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Today at West 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 15 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 28 km/h · Waves 1.4 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 2.2 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 1.4 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 1.1 m
At low tide, search the gravel over and around the dark peaty Freshwater Bed at the cliff base end of the beach — bone, teeth and shell wash out of it constantly. The chalk reef's rock pools also trap echinoids and belemnites.
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 →
Beach car park at the end of Water Lane.
Café and toilets by the car park in season.
Concrete ramp onto the beach; the dark Freshwater Bed shows at the cliff base at low tide.
These soft cliffs are actively slumping — never climb on or dig into them, and keep clear after rain. Groynes and chalk reef are slippery; the sea reaches the cliff base at high water.
Fossil Forecast