UK’s iconic Seven Sisters cliffs caught on camera shattering, falling into sea (VIDEO)
An enormous chunk of Britain’s iconic white cliffs has collapsed into the sea, as Storm Eleanor battered the country. Dramatic footage shows a huge slab of chalk stone breaking away, before crashing into the sea.
The footage was uploaded to social media and has since gone viral, garnering more than 7,000 views in less than 24 hours.
The footage, taken by a National Trust staffer, was filmed at the Seven Sisters beauty spot at Birling Gap in East Sussex at the height of the storm. Winds of up to 80mph battered the coast, apparently taking the cliffs down with them.
“During the recent storm, there was a cliff fall on the chalk cliffs at the Seven Sisters," a National Trust spokesperson said.
Dramatic cliff fall at Birling Gap today during high winds and tide @nationaltrust@Eastbournenews@brightonargus@birlinggap@TheSouthDownsNTpic.twitter.com/tdwewcuo7F
— Driftwood Original (@Simeon_Marsh) January 3, 2018
“This was captured on video by a member of the National Trust team. This stands as a reminder of the danger of standing near the cliff edge and we advise visitors to act sensibly when visiting the area.”
The National Trust looks after 775 miles of coastline around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including the white cliffs. More than 350,000 tourists visit Birling Gap and Seven Sisters cliffs annually, but in recent years visitors have been warned to stay well clear of the edge due to recent erosion and to a horrific accident last year.
Hyewon Kim, 23, plunged to her death in October, trying to get a photo at the iconic cliffs. The South Korean student had asked a stranger to take the happy snap of her when she lost her footing and fell over the edge, plummeting 60m to her death.
Eerie photographs were found on her mobile phone, showing a happy young woman in the seconds before her gruesome end.
“We advise people to stay well away from both cliff edges and the base of cliffs, as these falls are a natural part of coastal erosion,” lifeboat coxswain Paul Legendre told the Daily Mail.
“This incident shows that cliff falls do not just happen in bad weather, they can happen at any time without warning and pose a major risk to people both on top of cliffs or exploring the beach below.”
