The Norfolk Broads

Tides on the Broads The tides governing the Broads come through Yarmouth Harbour and the times of High and Low water at various points on the rivers are calculated from the times at Yarmouth Bar. Tides are affected by many outside influences so they are often hard to predict accurately. The tides of the Broads are not only affected by Barometric Pressure (which lowers the water level), the direction of the wind (which often raises the level) and storm surges, but also by the rain and drainage from the marshes. These influences are particularly noticeable where the rivers are bottle-necked, as at the Bure at Yarmouth and Beccles on the Waveney. This bottle-neck effect has rather startling effects at Yarmouth where the Bure ebbs for one hour longer than the Yare. Consequently you have the state of affairs, especially when coming down Breydon Water to Yarmouth, where you have to ‘buck’ the first of the flood down the lower reaches of the Yare or Waveney only to arrive at the mouth of the Bure to find the ebb still running strongly (5-6 knots) and an hour to kill anchored at the mouth until the flood sets up the river. Another effect of the Yarmouth bottle-neck is the fact that slack water on the Bure is not at low water but about one to one and a half hours after, when although the current is not running the water level is rising.

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