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Today at East Runton
FairWhy: A recent north-easterly blow should have brought fresh cliff material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
Safe window: 6:53am – 8:01am
Leave the beach by 8:01am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: A recent north-easterly blow should have brought fresh cliff material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
15° · overcast · 8mm rain · Low tide: 7:01am (2.1 m), 7:25pm (2.5 m) · Wind up to 17 km/h · Waves 1.5 m
Safe window: 6:55am – 9:43am
Leave the beach by 9:43am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: A recent north-easterly blow should have brought fresh cliff material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
13° · drizzle · 1mm rain · Low tide: 8:43am (2.2 m), 8:56pm (2.5 m) · Wind up to 31 km/h · Waves 1.5 m
Safe window: 8:23am – 11:23am
Leave the beach by 11:23am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls mid-morning, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
13° · drizzle · 6mm rain · Low tide: 10:23am (1.9 m), 10:20pm (2.2 m) · Wind up to 36 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 9:17am – 12:17pm
Leave the beach by 12:17pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
11° · clear · 1mm rain · Low tide: 11:17am (1.6 m), 11:16pm (1.9 m) · Wind up to 36 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 95 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
12° · drizzle · 15mm rain · Low tide: 11:59am (1.3 m) · Wind up to 57 km/h · Waves 2.3 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 80 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
10° · mostly clear · 7mm rain · Low tide: 12:00am (1.6 m), 12:37pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 48 km/h · Waves 1.5 m
Safe window: 10:14am – 1:14pm
Leave the beach by 1:14pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. A big 0.8 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
17° · drizzle · 2mm rain · Low tide: 12:41am (1.3 m), 12:14pm (0.8 m) · Wind up to 40 km/h · Waves 1.2 m
Work the flint gravel and the chalk reef at low water — star-marked urchin flints and belemnites are regular finds, with Ice Age bone appearing after scouring tides.
Ice Age bone from the 'forest bed' is dark brown to black, heavy, with a honeycomb texture at broken ends. Sea-urchin fossils show as five-pointed stars on rounded flint pebbles. Free identification: Cromer Museum (photo enquiries via Norfolk Museums Service).
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils and bones from the beach may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: No digging into the cliffs — the fossil-bearing beds are protected (SSSI) and the cliffs are dangerously unstable anyway.
Important finds: Large bones may be part of a bigger skeleton — report them to Norfolk Museums Service before removing anything substantial.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Clifftop car park off the A149 at East Runton gap.
Toilets in season; pubs and shop in the village.
Ramp down the gap onto sand and chalk reef.
Soft, actively slumping cliffs — stay off the slumps, especially after wet weather. High tide reaches the cliff base along much of this stretch.
Fossil Forecast