East of England under 'severe' flood threat.

[afleitch]

''Severe flood warnings are in place on parts of the east coast of England, with the Environment Agency warning of "extreme danger to life and property".

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was chairing an emergency Cobra meeting, as low pressure and strong winds combined to cause a North Sea tidal surge.

Norfolk and Suffolk have seven severe flood warnings. Parts of Kent, Essex, North Yorks and Lincs are on alert.

The Dartford Creek and Thames barriers were set to be closed at 2000 GMT.

The flood alerts are a response to weather and tide patterns being tracked this week by the Environment Agency and the Met Office. ''

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7085394.stm

[afleitch]

Fingers crossed; hopefully no-one get's seriously hurt or killed.

Btw, le Beeb hath a little explanation note of the term "severe" in this context. It means:

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Run for the hills basically. Not that there are many hills in East Anglia. Run for the Less Flat Bits then.

Or tape a couple of cows to a shrub and wait it out We're concerned about any surge affecting the Belgian coast due to our flat there. But even if the worst happened it's not our home; it's not everything and should something happen, then it's not anything.

[afleitch]

Surge expected to peak between 0430 and 0700. The surge is expected to be up to 3m, coinciding with peak high tides.