Residents of the Yorkshire village of Skipsea have been warned that a number of homes are at 'imminent risk' of tumbling into the North Sea within 12 months due to rapid coastal erosion. The area is the fastest-eroding coastline in northern Europe, with figures showing that parts of the coast are disappearing far faster than previously thought.
New data reveals that a combination of stormy weather and rising sea levels caused more than 10 metres of cliff to disappear from a two-mile stretch of coast in just nine months last year, compared with the annual average of four metres. In six months, three strips of coastline lost nearly double what was expected in a year.
On Green Lane, residents are on the frontline of this unwinnable war with nature. Carly Davis, 30, whose rented chalet is one of more than 20 homes at risk, said: 'You can get up one morning and open your curtains and you've lost your fence, or your garden's gone.' The main road that once led to their street now ends abruptly at the cliff edge, marked by a red warning sign.
The erosion of Yorkshire's soft clay coast is not new, with about 30 villages lost since the Middle Ages. However, the global climate emergency has accelerated the process. David Elvidge, who will chair an East Riding council meeting to discuss protective measures, said: 'You would have to be Donald Trump to say climate change isn't happening.'
Skipsea residents express anger that neighbouring towns have been protected by sea defences while their parish, with a population of about 700, has not. Sea defences are decided on cost-benefit analysis, prioritising large urban areas over farmland and individual houses. John Keay, 64, serving pints at the village's newly-built social club half a mile inland, said: 'There's half a mile of land gone in 20 years... my argument is how far do you want it to go?'
