with incredible speed over the sands.’ Deckchairs were swamped, boats capsized and swimmers were tossed around like corks bobbing on water. ‘The actual wave was bad enough,’ commented a boatman at the time, ‘but the backwash, which seemed to be boiling, was terrific. The whole beach roared, and this, mingled with the cries of terrified people, was heartrending.’